Collin's Gulf

Today's hike was Collin's Gulf. We had gotten a little snow overnight. Great day to be out with just a few other hikers.

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Piney Falls and Stinging Fork Falls

Lora and I did the Piney Falls and the Stinging Fork Falls hikes today.

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Foster Falls TTA

Joan led 18 hikers from Scenic City, Highland Rim, and Murfreesboro on the Foster Falls trail. Sunshine and blue sky and temps in the mid 60's got folks excited about being out on the trail. It was in the 30's starting out but the sun along the bluffline had people stripping down. Hiked out to the Small Wilds Campground where we had lunch, then back to the parking lot. 

Jennifer wanted to see Denny Cove so she and I went there and saw the overlook where there were climbers down below. Then on the the waterfall which was gorgeous today with a rainbow at the bottom. On the way back we took the climbers route along the bluff, picking our way carefully thru the rocks and behind the waterfall. Some of the trail is challenging to follow; we were watching for the blue blazes. But it was fun and so glad we hiked it. 

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Virgin Falls TTA

Today we hiked with the Plateau chapter of the TTA at Virgin Falls SP. Beautiful day with wonderful people. Lot's of water at the falls.

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Rock Creek CT

 

Lora and I did the Rock Creek segment of the Cumberland trail from Retro Hughes road to the Rock Creek bridge and back. It was a beautiful day to be out.

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Dry Creek Falls trail

We had hiked the Northern 1.25 miles of this trail to Meditation Rock last week. Now we started at Lost Creek trailhead and hiked 3.37 miles North to Meditation Rock. I took my little ninja , due to the weather, along with me. It is a beautiful trail seeing Rylander Cascades, a mine entrance , Dry Creek Falls, and Meditation Rock. Lot's of icicles hanging off the rocks. Of course being in the area, we had to stop at Lost Creek SNA to see the falls.

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East Lakeshore Tellico Lake TTA

We did and out and back hike led by Beth of the Plateau Chapter. Started at the Mizell trailhead off Jackson Bend Road. Hiked to the North end near 321 then back to the parking lot to go the other way. We enjoyed views of Tellico Lake and a peaceful walk on long pine needles on part of the trail.  We stopped at a rocky bluff overlooking the lake and views of the Wind River Boatdock.  Then hiked to the Antioch Trailhead where there were picnic tables for our lunch break near the marina.  Then back to the parking lot for a total of 9 or so miles. 

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Hell's Kitchen

Lora and I headed out thiis morning to hike to Hell's Kitchen out of Graysville. It was a good morning to be in the woods. Hell's Kitchen is a climbers area off of the Cumberland trail. It's a good steep hike up the mountain where there are rocks laying all over you can walk around.

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Dog Cove Historic Area

We headed up to Sparta to hike the Dog Cove Historic Area. We hiked the 2.25 Homestead trail first passing by the three different Homesteads. Saw deer while going through. The water was down so the creeks were dry. At the end of the trail, if you continue about fifty yards you will find a good water source on Little Lost Creek before it goes underground. We did the loop around the Billy Sapp Homestead field where we got to see some wild hogs. There were four that went across the trail in front of us and then a brown one with little ones saw us and squeeled as she turned around and ran. She came back and looked again, squeeled and then all of the hogs ran back into the woods. From there we took the 2 mile Low Gap trail which is pretty much straight up to Low Gap. We stopped to see the Low Gap Arch and Hunter's Pass. At Hunter's Pass we saw another deer. We hiked down to the Highwater trail and hiked the 0.45 miles back to the car. 

After we got back to the car we decided to hike 1.25 miles up to Meditation Rock on the Dry Creek Falls trail. Then it was time to head home. The trails here might be a little slick in the wet weather.

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New Years Day Hike

Starting the New Year out right.

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