Fall Creek Falls 2013

We had the weekend off, so we took our grand babies and daughter camping at Fall Creek Falls.  This was a car camping trip.  They went over Friday evening and I joined them for the weekend.  We did the Cain Creek falls hike to the overlook and then spent the afternoon at the pool.  The next day we hiked to the bottom of Fall Creek Falls and then spent the afternoon at the Cain Creek swimming hole.  We got a lot of time at the play ground as well.  Great weekend!

Pictures:

Walls of Jericho TTA

Beautiful day for a hike, 55 degrees this morning starting from home. I drove to the Alabama state line thru lots of farmland going the scenic route. Through the Savage Gulf area, to Hwy 50, through Pelham, Decherd, Winchester. Nice drive. Met up with the folks from Murfreesboro at the trailhead. Roy was our hike leader. We shuttled cars to the AL trailhead then started at the TN trailhead. I asked right away who was the scout for snakes. Someone said the one in the lead. I was the 5th in line and found the snake. Black snake, looked comfortable sleeping. We let him sleep. The trail was a little overgrown in some areas. We did find a few ripe huckleberries...yummmm. We also spotted some wildflowers blooming; Pipsissewa, daisies, Spiderwort, Indian Paintbrush, Ashy Hydrangea. 

All the creeks were dry today so we didn't go to the blowhole. We met Marietta coming up from the walls, she had been planing to meet us and hike out, but she had already spent some time at the walls and was ready to hike out. It was warming up. When we arrived at the walls, there was one hole of water you could swim in, but just a little bit trickling down from the walls. There were plenty of tadpoles in the little pools of water. We found a shady spot and ate lunch. We had to climb on up to inspect the big hole and to see if there was any water coming over the waterfall. There wasn't and the hole was dry too. There was a vine with some blooms on it that were very interesting. I thought it might be Vasevine, not sure. Since I forgot my camera.......

The hike out seemed mostly uphill...hmmm what's up with that. We saw some cool looking centipedes and millipedes on the trail. I knew it was getting close to suppertime and mentioned that to Nabil, who said that we should go for ice cream when we got off the trail. Our hike leader had a cooler filled with ice cold water waiting for us in the parking lot. 

It was a good day of hiking and enjoyed being with Sara, Nabil, Jamie, Wayne, Jan, and Roy.

Pictures:

Rock Island State Park

Lora and I decided to do an overnight trip to Rock Island State Park.  We headed out Friday evening and got to the park at dinner time.  We found our site in the campground ate dinner and went exploring.  We started on the other side of the river and hiked the 1.6 mile Downstream trail.  It is rated strenuous but we found it quite easy.  It goes by the Twin Falls, the Blue Hole, and does a loop at the bottom.  There is a side trail that leads to a rock house with a creek cascading down a rock formation just in front of the rock house. Pretty neat!

After that we hiked the 0.5 mile Upstream trail also labeled as strenuous.  It goes up to the flat rock bed down from the Great Falls.  After that we drove back to the other side of the river to visit the Great Falls overlook, the Cotton Mill, Castle, and another overlook.  We saw a couple of deer while we were out.  We then headed to the boat launch and beach to check it out.

We got back to camp, set up our camp, and started our campfire.  All was good!

The next morning we got up ate breakfast, broke down camp, and headed off for a fun filled day.  We started with the 1.7 Bluff trail.  It is a lollipop trail which includes a grown up Bluff which probably had views in the winter.  We kicked up a deer on the trail.  From here we went to hike the 3 mile Collins River trail.  It wonders along the Collins River and then cuts up by a cemetery and old home site.

After our hiking, we took our canoe and headed to the boat launch.  There were a lot of people out this morning.  We headed upstream to the Blue Hole and then went down stream as far as Barren Creek.  We saw lots of canoes and kayaks on the water.  We stopped and visited a man at the Horseshoe Bend Marina who told us about a water fall on Barren Creek.  So after you pass the Webb's Camp Road boat ramp you go across the river to Barren Creek.  You go as far as you can by boat and then walk up the creek 100 yards to the falls.  Very pretty area.

After we got back we loaded up and headed home.  It was a beautiful area to visit.

Pictures:

2013 Ohio Trip

We had a five day backpack on the AT scheduled when Lora hurt her back.  It worked out fine though because my Grandson's Birthday was on the Memorial Day weekend so we headed to Ohio to do some spoiling.  We got time with two daughters and three grandchildren which made for a very special weekend.

Pictures:

Hornsby Hollow

We got to gather with family at the Hornsby Hollow Camp Ground in Ten Mile, TN for Mother's Day weekend.  We had spent a weekend here last year and knew it would be a great place for a family camp out.   My Mom and Dad got the chance to test their new camper out and Lora's sister and our nephew and his friend spent the day with us.  We cooked out, canoed  hiked, and played games.  I was the only one that tried swimming and it didn't last very long as the water has not gotten all that warm yet.  A good time was had by all.

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Cumberland Mountain Segment - Cumberland Trail

Cumberland Trail to rock overlook back to shelter 9.5
Shelter to trailhead via Volunteer trail 10
Total Miles 19.5

Lora and I headed to the Cumberland Mountain Segment of the Cumberland Trail.  We started at the trailhead next to Cove Lake State Park in Caryville, TN.  The trail will climb the Devils Racetrack (as pictured above) and go the length of Cumberland Mountain.

The trail starts on Bruce Gap Road and follows I-75 for a couple of miles until you climb the Devils Racetrack.  During that couple of miles you see a lot of wildflowers as you go by several wet areas and streams followed by hillside walking where the trail is pinched between the interstate and Shelton Hollow Lane.  We got to watch a doe and her youngster feeding as they did not hear or see us.  When we moved on they took off.  From here you drop down to Bruce Creek and climb it upstream past the man made water falls.  A bridge will take you across Bruce Creek and then you start the steep assent of Cumberland Mountain and the Devils Racetrack.

There is a beautiful 360 degree view from the top of the Racetrack.  The rock formation that you see of the Racetrack continues the full length of Cumberland Mountain.  The trail follows the rock lines and often the rock ridges are the trail.  It is an amazing formation and really cool to hike such a mountain.  The area between the rock formations is like a bowl or valley.  I have never seen a Mountain like this one.  You are ridge walking the entire way which is also a lot of ups and downs.

5.6 miles into the trail you come to a gravel road and then a house.  They have built a fancy fence there and a  gate for hikers to walk out to Eagle Bluff which gives you another aerial view of Jacksboro and Lafollette.  You can see the fingers of Norris Lake as well.  From there you get back on the trail and hike the ridges until you get to another one of the long skinny rock formations that have a hole in it called Window Rock.  I just had to climb through the window to see the other side.

From Window Rock you continue to walk the ridge and then you drop down between the ridges and the trail drops down to a wet spring area and then follows the bottom of the other ridge as the springs come together to form a good creek.  Just past this creek is the shelter which is in really good shape.  We set up camp by the shelter and gathered our water and firewood.  After dinner, while we still had daylight, we continued on down the trail 0.3 miles to the last really good overlook which they label the Rock Climb which is back on top of the rock ridge.  A ladder assists you with the climb up to the magnificent scenic view.

We hiked back to camp and enjoyed the sunset followed by a bright moon and stars.  We enjoyed the heat of the campfire as the temperature dropped.

The next morning we hiked back the way we came.  We saw the dam of the La Follette Reservoir off to the north and saw some more deer early in the day.  When we got to the Volunteer trail we took it which looped around and pass a beaver pond and then comes back into the main trail.  It blocked the sound of traffic on that section of the trail a lot better.

Pictures:

Ladies Spring Backpack 2013

Diane scheduled our “not Easter, but a backpack in the Smokies” in perfect timing for the wildflower show. Eight ladies from Nashville, Murfreesboro, Maryville, and Pikeville out for an adventure. Diane, Sue, Nancy, Amy, Sara, Ann, Garnett, and me. Mom drove me to Crossville to meet them. We drove to Twentymile Ranger Station via the Dragon Tail. We saw the Blount County FD putting out a car fire in one of the curves. Hope the driver got out ok. We shuttled one van to Fontana Dam. At the trailhead we celebrated Sue’s retirement from REI with mimosas. Congratulations Sue! We had to get started cause possible severe weather was in the forecast for the night. We got to the creek crossings and all 5 had log bridges. 3 of us looked off trail for a cascade that we did not find. We got to campsite 95 and set up camp. This is a big camp, lots of space for tents. We gathered firewood and got a fire started and cooked supper before the rain came. We saw a big bird in camp, never figured out what it was. Bigger than a hawk, dark colored. Wildflowers we saw- Trilliums, white, yellow, Sweet Betsy, Wood Betony, Hellabore, Star Chickweed, Foamflower, and several violets.

2.5 miles

DAY TWO:

We started uphill on the Wolf Ridge Trail, up, and up. We had lunch at Parson’s Bald which is not maintained by the park. Lots of briars and blueberry bushes. We set up at campsite 13 at Sheep Pen Gap. Four of us continued hiking down the Gregory Bald Trail to Parson’s Branch Road. Diane spotted a wild hog and yelled “WHOA”. She said it flew across the trail from the bank. I saw it running across the next ridge in the distance. Pigs really can fly!

I spotted a snake and screamed “EEK” after Diane and Nancy stepped across it. They said it was just a garter snake…..Whatever, it’s still a snake. We didn’t stay long at Parson’s Branch Road, the gnats were biting. Back up we went. We stopped to get water at the “seep” which is the water source for Camp 13. It had enough running water to catch it in water bags or to filter from the stream. It was actually flowing. Last time I got water here I used a sandwich baggie to try to collect the water. As we arrived at camp the other ladies had finished supper and were heading to Gregory Bald to watch the sunset. Nancy started a campfire from all the wood the other ladies had collected. Ann had rebuilt the fire ring. It looked pitiful when we arrived. The temp had dropped considerable as the sun went down. The deer were roaming the camp, looking for handouts and any sweaty socks or clothing they could steal. The stars put on a show.

12.3 miles

DAY THREE:

Saturday morning we had to cook breakfast behind a log and from the doors of our tents to get out of the howling wind. There was frost on the leaves at Gregory Bald when we got there.  We finished the Gregory Bald Trail to the junction with the AT at Doe Knob. On the way up we saw a big bear, they’re awake! We met a few NOBOs at the junction. Hiked back down to the junction for the Long Hungry Ridge Trail and ate lunch, the started down. We met several FSU students, and a dad with two young kids. The dad and kids were doing a 16 mile day. Did I mention the YOUNG kids? They were only about 8 to 10 years old and didn’t look the least bit tired. They had started at Twentymile, hiked to Gregory Bald, going down Long Hungry Ridge heading to Fontana! Wow. cool kids! We had 2 foot washings that felt so good on our hot feet. Set up camp at 92, and took a bath with cold creek water. Wheeeeee! Nice campfire, good times, sharing food and stories, watching stars pop out.

8.7 miles

DAY FOUR:

Sunday morning I woke up and got the fire started. We finished Long Hungry and got on Twentymile Trail to get to the AT. We climbed the hill to Shuckstack Fire tower; .2 or.5 from the junction depending on which Little Brown Book you read. Climbed the tower, the higher you climb the more wind there was. Took pics from inside the tower and from the stairs. 360 degree view from the tower. Went back to the junction to have lunch out of the wind. The gnats were chewing, so you had to sit in the wind or get eaten alive. Sue and Garnett left us here to hike the AT down to Fontana. The rest started down the Lost Cove Trail, and I do mean DOWN; STEEP! Met 4 Duke U students hiking up on the advice of a guy that told them what a great trail to get to Shuckstack. Glad it was them and not me! As the trail leveled out we saw green everywhere, spring had arrived and wildflowers were everywhere. We saw Bellwort, Wild Oats, Wild Ginseng, Vassey’s Trillium, and several other wildflowers. Pictures won’t do it justice; you just have to see it for yourself. We had 13 creek crossings, most small streams and rock hopping, 5 foot washings, some of those knee and thigh washings too. We finished Lost Cove and took the Lakeshore Trail .3 miles to campsite 90 where we found a rock sectional sofa built around a huge fire ring right by the water. We gathered wood and then went back to the trees to a huge campsite to set up our tents. We had one other camper who joined us around the campfire. he was hunting plane crash sites in the Smokies.  It was sprinkling on our fire and the wind was sending sparks and ashes flying so eating supper without ashes was a challenge, and you couldn’t sit down for long for getting covered with ashes and sparks. The fire ring is too high. We need to take shovels and tear down the ring, shovel out the 3 foot high mound of ashes and start over. No shovels to be found. The rain came and we abandoned the fire and got in the tents. After running off a frog trying to set up camp under my tent flap, I settled in for a long night, too early for sleep, made notes for a future backpack, read map and trail descriptions for the next day and finally got some zzzz’s.

6.1 miles

DAY FIVE:

Monday morning and didn’t have to go to work! Woo hoo! Found lots of violets around the campsite and Little Brown Jugs. We hiked the Lakeshore trail to Fontana Dam on our last day. Crossing the streams we found some Dwarf Crested Iris in bloom. So very pretty to see. We all celebrated as we finished the trail. We still had a mile to the car, crossing the Dam we looked back to see Shuckstack high on the ridge. Looks so small from here. Sue and Garnett met us at the visitor’s center. We said some goodbyes; Sue took Garnett, Amy and Nancy to the Fontana Hilton shelter, came back and picked up the rest of us to take us back to Twentymile Ranger Station. She dropped us off and went back to the shelter. They were staying to hike Tuesday to finish the Twentymile Loop Trail. The rest of us headed back down the Dragon Tail. We drove the Foothills Parkway to get toMaryville. We stopped at the Little River Trading Company to look for bargains. We ate lunch on the way; they dropped me off at Cracker Barrel in Crossville. Craig picked me up; our reunion in the parking lot was great, we didn’t embarrass anybody or anything. We did stop at Sonic for an M&M Blast, two spoons.

5.6 miles

Total miles 35.2          

Pictures:

Cedar Glade Natural Area

Nora Beck from Nashville TTA led a hike today at Flat Rock State Natural Area. I came to the Boro to see Craig at the Fire Department and to hike with Nora.

There were nine hikers ready to explore.

We were hoping to find the Pyne's Ground Plum which only grows in Rutherford County in Tennessee. It's rare. We didn't find any blooming but we think we may have found the plant. We saw white Trout Lilys which I had never seen before, Tennessee Glade Cress, Rue Anemone, Nashville Breadroot and a few other plants. There are some sinkholes, and a small pond filled by a small spring. Nora had a little jar and filled it from the pond so Natalie could observe all the small creatures with a hand lens. And of course Cedars everywhere. This is a really pretty place to visit and I want to come back to see the Ground Plum blooming or maybe when it bears fruit.

Pictures:

Wheeler Farm, Crusher Hole, Lost Creek Cave and Falls

We decided to go hike the Wheeler Farm loop at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  It is a two mile loop trail on a farm that Lora's ancestors actually owned at one time.  It now belongs to the State Park and is accessed off of Hwy 30.  There is a parking area next to a gate which is closed.  The loop starts on the left and the farm is down the road on the right.  The trail descends into the valley with sites to be seen.

When you get to the first sign which says Wheeler Farm Loop telling you to go left, take the trail to the right about 50 yards and you will see Medley's Arch.  It stands at 90' and spans 30'.  There is a small trail off to the right that takes you up to the top of the arch which is not very wide.

Head back to the trail and follow a creek bed down to the fields below which is the farm.  The trail goes through the field and past an old out building to the Wheeler Falls.  We ate lunch here enjoying the falls and flowers.

We went down from the falls and headed back East toward to old home site where a chimney still stands.  You can see the walkway and front porch.  Then we walked back to the falls and followed the road up to the parking area.

From here we drove on to the "Crusher Hole".  Go down Hwy 30 to Hwy 285 at the bottom of the valley and turn right.  Just before the bridge over Cane Creek turn right onto Owl Hole road.  You have to cross a creek on the way in as drive through the creek.  This is where the old crusher was and there are wild flowers all through this area.  We met up with Anthony, Lora's cousin, who was giving a wildflower photographer class.  This led us onto our next adventure.

Anthony took us to Lost Creek Falls and Lost Creek Cave.  You continue up Hwy 285 and turn right onto Hickory Valley road.  Take it to the dead end and turn right onto Big Bottom road or White's Cave road.  Follow it out 4.4 miles and you will see the cave entrance and falls off to your left.  I guess it was called White's Cave at one time too?

Lost Creek Falls is a 60' water fall.  If you go into the cave there is another waterfall inside the cave, but it is back a piece.  My biggest surprise was Lora walking off into a cave.  The last time I tried to take her in a cave she stopped where the sun did and she was done.  The falls inside was running strong.  Very beautiful!

Pictures:

Lake Shore Trail to Newfound Gap

Dam walk to trailhead 0.5
Lake Shore trail to #86 10.5
DAY ONE: 11.0 Miles

Side trip to Lake and back at #86 1.0
Lake Shore trail from #86 to #76 12.3
DAY TWO: 13.3 Miles

Lake Shore trail from #76 to #74 8.9
DAY THREE: 8.9 Miles

Lake Shore trail from #74 to Lake view drive 3.0
Lake view drive 1.1
Noland Creek trail to #61 8.3
DAY FOUR: 12.4

Noland Creek trail #61to Noland Divide 0.9
Noland Divide to Clingmans Dome Road 3.7
Clingmans Dome Road to Newfound Gap Road 5.8
DAY FIVE: 10.4

TOTAL MILES: 56 Miles

Our original plan was to hike the AT from Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap.  We found out that the thru hikers were going through now and also the permits were taken for the shelters.  Our plan "B" went to the Lakeshore trail starting at Fontana Dam and ending at Newfound Gap by way of Noland and the AT.  We almost went to a plan "C" when we found out that all of the roads in the park were closed for snow.  Our plan was to have our shuttle meet us at Newfound Gap and drop us off at the Dam.  When I called him about the roads being closed, he volunteered to pick us up at Newfound Gap on Sunday.

Lakeshore trail brought back memories from our Father Son Hike in 2005.  One memory being the boat trip which we had a shuttle to take it's place.  The second being the miscalculation of my brother's mileage which had us do a 13.9 mile last day.  So I figured the miles twice to be sure all was well.  The third memory is that the name of the trail is misleading.  Yes, in general it goes along the side of the lake and that is about it.  You are anywhere from 300 to 800 feet above the lake and you do get views of the lake every now and then.  There are lots of ups and downs as with any trail in the Smoky's.

There is a lot of history on this trail.  When they flooded the valley a lot of people were displaced including whole towns.  You get to see a lot of old home sites, cars, chimneys, metal junk, cemeteries, one restored house in the old town of Proctor, and a tunnel.  We really thought we would see alot of wild flowers, but we were early for them.  The whole trail is 35 miles long and is one of the longest single trails in the National Park.  You can section hike it with boat shuttles out of the marina.

DAY ONE:

We started off this hike with a milage extender.  They were working on the dam, so we parked at the far side and hiked across the dam to the trailhead.  The trailhead is at a split with the AT.  We saw two hikers come up behind us that took the AT.  There was snow on the ground, but it was melting pretty fast as the sun was shining on it.  We met a group of ten students from Minnesota who were on their Spring Break and were doing an out and back backpack on the trail.  That was the last of the people on the trail.  We did see two people fishing at campsite 90 which looks like a fisherman's paradise.

We got to see a hawk, a lizard, and two Mallard ducks.  The park had some kind of feeder or trap hung in the trees.  It was located right next to a small creek in the woods.  At the end of one of the hanging ropes I saw something black and white on the ground.  Well, when I walked up to it, it stood up.  I was looking at the tail end of a Mallard duck.  Next to it was a female.  That was the last thing I expected out here in the woods.

We got to see a lot of cars, old metal pieces, and old homesites.  Our campsite was at the old location of the town of Proctor where they have a restored house.  It was a big campground with lots of sites.  We had a quite and star filled night.  The moon came up and lite the campsite up all night.

DAY TWO:

We started out the day right or wrong I guess.  We headed away from town,  but on the wrong trail.  We got to see some deer in a clearing and the creek got bigger as we headed toward the lake.  We stopped when we saw a bridge way up on the bank of the lake bed.  The pylons were in line with our trail which didn't look good for the home team.  While Lora was saying "I am not ...." over and over again, I pulled out the map out and found that we had gone the wrong way and we would not be swimming across the river.  We turned around and headed back to town.  At the bridge next to the sign we took a picture of the night before with information about the town, was a sign pointing the direction that we were supposed to go.  Yes, when we passed the deer again, they were rolling on the ground laughing and pointing at us.

We got to see a chipmunk, wood pecker, a hawk, two C130's and a Grouse which scared the bejesus out of us.  Yes, two C130 aircraft flying in formation over the lake at low low level.  My Dad would be proud!

There were more homesites and our campsite was close to one too.  Campsite 76 is a small clearing just on the side of the trail.  Another great night.

DAY THREE:

This part of the trail actually follows the closest to the lake.  It was our short day of hiking so we took our time getting going.  Lots of homesites in this area.  We saw some people in campsite 98 as we went by it.  We also saw the first and only boats we were going to see on the lake.  Two fishing boats went by that morning.

When we got to our campsite at Forney Creek there was one tent there and a woman by the campfire.  We put up our tent and the rain started.  We unpacked in the tent and took a nap.  The rain stopped so we got up and went over to visit.  There were two guys that had been doing some fishing and the woman.  They were locals and were out for two nights.  After visiting with them we went back and cooked dinner.  Later, another tent popped up with another couple.  We went back over to the fire and visited with them as well.  They were from North Carolina.  The original campers had dragged the firewood from a mile and a half up trail where they were fishing.  It is a well used campsite!

After we went to bed the rain started back up and it rained all night.

DAY FOUR:

The rain had stopped by the time we got up.  We packed up and headed out before anyone else got up.  We passed a single backpacker who was just starting out on the Lakeshore trail going the oposite direction. When we got to the tunnel, a family was coming through making as many echo's as they could.  The parking area was full.  We road hiked down to the Noland Creek trailhead and got a signal to call the park.  The recording said that all the roads were now open.

The Nolands Creek trail is road bed up to campsite 64.  We stopped there and ate lunch at one of the picnic tables.  From there up is regular trail.  We got to see more homesites and the bracing for an old water wheel for a powerplant.  We had three old fashion foot washings further up the trail and we found a dead owl on the trail.  We hit one section that the grass hoppers had hatched out.  There were millions of them all about a quarter inch long.

We camped at 61 which is a small campsite right on the trail.  We had another wonderful night by the campfire and the rain started just as we went to bed.

DAY FIVE:

We got up to a muddy campsite.  It had poured all last night.  We got up early wanting to get home a decent time.  Surprisingly, it was all uphill to Clingman's Dome.  More surprisingly was the more and more snow that we got into.  It was a good wet snow with water running under it down the trail.  It didn't even make good snow angels as Lora tried to do.  She acted like she didn't do it on purpose, but I know she was trying.  She got really wet though.  The last couple of miles on the Noland Divide trail were a workout and we were tired by the time we got to the Clingman's Dome road.

The thought of hiking the AT from here was dampened by the AT hikers using the road.  There was a packed down trail going down the road that had anywhere from three to eight inches depending on where you were.  The AT thru hikers were heading to Gatlinburg until the snow melted.  We called our ride and told him we were hiking the road.  I got some comments about wearing shorts from the thru hikers and people at the end of the road.  Our ride was waiting for us when we got there so life was good.  We found out the next day that the park service rescued 10 hikers from the AT at Clingman's Dome that same afternoon.

We had wondered if there were any Bald Eagles at Fontana Lake.  We even asked our ride when he dropped us off.  After we left the dam and crossed the bridge back over the lake we saw a Bald Eagle on the side of the road in a tree.  I backed up so we could look at it and it flew to the other side of the lake and landed in a tree with another Bald Eagle.  So if anyone was wondering, Yes, there are Bald Eagles on Fontana Lake.

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