South Chickamauga Creek Greenway

12.31.2011  Caroline, Nance Jo and Earl  What a beautiful day for a walk.  The temperature was in the 60s and the sun was shining brightly.  Caroline directed us to this previously unwalked, by us, path.  In the future this trail will connect with the River Walk and be something really special.  When walking East, you quickly run into a boardwalk that is something else.  It stretches for about a mile and follows the Creek.  At the very end is a gravel road that is rather steep but short.  At the top is another small parking area where we sat down and had a snack.  On the return we ran into numerous other hikers and bicyclists, all very friendly.  When going West from the parking lot, in about .64 miles, there is a low spot that causes the path to be completely submerged.  At this point we turned around and returned to the original parking area.  Just to make things more interesting, one of the hikers who shall remain nameless, decided to go grave hunting.  This involves "Find a Grave.com".  This website provides the name of some deceased individuals and the cemetery where they are buried.  It seems that people are actively looking for pictures of the burial plaque of their loved ones.  If found, pictures are then posted and the interested party can see the grave site.  I had no idea!  We found several sites from a list and they will be followed up on.  The overall distance of the actual hike was 5.7 miles with another 1.5 miles or so at the cemetery.  For some pictures of the hike, click here or click on the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway tab above. 

Longbranch Trail

12.29.11  Nance Jo, McBob, Earl   What a beautiful day for hiking.  The temperature was in the 50s with a cloudless blue sky.  The three of us met in the Bi-Lo parking lot and drove South to Nickajack Rd.  After driving almost to the top of Nickajack Road we turned into the Longbranch Trail parking lot.  From there we hiked about 2.7 miles in and stopped at the second bridge for lunch.  At this point we turned around and returned for a total distance of 5.4 miles.  The trail was beautiful with lots of water in the creeks.  We saw trail runner, a couple of other hikers and a single horseback rider.  For some pictures of the hike, click on the Longbranch tab above or here.