7.5.14    Saturday’s hike for the Soddy Daisy Chapter was scheduled for Cloudland Canyon with a final estimated distance of just under 7 miles.   It was rated as Moderate too Strenuous on the hiking schedule for July but since most of us hiked over to the West Rim Loop and then went to both Hemlock & Cherokee Falls I would definitely have to rate it as Strenuous and in a second you will hear more about the Strenuous parts.  George Bonneau was our hike leader for this event and he kept up a very quick pace throughout the morning hike, good job George!  I honestly believe he was in a hurry to get back home to some of Sarah’s famous homemade Peach Ice Cream.  But I digress, we met at the Bi-Lo in Red Bank for an 8:00 am departure and we were pleasantly surprised to have not only seven of our regular chapter members but four new hikers by the names of Zachary Tate, Courtney Parker, Wayne Welch, and Melanie Welch.  Thanks guys for showing up and adding to our enjoyment.  By the time we arrived at Cloudland Canyon State Park we began our hike around 9:00 am and headed for the West Rim trail.  Once on the West Rim trail, the path follows Daniel creek for a short period before crossing it by way of a footbridge. The trail provides switchbacks up the hillside so be on the lookout for a couple of sharp turns, denoted by a double yellow blaze. Eventually you will come to a small footbridge and the Park’s information board with map.  Here, the loop part of the trail begins. The map description will follow the creek upstream making the loop clockwise.  This has to be one of the most scenic hiking trails in our area if not the entire Southeast, the trail provides magnificent views of Trenton, Georgia, neighboring Sand Mountain, and of Cloudland Canyon itself.  During the morning hours we were comforted with a steady light breeze which helped with evaporating the perspiration and making the temperature much more bearable.  Now let’s get to the part that aided in making this a Strenuous hike.  Once we completed the West Rim Loop we began our return towards the parking lot but before starting up the ascending staircase back to the parking lot we took a vote on going to both Hemlock and Cherokee Falls.  It didn’t seem like much of a quest to me at the time until we hit the multiple staircases going down towards Hemlock Falls.  I lost count as to the total number of steps going down but I believe they added some extra steps before we started back up.  I’ve since read that from the parking lot down to Hemlock it’s approximately 600 steps so if it’s 600 going down then that somehow equates to 600 to get back up to the top.  I guess you could say that it was worth the effort to be able to view a 90 ft. waterfall but somehow once we made it back up and then began our descent down to the 60 ft. Cherokee Falls it turned out to be a welcome relief from the first falls since it only had about 40 or so steps to be able to view it and it was, to me, a prettier setting with a larger pool than the first and was partly surrounded by an arching rock wall.  Also you were relatively closer to it at ground level than being restricted to staying on the viewing deck they had setup for the hikers at Hemlock.  The only sad part for the young and the young at heart is they don’t allow any swimming in either of the pools as they do in some similar settings at other parks.  Well after we bid farewell to Cherokee Falls we began our trek to the top and met up with the ones of our group that didn’t want to test their endurance by going to the Falls.  Oh and btw if you notice I don’t have my usual group photo included with this hike description it’s because I was convinced that I needed to let a bystander use my camera and take a full group picture which would have included myself  – well as luck would have it a nice lady volunteered, I’m not sure what button she pushed when she said she took two shots but when I returned home, guess what, no group shots on my camera!  My fault, Live & Learn  -  Lol  -  Happy Hiking!    For a few pictures of the hike click here or on the picture to the right.