Glenn Falls

2.18.14    Our hike today was to Glen Falls on Lookout Mountain, while it was new to me I wasn't expecting it to be as Spectacular as many of the hikes we make because this was a Tuesday hike which is typically, for our club, a shorter and easier hike than we normally do on Saturdays.  We started from the lower parking lot at Ruby Falls and we had a great turnout of 20 hikers.  Based on the mileage of about 6 miles round trip I would rate it as moderate but after meandering down a closed access road we started our climb and it was sufficient to give everyone a good cardio workout for what the sign said was only .5 miles but the way it kept going up I would have sworn it was more like a mile before it leveled off.  There was a nice picnic area located about half way through the first leg of the hike near the top but the restrooms were apparently closed during the winter months.  What I found spectacular near the end of the trail was the stone door just above the falls.  It was an awesome example of mother nature at her best!  As we crossed the bridge at the bottom of the falls there is not a good vantage point to view the falls until you ascend and go through the stone door and then you can look down on the falls and appreciate it much better than what was visible below.  With the rock formations scattered along the creek at the top leading to the falls it made a great place to just sit a spell and soak up the sunshine which was so generously available today.  You couldn't ask for better hiking weather than what we had today and along with the friendly crowd that turned out for today’s hike it made this hike spectacular to me.  We finished off the day with a stop at the foot of the mountain for a delicious lunch at a nearby Mexican Restaurant and the pork tacos were delicious.  With the enjoyable camaraderie and the lunches I may start looking forward to the Tuesday hikes as much as I do on the Saturday hikes!  If you weren’t out on the trail somewhere today you missed a great opportunity.  Happy Hiking!  To see some pictures, please click on the Glenn Falls tab above.
Larry.

The ideal mountain trail is one which has no end. The ideal trail journey is one which never turns back, but leads forever onward to discover what lies around the next bend and beyond the next crest.  (Elmer Adams)

Signal Mtn. High School

2.15.14  Todays hike was originally going to be travelling from Signal Mtn. High School to the CT parking lot in the Prentice Cooper WMA but due to our low turn-out of participants, George, our hike leader for this trek, decided to not waste our time in staging a vehicle on both ends but instead rework the hike to maintain approximately the same mileage by hiking to Poplar Springs from the High School and back so we just had to take one vehicle for the day.  I believe it worked out much better in that we were able to hit the trail a good hour earlier than originally thought.  There were only three of us today, George, Boodie and myself.  It started out as a cold, crisp morning so I got to try out my camouflage neoprene full face mask and it worked great to keep my face and ears toasty warm.  Most of the snow from the previous week was about gone from the trails but you could still see remnants around the ridges where the sun hadn’t reached yet.  The mileage was between 9 and 10 miles and it was definitely what I would rate as strenuous based on the ascension of several steep ridges between the High School and the Campground.  This was territory that I haven’t had the opportunity to hike previously so it made for a great hike.   Once we made our way to the Prentice Cooper WMA we stopped a few hundred yards below Poplar Springs to snack at an Overlook above Highway 27 and there we met three very nice hikers from the Knoxville area that were also doing a day hike along the CT as well.  I imposed on them to get their picture made with George and Boodie and I've included it among the many that are posted for this trek.  With any luck maybe we will see them again one day on the CT.  After our stop for snacks and conversation with the guys and girl from Knoxville we parted ways and proceeded to our destination of Poplar Springs and from there we headed back to the High School to end our hike for the day.  I know that even though we were lacking in the quantity of hikers for this trip, we more than made up for it in the quality of a great Saturday hike!  Hope to see ya’ll on the trail real soon!!!