3.8.14    There were 13 lucky souls who could have stayed home and worked around the house on such a warm and beautiful late winter’s day but instead decided to throw caution to the wind and make a sacrifice by driving up to the Cumberland Mountain State Park just outside of Crossville, Tn to share a 9 mile hike together.  Oh well it looks as though the work around the house will just have to wait for another day.  We had the pleasure of having two new hikers with us, one young lady from Dayton, Tn and a young man from LaFayette, Ga and they were a very welcome addition to our numbers.  Our hike leader was George Bonneau of the TTA, Soddy Daisy Chapter and he had set us up to  hike approximately 8 miles but several of us that were in the lead added at least another mile to it on the way back either because we were having so much fun or maybe because we made a wrong turn, I was happy with the way it turned out so it didn’t matter to me!  Beginning around 10:00 a.m. we left the Ranger’s Office and headed towards the centerpiece of the Park where the trail began, the old stone bridge/dam located less than a quarter of a mile from the Office.   The stone bridge/dam was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late '30s and it’s still a beauty to behold.  We followed the steps down beside the bridge and began with the red blazes for the  Cumberland Plateau Trail.  Within approximately a .5 mile the blazes changed to yellow for the Byrd Creek Trail  and at about 1.25 miles we crossed a quaint bridge over a small creek that was built as an Eagle Scout project a number of years ago.   Shortly thereafter we started following the blue blazes for the Overnight Trail which included a campsite thus the label as the Overnight Trail as well as a Suspension Bridge over Three Mile Creek.  This trail was listed as a 6 mile loop.  I’m assuming that this trail doesn’t get a lot of traffic since it’s the most distant trail from the Ranger’s Office and that’s probably the reason it could use a little TLC when it comes to removing downed trees from the trail.  The loop intersected back to a segment of the yellow blazed trail and we returned to our vehicles at the Ranger’s Office.  I would like to say that everyone had a great time and returned home but that would be leaving out one of the best parts of the trip, the buffet meal after the hike at the State Park’s Restaurant.  This was probably the best lunch I’ve had in quite a while (it’s apparent that they have some awesome cooks in the kitchen) and I would highly recommend that it’s well worth the trip to get in a great hike and then replenish your calories that were burned off during the lengthy hike by stopping at the restaurant for the buffet.  I actually believe that I added many more calories than I burned on the hike but me and food are best friends!  Happy Hiking Everyone! J

Larry