Sitton's Gulch 10.30.18

This was one of our longer drives.  We chose to go to Sitton's Gulch in Cloudland Canyon.  Instead of  the 600 plus steps approach, we entered toward Hemlock falls via Sitton's Gulch.  I guess you could say we cheated!  This approach led us on a five mile round trip hike with a duration of just under three hours for this very large group of 23.  I would rate this hike as moderate as the route to the falls is a steady, but shallow climb.  We averaged 2.5 mph on the hike with a peak of 4.0 mph.  The overall average for this hike was 1.6 mph.  Once we reached the falls we enjoyed a short snack before leaving.  Of interest is that one of the hikers dropped her hiking stick in a most difficult to retrieve spot.  However, with some serious climbing and squeezing it was retrieved.  The falls were beautiful even though there was not a lot of water flowing.  This time of year is always very beautiful for a hike and the temperature was perfect.  Following the hike, we had a very nice lunch at the Parkway Pourhouse in Chattanooga near the river.  If you would like to see a bunch of pictures including a map and altitude graph, click here.