Stinging Falls Fork 12.4.18

Where should I start.  Things didn't go so well on this hike.  No injuries, but I didn't do a very good job of keeping everybody together.  As hike leader on this hike, it was my job to try to keep the 19 hikers organized and together.  It all started with my hike description.  It was to be a fairly short hike but it was steep and rocky.  I didn't state this well in the description.  Because of this, the group became really split up on the way down.  We decided to do a short hike on a new trail being built so some hikers left on this trail while others were just arriving at the Falls.  Needless to say, I couldn't keep track of everyone.  My apologies.   Anyway, we all made it back to the trail head eventually.  Me being the last to arrive and totally exhausted.  I hope everyone got their monies worth on this hike.  The temp. was in the low 40's and overcast.  The falls were really roaring and beautiful.  The total distance I hiked was only 3.3 miles, but if you look at the altitude graph, the change in altitude was 952 ft.  The max speed was 3.0mph with the moving average being 2.4 mph.  The time of the hike was just about 3 hours and 20 minutes.  After the hike we ate at Jacob Myer's and I had the not so good Fish N Chips.  Too much batter!  If you would like to see some pictures including maps and altitude graph, click here.

Soddy Gulf 12.1.18

 Saturday's scheduled hike on the CT was changed due to rains and threatened thunderstorms in the area.  One other hiker showed for the hike.  It was decided that the trail up on the CT would be in pretty poor shape.  As it turned out, the lower part of the trail in Big Soddy Gulf confirmed that – it was flooded in spots.  We arrived at the trailhead around 8:45.  Light rain was falling and the temperature was in the 40's.  The 1.2 mile hike into the trail is basically a gravel road.  I took some company who was visiting me and are not hikers, to this trail.  The creek and waterfalls along the trail were flowing at a good rate.  We hiked the 1.2 miles into the trail to the bridge that crosses the creek before splitting, with the left trail leading up to the CT.  We ended the hike at this point. It was an easy 2 ½ mile easy hike.  It was worth the venturing out in the rain to see the creek and falls in full flow.
To see some pictures of the Gulf flowing nicely and a map of the trail, click here.