Piney River Hike 05-11-2019
Well once again, with the aide of a cell phone and a weather app., I managed to get a good hike in. Sitting in the Soddy Daisy parking lot and wondering if anyone would show up, or if the weather would cooperate, one new hiker showed up and was willing to take a chance on my decision to do the hike. The same weather conditions that existed last week, seemed to repeat itself this week. The rain appeared to be ending for about 4 to 5 hours. So off we went to hike the Piney River Trail. The new hiker was just returning to hiking after a long hiatus, so instead of doing the scheduled long hike, we decided on doing several of the loop trails off the main trail. It turned out to be the right decision. We departed the trailhead shortly after 9am. The sky was overcast and threatening, but the rain did appear to be over for the time being. We took the Twin Rocks Nature Trail up to the twin rocks overlook. It was a moderate climb up. We were rewarded with beautiful rock formations, blooming mountain laurel, and at the top, a uniquely constructed overlook that required a traverse across an approximately 20 foot gap between large boulders (see pictures). We then descended to the main trail and took the Flat Rock Loop Trail to the river. The river was really flowing because of the recent rains, and we were rewarded with a water falls on the river. It started to sprinkle and we headed out to exit the trail. We arrived at the parking area to witness a group of butterflies engaged in their mating ritual (I thought to myself, “they need to get a room”). It was then, as it was last week, that the rains arrived. It was an approximately 1.5 mile easy hike.
If you would like to see some really nice pictures, including maps, click here. If you are having trouble viewing the pictures and are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.
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