Saturday's hike was a pretty good hike considering the high humidity and threat of rain.
Fortunately the skies remained overcast and the rain at the park was limited to sprinkles
only. We caravanned to the trailhead from Brown's Ferry exit on I-24 and arrived at the
trailhead shortly after 9am. Originally we planned to do the hike from the upper trailhead to
the low point of the trail but switched plans and hiked from the lower trailhead and hiked up
and back. This turned out to be a better plan. However, because of the change in direction,
and our rapid ascent, we ended up with an 8+ mile hike instead of the 5 miles I originally
planned. We arrived at Hemlock Falls around 11am and would have returned to the
trailhead, but a vote was taken to continue to Cherokee Falls and the top of the canyon. I
would have voted not to go to the top if it were not for the fact the temperature was held
down because of the overcast conditions. Hiking during Covid-19 cautions continues to
present challenges to maintain social distancing and mask wearing. The park was pretty
much filled and I would estimate 90% of the hikers on the trail did not wear masks when in
close proximity with other hikers. Our party did wear our masks when approaching others
on the trail. Cloudland Canyon is always a good hike because of the natural beauty of the
park and the well maintained trails.
If you would like to see some pictures taken during this hike, click here. If you are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the website at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.