Desoto State Park 5.31.2022

 It was a little warm for this hike, in the high 80's.  Not too warm to be enjoyable, but everyone was glad they had their water bottles!  It was otherwise a beautiful day with few clouds.  We wandered around in the beautiful woods and everyone had a good chat.  We had maps, but there were far more turnoffs than shown on the map and it didn't take long to realize that we didn't know exactly where we were.  Never the less we trudged on and soon found our way to a recognized trail.  Once on the correct trail, we stopped at a small falls and had lunch.  There were nine hikers on the 4.3 mile hike which I would rate as easy.  Following the hike we went for a brief stop at Desoto Falls, which strangely is not part of Desoto State Park.  You can recognize these photos by the dam in the background.  Following the hike we began our drive home which was an unfortunate adventure. Remember the song Chicken Truck? We weren't following a chicken truck but a very long slow trip home was the fault of a chicken truck.  That adventure will have to wait until another time for discussion.  

If you would like to see a bunch of photos taken during this hike, click here.  

Fall Creek Falls 5.28.2022

 Six hikers from the Scenic City Chapter and two more from the Sumner Trails Chapter enjoyed good weather and a nice hike at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  Our first leg was the Paw Paw trail, a loop meandering through the woods with, except for one, mostly obscured overlooks.  No one expressed an interest in descending the Cable Trail, which was marked with a sign that said “extremely dangerous.”

We then rested and had lunch at picnic tables near the nature center.  Lots of folks had arrived at the park by that time.

The second leg of our hike rewarded us with better views.  The Woodland Trail and Gorge Overlook Trail loop had several good vistas of the gorge and waterfalls, and despite the Memorial Day weekend crowd, six of us made the hike to the base of the falls for an impressive view.

Coming back to the trailhead, we encountered a (foot) traffic jam at the suspension bridge. One person had stopped on the bridge as it swayed widely back and forth, and one of our group with kindness and gentle humor guided her safely across.

The group arrived intact back at the trailhead.  We were happy to have met our new friends from the Sumner Trails Chapter, and folks seemed to have enjoyed the day.

If you would like to see a few pictures taken during this hike, click here.