Richie Hollow 6.28.2022

 What a beautiful day for a rugged hike.  In the sun, the temperature was about 83F but in the forest, the temperature was only in the mid to high 70 's for this 12 person hike.    The humidity was very high however and everyone was a bid on the damp side.  This moderate hike was an out and back hike up a mountain to the Blowing Wind Falls.  Unfortunately, due to the dry spell we have been having, there was only a trickle of water flowing in the falls.  At this point we had gone 1.75 miles, which was my initial destination, and since it was an uphill hike thus far, we decided to start our much easier return.  This time of year the forest is very green and lush and I think everyone enjoyed the beauty.  Following the 3.5 hour hike, 9 of us decided to stop at the River Drifters café for lunch and chatting.  The lunch was very good!

If you would like to see some pictures including map and altitude graph, click here.

 Saturday found our small group of hikers traversing from Little Soddy creek trailhead on Hotwater road to Big Soddy creek on Back valley road.  The walk was 8 miles with an elevation gain of 1076 feet.  We took turns slipping on the wet rocks from an overnight rain.  It was really humid!  An overgrown section of the trail challenged our trail finding – we “imagined” our way through the wet weeds.  Deep creek and Big Soddy creek held little water.  We crossed over BSC on dry rocks. 

If you would like to see some beautiful pictures taken during this hike, click here.