Elsie Holms Nature Park 8.23.2022

 We had 19 hikers on this hike.  It had been sometime since we had been to the nature center and many new members had never hiked there before.  At first we took the outer loop and following that and a short rest, we decided to take one of the inner loops.  All together this hike took about 2 hours and covered 2.8 miles.  There were a couple of short uphills that had us panting but otherwise the hike was easy.  We did see three Eastern Box Turtles, each with a different design on their backs.  Following the hike, we had lunch at Millers Ale house at which we had a very nice time.  

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

North Chickamauga Creek

 Saturday we hiked the North Chickamauga Creek starting at the Barker Camp trailhead.  We descended through a quiet pine forest, changing after a mile to a rocky ATV road.  Just after a bend in the trail, we arrived at a huge rock amphitheater.  Each hiker chose their "best" crossing over the boulders to the metal bridge spanning over Cain Creek.  Next the trail, overgrown in a few places, went up and down the ridge and occasionally to the cascades of the North Chickamauga Creek.  It was slow going over the rough trail.  Some of the hikers stopped for lunch at a rocky overhang.  A few of us pressed on to a small waterfall.  Then the attack of the yellow jackets occurred.  We quickly retreated as the wasps chased and stung us.  A safe distance from the mean bugs, we treated our wounds and shared Benadryl.  Rejoining the rest of our group, we retraced our steps to the trailhead.  A more rugged hike than previously remembered, we logged 9.8miles with an elevation gain of 2067 feet.  

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