Lower Leggett to Connector 3.30.19

Today five hikers turned out for the Saturday hike at the Lower Leggett Connector Loop. The hike included a side trip to the Rock Creek overlook which provides an excellent view of the Rock Creek Gorge.

Overall the hike was about 7 miles. We hiked the loop in a counterclockwise direction so that about the first third of the loop was uphill ( to the upper leggett road trailhead), the next third was downhill, and the last part was pretty level.

The weather was very nice ( mostly cloudy, but mild temps) We lunched about halfway thru the hike at the Rock Creek  gorge overlook. The pictures today were taken by Tom and John using their trusty cellphones. 

Today's hike would be rated as moderate (with the uphill climb to the lookout being moderately strenuous). 

Again we noted ( and photographed) a few small wildflowers. We also worked in a few pictures of the hikers on today's very pleasant hike. You can see these photos by clicking here.  If you are viewing the pictures using the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  

Lookout Mtn. Historical Hike 3.26.19

It was a bit overcast and cool, but what a great hike and presentation by Jim Ogden, the Historical expert of the Chattanooga National Military Park.  There were 25 of us starting this hike.  The initial climb on the Kiddie Trail is a bit strenuous so I would rate this portion as moderate.  The rest of this relatively short 2.7 mile hike was rated as easy.  Jim would pause at various points along the trail and point out interesting Civil war sites as well as introduce us to the personalities of the various Civil War leaders involved in the battles that took place in this area.  Even though I had hiked this trail before, I had missed many interesting spots.  This hike took 3 hrs. and 45 min. with an average moving speed of 1.8 mph and a maximum speed of 3.9 mph.  Since there were so many of us, we broke up into smaller groups and headed to our favorite haunts for lunch.  My group went to the Purple Daisy in St. Elmo where he had a great lunch and excellent conversation.
If you would like to see a bunch of pictures, maps and elevation graph, click here.   Thank you Tom for contributing some pictures. If you are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.

Joke of the Week!

Use the word dandelion in a sentence...
Jamaican...

Da Cheetah is faster dandelion !!!

Rock Creek to New Bridge 3.23.19

A beautiful day for a hike this saturday. Six hikers came to do some hiking. After a few minutes discussion we decided that rather than spend an hour (or so) staging autos for the scheduled hike we'd change the hike to a 10 mile hike from the Lower Leggett trailhead to the Rock Creek Bridge and back.

It turned out that we did about an 11 mile hike. We added about a mile to the hike (for good measure) with a couple of short side trips.

I would label this hike as strenuous due to its length and duration. The hike is generally uphill going in and downhill coming out. But, due to its length ( and the up and down terrain features of this trail) it pretty much seemed  somewhat uphill in both directions.

A few small wildflowers were noted today. Within a couple of weeks this trail will likely be covered with wildflowers (especially some of the flats near the creek elevations). Luckily (maybe) some of these flowers may be in bloom next weekend when we hike there again.

If you would like to see some very nice photos, click here.  If you are trying to view the photos from the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  

Mushroom Rock 3.19.19

Ho Hum, another day at Mushroom Rock.  We have all been there before but this time it was a little different.  Last visit I think it was raining.  This time it was perfect.  Clear blue skies with temperatures in the mid 40's.  We had a whopping total of 25 hikers.  We went down to Mushroom rock and then split into two groups.  Some went on the bluff trail which was a little easier and some went down to the creek.  Now, the creek seems to have two names depending on which topographical map you use.  My Garmin map calls it North Suck Creek while others call it Middle Creek.  You decide for yourself. The route down to the creek from the rock was definitely on the Moderate Plus side of difficulty.  The hike to the rock itself would be considered easy.  The distance to rock is about 1.3 miles while the total distance to the creek and back is about 3.8 miles.  The maximum moving speed was 4.1 mph with a moving average of 2.0.  Total time of the hike was about 3 hours.  Since there were so many, we decided to split up for lunch.  The group I was with went to the Humming Bird Pastaria.  This group enjoyed their lunch very much even though it was a little on the expensive side.  If you would like to see some pictures of the hike, including maps and altitude graph,  click here.  If you are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble please go directly to the blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com  Google Chrome is the prefered browser. 

Natural Bridge Trail

  Eight hikers showed up for Saturday's hike.  It was listed on the blog as about 6 miles, but we determined it was closer to a 7 mile moderate hike.  The weather was great – a bit chilly at the start due in part to a light breeze, but quite pleasant by the hike's completion - it started in the 30's and ended in the low 50's.  We departed the trail head at around 10am and reached Natural Bridge around 11:30am.  The trail was in pretty good shape.  The chain-saw crews appeared to be doing a good job clearing the trail of numerous fallen trees along the trail.  The trail was a bit muddy in spots (one of our hikers slipped and fell in the mud – no injuries though).  We crossed several small water runoffs along the trail.  The crossings were easily executed with no one getting wet.  We had our snacks at Natural Bridge and began the exit portion of the hike at around 12pm.  On the return, one of the hikers, tripped and fell.  He landed on his nose, and fortunately because it was so well constructed, he suffered only a bloody nose.  By trails end, it appeared he suffered no serious injury to his nose, and I assured him, that in my humble opinion, his future as an octogenarian poster-boy was in no danger of suffering.  I encourage local hikers to take advantage of hiking this time of year before the ticks, mosquitoes, and other pesky critters make their presence known.  The lack foliage is such that the views are at their best.
If you would like to see some pictures of this hike, including maps,  click here.  If you are trying to view the pictures from the TTA website and experiencing difficulties, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  This Blog is best viewed through the browser Google Chrome.