Heiss Mtn. to Retro Hughes 4.6.19

We had five hikers today for our Cumberland Trail hike from Highway 111 to the Retro Hughes Road trailhead.

The day started a little on the cool side but felt very warm by the end of the hike a few hours later. We hiked almost 10 miles on what is a strenuous hike.

We hiked from the Heiss Mountain (Highway 111) trailhead to the Retro Hughes Road trailhead. During the hike we made three descents into and ascents out of the Big Possum and Little Possum Creek gorges. Both creeks have very nice bridges across them.

Today, we lunched at the top of the Little Possum Creek waterfalls (which were running pretty well today) a little over 5 miles into the hike.

If you would like to see a few pictures, including wildflower pictures from Tom,  click here.  If you are trying to view photos of this hike from the TTA website and having problems, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.

Soddy Gorge & C.T. 4.2.19

The day was mostly cloudy with the sun peeking through occasionally .  There were 23 hikers on this hike of just 6 miles which I will rate mostly easy except for a couple of moderate places.  A small few of the hikers decided to remain on the lower trail and forgo the hike up to and on the C.T.  this distance was about 1.5 miles.  The rest of us decided to climb up to the C.T. turn off.  Once we reached the turn off to the C.T., we had to decide whether to go North or South.  It was finally decided to go North.  This was somewhat moderate as we had to cross a stream which meant boulder hoping and then along a somewhat rough trail.  Along the way we saw quite a number of different wildflowers especially Trillium and a blue flower covering the large flat rocks.  I can't remember the name, but if someone will text or email me, I'll add it to the blog.  Following the hike most went to Home Folks Restaurant in Soddy for lunch.  As usual, this was another very good hike.  If you would like to see some pictures, altitude graph and map, please click here.  If you are trying to view the pictures on the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.

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.