Black Mountain 11.30.19

Saturday's hike on the Black Mountain Trail Section of the Cumberland Trail, was a kind of Thanksgiving Day Race against the weather. I had to be back home to celebrate our family Thanksgiving dinner gathering. The dinner was rescheduled from Thursday to Saturday do conflicting work schedules on Thanksgiving Day. We also had to be off the trail due to the oncoming storm which was scheduled to arrive in the Crossville area around mid-afternoon. So that being our concerns, we departed the trailhead shortly after 9:30. The weather was overcast and in the 50's. It actually felt much cooler than the 57 degrees my thermometer indicated. Maybe it was due to the dampness in the air. We ascended the trail for 1.5 miles and arrived at the short spur that led to a cave. The cave entrance had a sign at the entrace that warned us not to enter because of the white nose fungal disease infecting the bats inside. After a short visit to the cave, we continued our trek up the mountain to the next trail marker which designated the tent camping area near the top of the trail. There was one hearty group of campers who were braving the rainy and windy weather. From there we continued to the stairs leading up to the rim loop trail. We continued a short distance on the loop trail to the south overlook. The visibility was fairly good and we could see a pretty good distance from the overlook. It was fairly windy at the top so we enjoyed the view and had our snacks prior to descending back to the trailhead. We began our rather rapid descent and arrived back at the trailhead shortly after 2. About half a mile from reaching the trailhead, we heard strong rumblings from the approaching storm. We got off the trail just as the storm was about to hit. As we drove off, sprinkles of rain fell on us. The hike is listed as a 3.6 mile moderate to difficult in and out hike. The trail was well maintained and blazed. We did approximatelu 8 miles total because the trail listed ends at the point the main trail meets the loop trail. We traveled part-way on the loop trail to get to the south overlook. We had a cumulative elevation gain of 1300 feet.
If you would like to see some pictures taken during this hike, 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.  

Ft. Oglethorpe 11.26.19

Although we have hiked the Fort many times before, I don't think we have hike this particular trail, at least not in the last few years.  The day started out kind of overcast but relatively mild for this time of  year.  This hike was 4.3 miles and lasted about 2.5 hours.  I would rate it as easy since it was very flat, hence no altitude graph this time.  There were 18 hikers and since the chatter among the hikers never ceased, I think everyone had a good time.  The hike leader kept good track of everyone and she new just where we needed to turn to stay on course every step of the way.  Following the hike most of us had a very nice lunch at the Park Place Restaurant near the fort.  If you would like to see some pictures including maps, 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. 
This weeks joke...To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.  To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and try not to understand her at all. 

Keown Falls & John's Mtn.

Another great hike.  There were 15 of us stout would-be mountain climbers on this day.  The day started out kind of gloomy.  It was an hour drive to the parking lot at Keown Falls.  Of course there was a little mixup between drivers, but everyone arrived safely.  As it was kind of cool at the start, everyone was pretty well bundled up.  This soon changed as the first half of this 5.1 mile hike was a steady gentle uphill climb as can be seen on the altitude graph.  At each resting point hikers were seen removing their packs, then their coats and jackets, then putting the packs back on minus the warmed layers.  This hike lasted 4 1/2 hours, but 2 1/2 hours were spent stopped as we took multiple breaks on the way up and at the overlooks.  The overlooks on John's mountain were breathtaking as can be seen in the photographs.  The hike took us around the mountain and then a different trail back to the parking area.  There were many many things to look at along the way with water falls and incredible rock formations. 
If you would like to see some great photos from world renowned photographers, including maps and altitude graph, click here.  If you are trying to view the photos using the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the BLOG at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  Google Chrome is the preferred browser.
This weeks joke...Bumper Sticker...Just because I'm doing 80 in a 35 mph zone doesn't mean you have to tailgate me.  And those silly flashing blue lights on you car look silly. 

Brady Mountain

    Saturday's 8 mile hike on the Brady Mountain Trail was another primo hike.  Weather conditions were perfect. The temperature was in the upper 30's at the start and the sky was clear.  We (4 hikers) departed the Brady Mountain Trailhead on Rte 68 at 9:50am.  We began our ascent to Brady Bluff Overlook.  The ascent was a strenuous 2.3 mile climb with a 900' elevation gain.  The trail was well blazed and covered with freshly dropped leaves, so we proceeded cautiously.  We arrived at the spur to the bluff and decided to proceed to the 4 mile inward point of our trek and return to the bluff for our lunch break.  From this point to the conclusion of our inward portion of our hike, the trail along the crest of the mountain was poorly blazed.  Also, the trail was not traveled as heavily as the trail from the trailhead to Brady Bluff and was therefore hard to make out.  We never-the-less were able, we think able, to find the Lost Overlook which was at the 4 mile inward mark.  The overlook is listed as having an obscured view of Grassy Cove and it lived up to it's description.  We then returned to Brady Bluff for our lunch break.
    We arrived at the bluff around 1:15pm and met up with I believe was the Plateau Chapter of the TTA. They were hiking this same trail, but departed an hour after we did and were going to do the entire trail to the Jewett Road Trailhead and return. The Brady Bluff Overlook is rated as one of the best overlooks on the Cumberland Trail.  I believe this to be the case.  As I stated earlier, the weather was perfect and we could see across the Tennessee Valley all the way eastward to the Tellico Plains.
   We finished our break and began our exit of the trail.  This part of the hike is where we exercised the most caution due to the leaf covered trail's steep descent.  We arrived at the trailhead around 3:15 tired, but well rewarded for our efforts.
This hike is rated strenuous and I would agree.  This is one of the best times of the year to hike this trail because of the temperature and increased visibility afforded by the thinned out foliage.
  If you would like to see some pictures of this hike including maps and a video, click here.  If you are trying to view the photos through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the BLOG at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  Google Chrome is the preferred browser.

Bald River Falls 11.9.19

We found another great place to hike this Saturday. We had nine hikers join to hike the Bald River Trail where it feeds into the Tellico River (at Bald River Falls). The Bald River Falls is about 90 feet in height and was really running well yesterday      (see photos).

After lunching stream side about three miles into our jaunt, we continued hiking upstream ( a gorgeous trail alongside the crystal clear Bald River) to another waterfall at about the 4.5 mile point.

We looked around this area, took a few more snapshots, and began our enjoyable stroll back to the trailhead at Bald River Falls.

If you would like to see some great pictures of this hike, including a trail map, 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 preferred provider.