Stringer's Ridge 4.3.18

Donna led 14 tired hikers on today's hike of 4 miles.  I say tired because she kept a fast pace with few breaks.  It was good for me as I got lots of exercise and as usual I was the slowest.  I better not complain too much or I'll have to volunteer to lead a hike!  It was overcast, but the temperature was about perfect.  Along the way a few hikers had to stop to take off a light jacket or sweatshirt.  It's great the Chattanooga has managed to put a great hiking and biking facility so close to downtown.  I would rate today's hike as moderate due to the pace and up then down trail (see graph of hike).  Afterwards, about 10 of us had lunch as Edley's BBQ.  If you would like to see some pictures, click here

Booker T. Washington S.P. 3.31.18

There were 9 of us that hiked at Booker T Saturday. Eddy took 2 people on a 3.5 mile hike around the perimeter of the lake. While I took 5 people on a 7+ mile hike that went around the perimeter but had 2 inner loops within the perimeter The weather warmed up fast, but it never got hot. The 3.5 mile hike was easy to mod. Where the 7+ mile hike was mod do to the length of the walk
To see some lovely pictures, click here.

Enterprise South 3.27.18

We had 14 people and 2 dogs on this 6 mile hike. I took 2 pictures of the group   because both dogs were looking down and Phil looks like he was just waking up. Sorry I didn't take many pictures. I was just walking and talking. Enterprise is an easy wide path that is conducive to enjoying the company. I would rate this hike as easy. It wasn't very sunny today but it was comfortable. An enjoyable experience   After the hike 9 of us went to the city cafe for a good lunch. If you would like to see one additional picture, click here.

Big Soddy Creek 3.24.18

Tom and Don were the only hikers on this Saturday hike. We began the hike at Black Valley Road

under overcast and lightly raining skies. The temperature was in the upper 40's. We followed the trail

west along Soddy Creek for a little over a mile to the bridge that crosses the creek. The trail along this

section is basically a gravel road. We passed a water falls which was running fairly well. We crossed

the bridge and instead of following the blazed trail north which then meets up with the Cumberland

Trail, we decided to follow the unblazed trail southwest and follow the creek. We traveled about 1.2

miles along this trail to a point where it split. We took the trail up the mountain approximately .2 miles

to a rocky bluff where the trail splits again. This part of the trail was fairly steep and slippery due to

the recent rains. At the split it started to rain again and we decided to descend back to the creek due to

the trails slipperiness. We followed the trail along the creek until we reached the edge of the park

boundary. We followed the trail back to the bridge and traveled north to the park boundary gate that

leads to the Cumberland Trail. We then turned around and trekked out of the park. Don and I had what we considered a good 5 mile hike.

If you would like to see a few pictures of this hike, click here.  

Heiss Mountain 3.20.18

What a great hike.  Heiss Mtn. has been one of my favorites for years.  The day started off hazy, overcast and damp.  It ended overcast and damp.  It had been raining the previous day so the trail was a bit slippery in both directions.  The group consisted of ten hikers and was led by Renee.  This hike is rated as moderate, but since it is steep coming out I would rate the return as moderate++.  The hike took about 2 hours 12 minutes and this included a stop at the bridge on the Big Possum Creek.  The distance was 2.6 miles.  If you'll notice there is a big guy in a red shirt in a lot of the pictures, but none of the pictures has his face, very strange?
There are a couple pictures of what we call the waffle stone.  If any one who reads this knows the real name of this formation and or how it was formed please let me know.  If you would like to see some pictures, click here.  There is also a graph of the altitudes and a map picture of the route at the end of the photos.