Jim Adams Wilderness 4.24.18

It wasn't the nicest of days so I was surprised that so many showed up.  Today, we had a total of 13 hikers.  Because it had been raining for the previous few days, we moved the hike to Soddy Gorge, now called Jim Adams Wilderness.  Although it was not raining, it was very damp.  Because of the rain from the previous days, the Soddy Creek was ROARING! No one had seen this much water in the creek before.  The length of the hike for the short distance crowd was 3.6 miles.  The advanced group went an additional 4+ miles round trip for their total of over 7 miles.  I would rate this hike as easy for the short distance group and moderate for those that went longer.  Following the hike most of us went to the Blue Ribbon and had a delightful lunch.  Thank you Kathy for identifying the blue blumes we often found that had dropped from a the nearby tree.  The tree is called the Empress or Princess tree.  For some pictures, click here.  There are even a couple of short videos.  Please note the great picture of our hike leader taken by Kathy. 

3-Day Georgia Hike at Black Mountain

There were 13 people (6 cars) that met in Ooltewah for the trip to Black Rock Mt. We stopped at a good restaurant in Clayton for lunch and then to Tallulah Gorge for our first hike. At the ranger station we saw a film about the gorge and then we were off to explore it. The pictures don’t do it justice. It was absolutely gorgeous.  It wasn’t a long Hike, but we had to traverse 320 stairs down to the suspension bridge, went across it and then 320 stairs back up the other side. Very much worth the effort.  From there we went to our cabin on top of (literally) Black Rock Mountain. We had 3 cabins with views of the whole mountain range. We all brought appetizer type food for dinner, so we settled down and had an evening of good food and good friendship.
Day-2, Beautiful day in an enchanted forest of waterfalls, rhododendrons, Laurel and blooming wildflowers. Afternoon involved a hike around the crest of Black rock Mountain State Park. Distance was short but with lots of elevation changes  and with spectacular views of the mountains on all sides. The day ended with a few aches and pains and full hearts.
Day 3, After breakfast (we tried to finish most of our leftovers) we packed and left Black  Rock Mountain. We stopped for our last hike at moccasins state park - Hemlock Falls Trail. It was an easy 4 mile round trip. Filled with beautiful laurels, rhododendrons and a stream that we followed to the falls.  From there we said our good byes and we split up. Six of us took advantage of being close to Helen and went there for lunch.
Thanks Trich for putting together such great hikes.
To see some pictures, click here. 

Mushroom Rock & Suck Creek 4.14.18

Very nice hike today.  It was led by a new leader, Kathy and it was well done.  We only lost one hiker and that was George.  We weren't to concerned as he always shows up after taking some kind of crazy shortcut.  Suck Creek was flowing nicely and I think everyone enjoyed the suspension bridge over the creek.  The weather wasn't the best as it was overcast and threatening rain.  At least the rain held off until we got back to Mushroom rock, which was convenient as we could take shelter under the rock!  The rain only lasted a short time and then we were on our way back to the parking lot.  There were 12 hikers on this moderately rated hike  The distance was only 3.6 miles, but there was a quite steep portion on the return.  If you would like to see some pictures taken on this hike, click here. 

Ascalon on the CCT 4.10.18

What an absolutely beautiful day for a hike.  The sky was a beautiful blue and only a light jacket was needed.  Maybe the only complaint was that we were probably a week early for the wildflowers. There were 11 hikers on this 5 mile hike that I would rate as easy.  I'm sorry about several pictures of Phil's back, it's just that he was always just in front of me.  The hike took 2 hours and 45 minutes.  One of my favorite wildflowers is the Dwarf Iris which you can tell as I took several pictures.  We left one car at the Ascalon Trail Head and then started the hike at Cloudland Canyon.  Do to some time restraints, part of the group ate at Firehouse Subs in Red Bank and some ate at the Pigeon Mtn. Grill.  If you would like to see some pictures as well as a map and altitude graph click here.  Also if I left out something, let me know. 

Imodium Falls 4.7.18

Todays hike was from the Retro Hughes Trailhead to Immodium Falls and back. We decided to visit the falls due to the rain we had yesterday and last night.

We figured the falls would be running pretty good -- and as the pictures show - they were.

Todays hikers were Tom and John. The temperatures started today in the upper thirties  and the conditions were cloudy and windy. By the end of the hike the temps had risen to the low 40's.

This hike was fairly strenuous and the distance hiked was about 8 miles. We tried to maintain a good pace to stay warm.  If you would like to see some additional pictures, click here.