Saturday's Perimeter
Trail hike turned out not to be the hot humid hike the weather forecast predicted. The heat index was forecast to be
100 degrees at noon in Sewanee. As it turned out, it was hot and humid, but didn't feel like 100
degrees. I think the humidity was lower than forecast.
We set out shortly after
8:30 EST along the perimeter trail all the way to past Otey View overlook. There wasn't much of a view to be had at the
overlook due to the lush growth provided by the ample rains we have had this past summer. We
continued on the trail until we reached a point on the trail where we left the Perimeter Trail and hiked
to Bridal Veil Falls. When we arrived at the falls, there wasn't much water falling – just a trickle,
which was unexpected considering all the recent rain we have had. After we had our snacks, we hiked
back up the mountain to the Perimeter Trail and Morgan's Steep. From there we took the Proctor's Hall Trail back to the
Memorial Cross trailhead. The hike up
from the falls was the most difficult part of the hike. It was steep and what I would classify as difficult.
The hike back on the
Proctor's Hall Trail was also a challenge. It was a narrow up and down trail on
a steep grade. About 2 tenths of a mile from the trailhead, there was a steep
rock climb up and through an opening in the rocks. This climb was steep and precarious
enough that it resulted in a 3-way split up amongst the hikers. 2 hikers made
the steep climb up and through the rock opening, 2 hikers made their way up an
alternate near-by trail leading to a road above the trail where we could walk
on the road back to the trailhead, and 2 hikers back-tracked back to the
Perimeter Trail. The split-up resulted in the 3 groups arriving at the
trailhead approximately 5 minutes apart from each other.
All in all, it turned out to be a good, albeit
hot, 6 mile difficult hike.
If you would like to see a couple of pictures taken during this hike, click here or on the photo to the right.