Raccoon Mtn. East Rim Trail, 12.29.18

George was or hike leader on this hike and it was a great hike.  The weather started out a little cool and overcast but proceeded to warm up and gradually became clearer.  I would rate this 5.5 mile hike as easy as the elevation changes were minimal.  We had seven hikers on this hike and our average speed was 1.9 mph.  The hike lasted just short of three hours.  We had some beautiful overlooks and even saw a couple of mountain bikers.  The official photographer again had difficulties with his camera.  Something about formatting the memory card, so there are only a few pictures.  There are a couple maps showing where we were and the trail as well as an altitude graph.  If you would like to see these, click here. 

Harrison Bay S.P. 12.22.18

What a glorious day for a hike.  After 2 days of rain and gloom, it felt so good to be out in the sun hiking on a trail.  We knew going into the woods that there would be flooded trail sections, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. With some clever off trail maneuvers, we were able to avoid water and mud.   No one lost a boot in the mud, and no white water crossings were needed.  This was a 4.5 mi. easy hike which followed the in and outs of the river bank all the way.   If you would like to see a few pictures, click here.  

Turtletown Falls 12.18.18

This hike was both good and bad for me.  First the bad.  I forgot my GPS so I couldn't make a map of the hike and its location.  My bad!  The second thing is that my camera was not working correctly.  Somehow I had pressed a button and now I had focusing issues.  Hence the lack of a group picture.  Finally got it figured out and was lucky enough to not walk off a cliff while I was trying to keep up and fix the camera at the same time.  Now the good.  What a great winter hike!  I had never been there before so thanks to those who are finding these new hiking spots.  There were 17 of  us on this approximately 3.5 mile hike.  The duration was about 3 hrs and 20 minutes and I would rate it moderate.  The length of time being due to the time spent at the falls and our snack break.  The falls were double and really roaring as you can see from the water spots on the pictures.  I really hope to return to this hike this summer as the magnolias were everywhere.   Thanks to those that sent in pictures and these pictures can be seen here.  

Deep Creek 12.15.18

We had a very good Saturday hike.  Our hike started at the Soddy Gulf Park on Big So0ddy Creek.  We hiked to the Big Soddy "new" Bridge and then on to the "new-slightly rebuilt" Deep Creek Bridge.  During all this our hike leader also took us on a one mile side trip down the "wrong" fork in the trail.  So, all-in-all, we logged about 9 miles; but it was a perfect day for a hike (cloudy, temp. in the 50's, with damp but sure trail footing).  Big Soddy, Deep Creek, and several unnamed side creeks were flowing very well.  We had four hikers for today's hike (including a mother and her daughter who did about one-half of the hike.  I would rate this hike as strenuous (or at least it felt that way to me).  The rating is due to length and terrain features.  If you would like to see some photos,click here.  

Ft. Oglethorpe 12.11.18

It was a little chilly and icey today so we decided to start a little later.  We all met at the lower parking lot of the Ft. Oglethorpe headquarters.  It was in the low 30's when we started and warmed up to the low 40's by the time we finished.  Otherwize the weather was perfect with not a cloud in the sky.  There were 21 of  us on this 6.2 mile hike.  We changed the path of this hike since we had so much rain and these trails are subject to flooding.  We did very well with minimum mud!  The hike went a little further than planned but since it was very flat, it was not much of a problem.  As is often the case with larger groups, we did get a bit strung out, but we didn't lose anyone, at least I don't think we did.  We even saw deer on several occasions, but they stayed pretty far away from us.  This like lasted about three hours and our average speed was 2.6 mph.  Following the hike we had lunch in Ft. Oglethorpe at Park Place Restaurant.  Since this hike was flat I did not include an altitude graph.  If you would like to see some photos, click here.  No so many as my view finder kept fogging up.