Mushroom Rock 3.19.19

Ho Hum, another day at Mushroom Rock.  We have all been there before but this time it was a little different.  Last visit I think it was raining.  This time it was perfect.  Clear blue skies with temperatures in the mid 40's.  We had a whopping total of 25 hikers.  We went down to Mushroom rock and then split into two groups.  Some went on the bluff trail which was a little easier and some went down to the creek.  Now, the creek seems to have two names depending on which topographical map you use.  My Garmin map calls it North Suck Creek while others call it Middle Creek.  You decide for yourself. The route down to the creek from the rock was definitely on the Moderate Plus side of difficulty.  The hike to the rock itself would be considered easy.  The distance to rock is about 1.3 miles while the total distance to the creek and back is about 3.8 miles.  The maximum moving speed was 4.1 mph with a moving average of 2.0.  Total time of the hike was about 3 hours.  Since there were so many, we decided to split up for lunch.  The group I was with went to the Humming Bird Pastaria.  This group enjoyed their lunch very much even though it was a little on the expensive side.  If you would like to see some pictures of the hike, including maps and altitude graph,  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. 

Natural Bridge Trail

  Eight hikers showed up for Saturday's hike.  It was listed on the blog as about 6 miles, but we determined it was closer to a 7 mile moderate hike.  The weather was great – a bit chilly at the start due in part to a light breeze, but quite pleasant by the hike's completion - it started in the 30's and ended in the low 50's.  We departed the trail head at around 10am and reached Natural Bridge around 11:30am.  The trail was in pretty good shape.  The chain-saw crews appeared to be doing a good job clearing the trail of numerous fallen trees along the trail.  The trail was a bit muddy in spots (one of our hikers slipped and fell in the mud – no injuries though).  We crossed several small water runoffs along the trail.  The crossings were easily executed with no one getting wet.  We had our snacks at Natural Bridge and began the exit portion of the hike at around 12pm.  On the return, one of the hikers, tripped and fell.  He landed on his nose, and fortunately because it was so well constructed, he suffered only a bloody nose.  By trails end, it appeared he suffered no serious injury to his nose, and I assured him, that in my humble opinion, his future as an octogenarian poster-boy was in no danger of suffering.  I encourage local hikers to take advantage of hiking this time of year before the ticks, mosquitoes, and other pesky critters make their presence known.  The lack foliage is such that the views are at their best.
If you would like to see some pictures of this hike, including maps,  click here.  If you are trying to view the pictures from the TTA website and experiencing difficulties, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  This Blog is best viewed through the browser Google Chrome. 

West Side of Gahuti Loop

After driving to the Chatsworth area and looping around a bit we found the parking area.  We sent one car to the end of the trail so it could shuttle the hikers back to the beginning when the hike was over.  There were 15 of us on this absolutely beautiful day.  The sky was mostly clear with temps in the 60's.  I would rate this three hour hike as moderate as there were lots of roots and a little climbing.  The distance of this hike was 3.9 miles with a max. hiking speed of 4.3 mph and an average speed of 2.1 mph.  At he end of  3 miles there was a small lake which we decided to hike around which added about 1 mile to our distance.  Following the hike we had a great home cooked meal at the Village Cafe in Chatsworth.  What a great day!  If you would like to see some pictures of this hike as well as a map and altitude chart, click here.  If you are trying to view the pictures on the TTA website and having trouble please go directly to the website at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  The prefered browser is Google Chrome. 

Retro Hughes to Rock Creek 3.9.19

  The hike from Retro Hughes to Rock Creek Bridge turned out to be a really good hike, despite the rainy weather.  It was scheduled as a combined hike with the Soddy Daisy and Eastern Tennessee branches of the TTA.  However, the stormy weather caused the Eastern Branch to cancel the joint hike. The Soddy Daisy hikers, which consisted of Tom and Larry made the trek and as I indicated, it was a good hike despite the rain.
  We departed the Retro Hughes Trailhead around 9:30am under raining and cool conditions.  The trail was sloppy but navigable.  The recent rains made for several tricky creek crossing where we got our boots wet but neither of us got anything beyond our boots wet.  We made the hour and a half trek to the Rock Creek Bridge in approximately an hour and a half, arriving shortly after ll:00am.  We had our snacks and departed on the return climb out of the gorge.  The return trip was uneventful except for getting off trail when we missed the turn blaze.  The rain had pretty much stopped on the return and we arrived at the trailhead shortly after l:00pm.  The hike was approximately 5.5 miles and I would rate it moderately strenuous due to the climb out. 
If you would like to see some very nice and wet pictures including maps,  click here. 
If you are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website and have difficulties, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com

Keown Falls & John's Mountain 3.5.19

There were fourteen hikers who braved the cold temps to hike the double loops of Keown Falls and John’s Mountain in the wildlife management area near Villonow, Georgia on Tuesday, March 5^th. We need not have worried about the cold though, because within a few minutes we began to take off layers and gloves. The sun was bright and we had classic mountain views almost the whole day. Keown Falls is not a large falls but it was running pretty strong from recent rains. We met at the overlook above the falls before beginning our trek up the right side of the John’s Mountain Loop. After a fairly steep climb we came out on the summit just across from a gorgeous overlook of 180 degrees, taking in the whole Armuchee Valley with the span of Lookout Mountain at the far side of the vista. Here we enjoyed a lunch sitting on the large boulders before continuing along the ridgetop for about a mile before cutting back down the mountain to the far side of the Keown Falls Loop. We were rewarded with a walk behind the falls as well as spectacular icicles and a second falls. The total distance was between 5 and 6 miles. What a beautiful day and wonderful company!
If you would like to see some very nice photos, click here. 
If you are trying to view these pictures in the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  Google Chrome is the preferred browser.