Savage Gulf Day Loop 9.21.21

 Tuesdays Savage Gulf Day Loop Trail was a great hike to close the summer of 2021. It looked like we were going to get wet doing this hike, but as it turned out, it was a rain no-show. Four hikers departed the trailhead around 9:20 est and made our way along the trail to the loop section of the trail one mile in. We continued counter clockwise along the loop until we reached the Savage Fall spur loop which took us to the falls. I must say, 2 days of steady rain made for a spectacular falls experience. The creek and falls were cascading more water than I had ever seen before. We enjoyed the experience and completed the small loop and continued on our hike around the day loop. The trail was in pretty good shape despite the days of rain. The suspension bridges were a bit slippery and required a cautious traverse. As we hiked the trail, we observed a massive amount of downed trees. Some were the result of past events, and some recently downed. I would say this trail gets a significant amount of wind during storms moving through the area. Therefore, I would be cautious hiking in the area when storms may be a possibility. We completed our hike around 1:30 with the sun shining and the temperature in the 70's. It was approximately 6 miles of moderate hiking.

Edit;  At the end of this hike we were taking a breather when we saw a very interesting spyder.  It was a wolf spyder and she was carrying here babies on her back.  You can see a picture here if  you aren't to squeamish.  

If you would like to see some pictures of this hike including maps and altitude graph, click here.  

Ozone Falls 9.18.21

 After spending an hour watching several weather channels, Saturday morning and calling the Ranger station at Ozone Falls, I was still having a hard time determing whether to cancel the hike or not. Each forcast predicted rain, but some also predicted scattered storms. So I discussed it with my fellow hiker and decided we would take a chance. We also decided to skip staging our vehicles and do and in and out hike from Ozone Falls instead of Black Mountain trailhead to Ozone Falls trailhead. So two of us left Soddy Daisy and met another hiker at the Ozone Falls trailhead. We departed the trailhead a little after 10 and enjoyed the Falls on the beginning of the hike, instead of the end. Rain was suppose to start at noon, but arrived and hour early at 11. We were an hour into the hike and continued toward Black Mountain until we turned around at noon. It rained continuously once it started, which made for a slippery trail. We safely exited the trail a little past 1 pm. Instead of a 6.7 mile strenous hike, we did a 4.2 mile not quite strenuous hike. There were days this summer, when I prayed for a rain like the one we had Saturday.

If you would like to see some pictures of this hike including a trail map, click here.

Rainbow Lake 9.14.21

 There were only seven of us on this very nice hike.  We started the hike at the parking lot of Rainbow Lake and then hiked down to Middle Creek and the swinging bridge.  I would rate this hike as basically easy with a couple tricky spots.  The nice thing about this 2.7 mile hike is that it is mostly in the shade.  The  two swinging bridges can make just about anyone sea sick if they stand on them too long.  They really move around while you are crossing them.  It took us two hours and 37 minutes to complete this hike. The trail consisted of just about every kind of terrain.  There were rocks, gravel, mud, streams and roots to navigate which made it very interesting.  The trails around middle lake are overused and that combined with runoff from the nearby golf course means the trails are not in the best of shape.  

If you would like to see some photos, maps and altitude graph from this hike click here.

Cumberland Mountain State Park 7.13.2021

 The day started out a little scary and gloomy.  As we gathered in the parking lot prior to departing for Cumberland Mountain State Park, the skies to the East of us were very dark and ominous.  The weather report said that we should escape showers until after lunch, so we took a chance and trusted the report.  Perhaps the iffy weather was the reason for the weak turn out as only 8 bodies showing up for the 5.8 mile hike.  That was too bad for them as we had a delightful hike.  It was partially overcast and relatively cool.  The hike lasted for 4 hrs and 12 minutes, but since the trail was level and followed around a lake and then a creek I would have to rate the hike as easy.  The trail was extremely lush and reminded me of a rain forest.  We didn't see many, but there were certainly a lot of birds nearby as we could hear their cries.  Just past the halfway mark we found an interesting tunnel that we traveled through to get to the other side of a massive boulder field.  Just past the tunnel we stopped for our mandatory snack stop near the Byrd creek.  Amazingly, we made it back to the parking lot with no rain.  Unfortunately, shortely after arriving at the parking lot we heard lots of sirens.  Evidently a hiker had been injured on the trail.  We wish this person the best.  Just as we arrived at the parking lot in Soddy, the sky opened up and we had to make a run to our cars.  Overall, it was a wonderful hike.  

If you would like to see some photos taken during this hike including maps, click here.  

Craven House Loop Trail 7.10.2021

Saturday was another good day for a hike. Although it started out threatening storms and humidity, they appeared only for a short time. Four of us hikers departed Cravens House Trailhead at around 9am. We started out on the Rifle Pits Trail and it was really cool because shortly after arriving at the actual pits site, the short lived storm started and as we donned our rail gear, the thunder made it feal like we were experiencing what it must have felt like long ago when real canon fire filled the air. From the Pits trail, we made our ascent on the Gum Trail up to the Bluff Trail. This was the most difficult part of the hike. It was .6 miles of upward climb, with no switchbacks to ease our ascent. When we arrived at the Bluff Trail, it was another neat experience due to the fact we were up amongst the clouds and the light and atmosphere was truly a sight and experience to behold. We then proceeded to the Mountain Beautiful Trail and had our snack at the memorial site on the trail. I think the Mountain Beautiful Trail might better be titled the Mountain Jungle Trail. A machete would have made a useful tool to have on the trail due to the fact much of the trail was pretty much grown over. We crossed under the Incline Railway and continued on to Hardy Trail. The Hardy Trail part of the hike was the easiest to hike, but to me it was the most uncomfortable. There was very little shade along the trail, and by this time, the afternoon sun was a bit uncomfortable. We arrived back at Cravens House around 2:30 having completed the 6 mile hike – tired but happy we had made the hike, despite the threat of a washout at the start. 

If you would like to see some very nice pictures taken during this hike, click here.