Rock Island 9.3.2022

 Our hike was at Rock Island, where water pours out of the rocky cliffs creating many spectacular waterfalls and cascades!  We began our hike at the Blue Hole trailhead, descended stairs and rocks from the rim of the bluff, down through waterfalls to the rocky shore of Cane Fork creek.  Climbing back to the rim was challenging, trying to figure out where the trail was in the streams of water rocks. Next, we hiked through the forest gorge on Eagle trail, followed by a very pleasant woodland walk on the Collins River trail where we lunched.  After a brief stop to see the springhouse and cotton mill building, we drove over the river and through the woods to hike the Downstream and Upstream trails along Caney Fork creek and view the amazing Twin Falls.  By then we were tired and hot.  Next time, we will start at the Upstream trail and play in the refreshing water!  We hiked 7.5 miles with an elevation gain of 1217 feet.  

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

Flat Top Mountain Flower Picking 9.3.2022

  No hike today!  On this outing we decided to do something different.  Instead of a hike, we decided to go to a zinnia and sun flow farm.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I've never seen such tall healthy zinnias.  Not that I knew what a zinnia look liked you understand.  If you look at the pictures, you will see what I mean.  Also, there was a section where there were a couple of different varieties of  Sun Flower.  The farm was beautiful and the view fantastic.  Following the zinnias, we went to Shufords BBQ and picked up sandwiches and wagon trained to Pats lakefront home, sat on the edge of the lake and enjoyed our BBQ.  An absolutely great day with perfect outdoor weather.  

If you would like to see a whole bunch of flower pictures, click here.  If you aren't interested in flowers, don't bother.  

Red Clay State Park, 8.30.2022

It has been a long time since I visited Red Clay State Park.  The trails were pretty well marked and our hike covered just under three miles and lasted about two hours.  We meandered around the park with temperatures in the low 80's.  It was supposed to rain near the end of our hike, but we never had so much as a sprinkle.  Following the hike we had lunch at the Local Goat in Ooltewah, which was very good.   The rain came during our lunch and it really poured down for a short time.  By the time we had to go to our cars, the rain had diminished to a level where we could make a run for it.  

 If you would like to see some photographs, including maps and altitude graph, click here.  

Elsie Holms Nature Park 8.23.2022

 We had 19 hikers on this hike.  It had been sometime since we had been to the nature center and many new members had never hiked there before.  At first we took the outer loop and following that and a short rest, we decided to take one of the inner loops.  All together this hike took about 2 hours and covered 2.8 miles.  There were a couple of short uphills that had us panting but otherwise the hike was easy.  We did see three Eastern Box Turtles, each with a different design on their backs.  Following the hike, we had lunch at Millers Ale house at which we had a very nice time.  

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

North Chickamauga Creek

 Saturday we hiked the North Chickamauga Creek starting at the Barker Camp trailhead.  We descended through a quiet pine forest, changing after a mile to a rocky ATV road.  Just after a bend in the trail, we arrived at a huge rock amphitheater.  Each hiker chose their "best" crossing over the boulders to the metal bridge spanning over Cain Creek.  Next the trail, overgrown in a few places, went up and down the ridge and occasionally to the cascades of the North Chickamauga Creek.  It was slow going over the rough trail.  Some of the hikers stopped for lunch at a rocky overhang.  A few of us pressed on to a small waterfall.  Then the attack of the yellow jackets occurred.  We quickly retreated as the wasps chased and stung us.  A safe distance from the mean bugs, we treated our wounds and shared Benadryl.  Rejoining the rest of our group, we retraced our steps to the trailhead.  A more rugged hike than previously remembered, we logged 9.8miles with an elevation gain of 2067 feet.  

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