Chickamauga Battlefield

Are we crazy or what?  1.18.11  4 miles.  Caroline, Nance Jo, McBob & Earl.  Cool, rainy, foggy, dreary best describes today.  We still had fun since we were well prepared.  The hike was uneventful except for seeing deer on several occasions.  We stopped at quite a few monuments and signposts describing the battle and tried to figure out the order of the battle that took place in this area.  Nance Jo had set out the route and we found our way quite easily.  The battlefield trail system is very well marked if you prepare in advance.  All in all it was a good day on the trail.  I would rate the trail as easy.  For a few pictures, click on Chick. Battlefield on the tabs above.

Lost Sea Adventure

1.15.11   Mary from Nashville, Group from E. Tennessee, Nance Joe, Earl.  Everyone met at the entrance to the Lost Sea.  From there we took the tour of the cave to the lost sea.  The cave was interesting and the trout in the lost sea were most happy to see us arrive with food.  There were many more trout than I expected and they were quite large.  The tour lasted about one hour and fifteen minutes.  After the tour, some of us took the short nature trail (1/3 mile).  We were the first on the trail since the snow fall and enjoyed that some of the trees were marked so that we could identify them.  There were deer tracks that followed the entire length of the trail from one deer.  Many other tracks from various creatures were in the snow and we had fun trying to identify them.  After the hike we met at Hunter's Restaurant in Sweetwater, TN and had a nice lunch together.  Hopefully we can get together for future hikes and adventures.  To see pictures click on the Lost Sea tab above.

Stinging Fork

12.8.11 2miles  Nance Jo, Everett, McBob, George, Earl    BRRRRR!  It was cold windy and snowing when we arrived at the trail head for Stinging Fork and the Falls on Little Soak Creek.  It was snowing too heavily to bring the camera, so only a couple of pictures.  The blurred ones were taken with a cell phone.  The steep trip down into the canyon was a little scary as everything was covered with ice and snow but everyone made it successfully.  The falls were beautiful!  To see a couple of pictures click on the Stinging Fork tab. 

Enterprize South Bike Path

1-5-11  Caroline, Nancy Joe, McBob & Earl  3.6 miles  Not exactly what we had planned.  By looking at the map provided by Enterprise South, we chose to hike a combination bike and pedestrian path.  After a short distance on the path it became obvious that this was not exactly what we were looking for.  The path was a paved road the whole distance!  The hikers that we are we continued and followed are original plan asphalt or not.  We did see several deer and had a nice conversation with a roadside crew working on a drainage ditch.  We saw many old ammunition bunkers and as you can see from the pictures one had a historic display of how the munitions were stored.  Although the hike was not the best one ever, we still had great conversation and enjoyed ourselves.  For pictures click on the Bike Path tab above.

Board Camp Creek

1.1.11  2.6 miles  Earl and Nance Jo  Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night will stop the Soddy Daisy Chapter.  If you look at the pictures, you will see it was a wet new years day hike.  We were prepared for the weather so it worked out well.  Yes, it rained, but we stayed pretty dry.  The hike was uneventful until we reach a small tributary feeding Board Camp Creek.  The rock path that normally leads across this small creek was completely under water!  We tried going up stream and down looking for a crossing, but no luck.  Therefore, we ended the hike there and started back.  I would rate the portion we did as easy.  To see a few pictures click on the Board Camp Creek Tab.