Reflection Riding with J. Ogden 2.19.19

Trish pulled off another great idea.  James Ogden who is a noted historian and ranger with the Chattanooga Chickamauga National Military Park, guided us on an abbreviated hike within Reflection Riding.   The day was very cold with some sleet and rain.  It had been raining extensively this week so, as you can see from the pictures, the Lookout Creek was seriously overflowing its banks.  Because of this the hike was shortened some what.  We did have 20 hardy soles show up and everyone thoroughly enjoyed Jim's presentations.  He is known for acting out the roles of various Civil Ware soldiers and he is very good at it.  He definitely kept everyone entertained.  Everyone is looking forward to the next hike involving Jim which is scheduled for the end of March.  If you would like to see a few pictures, click here.  If you are viewing the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the Blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  The prefered browser is Google Chrome.

Heiss Mtn. 2.9.19

This was a nice day for a hike from the Heiss Mtn  Trailhead to the Little Possum Creek bridge and back. The weather started off in the low 30's with a little breeze. Temperatures climbed to the low 40's by the end of the hike.

This hike is probably moderately strenuous with the exception  of the 30 minute 650 foot climb out of the Little Possum Creek gorge to the adjacent  pine covered mountaintop on the way back. I would say this segment is very strenuous. Today's hike distance was 7.5 miles.

We had 6 hikers today including 3 visiting hikers that we hope will hike with us again soon.

We lunched at the turn around point which was the Little Possum Creek  bridge.

Today we saw two large tree blowdowns within about 0.3 miles of the Little Possum Creek bridge and one pine tree blowdown ( logs only) in the large pine thicket at the Perkins Point mountaintop.

If you would like to see some pictures of this hike, please 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.  The prefered browser is Google Chrome. 

Cherokee Rec. Area 2.5.19

What a delightful hike Trish chose for us this time.  While the hike was longer than usual, 6.9 miles, it was very flat as it ran right next to the Hiwassee River.  I would rate this hike as easy even though it was a little long and did contain a couple areas where some finesse was necessary to cross some rocks without crashing into the river.  The weather was a little overcast as we started out, but we ended with sun and a temperature of 68 F. in February!  We started at the Childer's Creek Parking Area and went a little beyond the Big Bend Parking area.  The time there took us 2.0 hours, but the return took us only 1.25 hours as some insane person decided we need further exercise and sped everyone up.  Our max speed was therefore a quite fast 4.5 MPH, with an overall average of 2.5 MPH.  This was a great hike and I look forward to continuing this trail in the future.  If you would like to see a bunch of pictures, including maps and altitude graph,  click here.   If you are trying to view these pictures through the TTA website, and having problems, please go directly to the blog at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  The preferred browser for this blog is Google Chrome.

Retro Hughs to Rock Creek 2.2.19

This was a great day for a hike.  The weather was perfect, the trail in good shape and six hearty hikers showed up to enjoy the trek.  We departed the Retro Hughes trailhead of the Rock Creek Gorge Section of the Cumberland Trail at approximately 9am.  Like I said the weather was perfect – in the low 40's with the sun shining.  We shared the trail with a group of trail runners, who were holding a run on the trail.  The first part of the trail is a gentle decline that passes through a pine forest and crosses several creek crossings.  There was evidence of the cold weather we had just passed through as evidenced by the icicle lined bluffs and water falls.  About 2 miles into the hike, we began the steep decent to the Rock Creek bridge.  The decent, though steep, was tempered by numerous switchbacks.  We had our snacks at the bridge and then departed for our cardio workout on the accent out of the gorge.  We finished the hike a little past 12 and left to enjoy the rest of the day.  It was a 5+ mile moderate hike.
If you would like to see some really interesting pictures, click here.  If you are viewing the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the blogsite at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  Google Chrome is the prefered browser. 

Flipper Bend 1.26.19

We had a very good hike today at Flippers Bend. Flippers Bend is a moderately strenuous hike. We had eight hikers today (including four visitors that we hope will be back).

The weather was very nice - clear and calm with temperatures starting in the 20's - but into the 40's by lunch time. The hike distance was 9.3 miles and we maintained a good pace throughout the day.

About a third of the way through the hike we stopped at the powerline overlook which afforded good views of the Tennessee river valley in the Soddy area. Chickamauga Lake and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant were also easily seen from this point.

After about 6 miles of hiking we stopped at the "big rock" for lunch. The "big rock" is a large double boulder sitting by itself in the middle of the woods. After our lunch we hiked the remaining three (plus) miles back to our cars.

If you would like to see some pictures, click here.  If you are using the TTA website to view the pictures and are having trouble, please go directly to the blogsite at www.sdctta.blogspot.com.  Google Chrome is the prefered browser.