Honey Creek - Sunday, November 18, 2012.  Seven intrepid hikers from Nashville hiked and scrambled around the difficult loop at Honey Creek: Karl Dupre, Doug Burroughs, Dianna Richter, Garnett Rush, Gloria Dale Williams, Rachel Jakubovitz, and Kathy Woods.  We had excellent weather and survived the difficult terrain with no injuries!

TTA Rock Creek hike, November 10, 2012.

This was a wonderful Cumberland Plateau hike, with the limestone bluffs, sparkling creek and terrain changes typical of that region.  It is also a place to admire the handiwork of the CTC trail builders, who have made a first-rate hiking trail with numerous small bridges, as well as a huge one further along.  We started at Lower Leggett trailhead, which has a nice paved parking lot. Just 4 of us on this hike, and hardly anyone on the trail either. The fall foliage was colorful in places.  It was a fairly good uphill trek, perhaps 800' elevation. We forked right to the Leggett Overlook, off a short spur trail. It's a very nice overlook for lunch or a snack.  Then we journeyed down into the gorge, and hiked beyond the loop, up to Rock Creek Overlook for lunch.  To finish by 3 pm, we reversed and re-joined the loop, heading back toward the parking lot on the trail, nearer the creek.  We had a couple splendid stops along the creek, which looked pristine.  We figured our total mileage was about 7.2.  A good time was had by all.

Notes to prospective hikers:  This is eastern standard time. If you want to deploy the night before (or after), I can recommend the Best Western motel in Dayton as clean and thrifty. There is also a new French cafe in old downtown Dayton, with a real French chef lady. This is near the courthouse where the Scopes Monkey Trial occurred.   We were alert for monkeys scampering across the road or in the trees, but nothing this time.   Faithfully submitted, Tom Vickstrom.

Jan, Tom, & Wanda.  Photography by Pat Serio. 

On  Saturday, November 3, 2012, Five happy hikers from Nashville, Hendersonville, and Tullahoma hiked the Grundy Lakes Trail and Grundy Forest Day Loop, near Tracy City. Grundy Lakes is the site of the Lone Rock Coke Ovens where locally mined coal was converted to coke using convict labor until 1896. The coke ovens remain as a historic reminder of these times. The trail circled the largest of the four lakes and looped by remains of the Coke Ovens. The fall colors were still brilliant and the water was flowing.  After a fabulous lunch at the Dutch Maid Bakery and enjoying all the samples we traveled to the Grundy Forest Day Loop Trailhead. This 2 mile hike gave us an introduction to the Fiery Gizzard area, passing by small cascades, old CCC camp remains, and a couple of nice swimming holes. It met up with the more difficult and dramatic Fiery Gizzard Trail midway through the loop, which we happily passed by. It was a perfect autumn day and we returned home tired but happy

On Saturday, October 20, five TTAers  joined Garnett Rush for a hike on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. It was a beautiful fall day,
perfect weather to enjoy the many spectacular views. The hike included a ride on the incline railway and many historic civil war sites. We
ended the day with a delicious dinner at the Mount Vernon restaurant.

On Saturday, Sept 1st,  eight hikers went to Buggytop Cave just south of Sewanee in Carter State natural Area.  Rain threatened all day, but it never materialized.  We had plenty of cloud cover though, which made for cooler hiking on a humid Tennessee day.  After a short, fairly level, but rocky trek through typical upper cumberland forest, we made a somewhat challenging descent to the cave entrance.  The cave entrance was refreshingly cool to sit by and have a snack and watch the water coming out of the cave. After a nice rest we ascended to the top of the trail again and took another spur trial to the Peter Cave entrance at the other end of the cave.  There were really two entrances/exits, and we could not decide which one was actually Peter Cave.  We did see a bat flying around one of the openings.  We did not enter the cave due to the ban on caving.  They are trying to prevent the spread of white nose syndrome that is affecting the survival of bats in TN.  We saw plenty of strange mushrooms and late summer wildflowers on the trail.  Then we hit one of the finer eating establishments in Sewanee for lunch. 

 On Saturday, August 18, 2012, Randy Hedgepath, our TN State Naturalist, led 10 hikers from the Nashville, Memphis, and Upper Cumberland  chapters of Tennessee Trails on an amazing adventure.  To say this hike was off the beaten path is an understatement.  We began our trek at historic Glasscock Cemetery then journeyed on horse trails full of mud, sadly neglected trails on Cooper Mt., Standing Stone State Forest, and the State Park.  Don't even think about going on this hike without Randy to guide you!  We saw huge trees in the remote area that have not been logged, many wildflowers, table rocks, rock shelters, waterfalls, dripping springs, a huge variety of mushrooms, and trees with two, three and even four trunks.  We played "stump the ranger" with Randy as we would point out flora and fauna for him to identify.  He did not let us down and we learned so many new plants, mushrooms, and trees.  Just don't ever believe the advertised number of miles on one of Randy's hikes and don't ask him to get you to the Park Office the fastest way on the Lake Trail!!!  We were tired but happy after a very challenging and informative hike.

Saturday, August 11, 2012: Beaman Park.  Nancy Juodenas: I had three hikers besides myself.  It was a nice leisurely hike.  No one was in a hurry.  We hiked to the Nature Center and there was a lot going on there, (geo-cacheing, co-housing seminar, hummingbirds).  They will be catching and banding hummingbirds next Saturday (August 18).  Then we hiked down the creek to get back to the parking lot.  Saw quite a few interesting mushrooms and a few summer wildflowers.

August Hike Poster in Cumberland Transit entrance!

Saturday, July 28, 2012.  Doug Burroughs led a group of 8 hikers to the loop trail at Colditz Cove (between Allardt and Rugby).  There was good water in Rutledge Falls, which some of us took advantage of to cool off a little.  Then, we drove over to Rugby and hiked the Meeting of the Waters Trail and ended up at the Gentlemen's Swimming Hole.  Several of us got in for a short swim.  We had lunch afterward at the Harrow Road Cafe in Rugby before walking around to a couple of the sights in town.  Of course, we had to stop by Highland Manor Winery to stock up on the way home to Nashville.

 

Saturday, July 14, 2012.  Tom Vickstrom led a group of four hikers to Burgess Falls and Rock Island State Parks.  There was some rain, but it added to the waterfall majesty.  A good time was had by all.  All of the photos below are from Burgess Falls.

Upper Falls

Middle Falls

 Lower Falls

Coneflower with bees

Butterfly Weed

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, Karl Dupre led a Nashville TTA hike to Pinson Mounds State Park near Lexington TN.  The Pinson Mounds is the largest group of Middle Woodland (AD 1-500) mounds in the United States.  Sauls' Mound, at 72 feet, is the second highest surviving mound in the US.  The park is an interesting area to walk around - the mounds are spread over a large area and many are aligned with the astronomical seasons.  Because they are all covered with trees, though, they're not very photogenic.  We had a good orientation to the area at the museum.  After the hike, we had a nice lunch at Bell's Drive In in Lexington.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012: The Nashville Chapter held it's annual picnic at Percy Warner Park in Nashville.  The potluck items included a free pan of Vera Churcher's brownies.  The meal was followed by a two mile walk on the loop road in the park.

On Friday, May 11, 2012: Nine people left Nashville and Maryville for Frozen Head State Park.  It was to be a fabulous car camping weekend.  Campers included were: Garnett Rush, Nancy Juodenas, Jerry Hendrixson, Libby Francis, Betty Magee and her son Chris, Larry Marchese and his wife Erica and daughter Anna.  Friday was spent setting up camp and then a short warm-up hike on the Judge Branch Trail.  Saturday we were met at the trailhead by Bill Taber from Nashville.  We hiked up the lovely Panther Branch Trail, walking along a creek bed, passing a waterfall, spotting a few late spring wildflowers, and some interesting rock formations. After about 2.5 miles we merged with the North Old Mac Trail which continued up the mountain.   Upon reaching Panther Gap and the junction with the jeep road we took a spur trail to see Panther Cave, where there is a back country campsite.  After eating lunch at the Tub Springs campsite, we climbed the road to the old fire tower and were rewarded with the skies clearing for some beautiful panoramic views of the valley ridges and mountains to the east, and south.  For the return trip we took the shorter South Old Mac Trail.  Sunday we had plans to hike a section of the Cumberland Trail, but woke up to rain. So, after some breakfast and socializing we packed up and said our goodbyes. Frozen Head State Park is a sweet pocket of mountains and forest near tiny Wartburg TN.  It was well worth the 2-3 hour trip for a fine weekend of hiking and camping.