Saturday, December 5, 2015
On a beautiful winter day, of clear blue skies and mild temperatures, four Nashville area hikers drove to Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park near Camden, TN for a 10 mile loop hike.  This park is an overlooked treasure just west of the Tennessee River.  There is an interesting Folklife Center/Museum which is positioned on the highest point in West Tennessee, Pilot Knob  The hiking trails consist of 4 interconnecting loops. The hiker can choose to do 3, 5, 10 or 20 miles of loops.  Our hike was a combination of moss covered ridges overlooking the river and hardwood bottomland,   Many little clear water creeks meandered through the forest, and there was one backcountry shelter that provided a nice resting spot.  Towards the end of the hike there was an historic log cabin with rocking chairs and a view that we enjoyed with a hot "cuppa" before the last mile back to our starting point, the Folklife Center.  Tired and happy, we found a great buffet restaurant in nearby Camden that restored our calories for the drive back to Nashville.

"I dream of blue skies, a crisp, clear day, baby deer ambling nearby welcoming me to the park, and a beach leading to brilliant blue water in the lake." This hiking group's dream came true on October 10, 2015 while traversing the Bryant Grove Trail at Lone Hunter State Park. What a glorious day it was, spent with joyous hikers and perfect weather!

Saturday, August 22, 2015
Tom Vickstrom led a TTA group of nine people on an 8 mile hike from Centennial Park in Nashville to the downtown area and back. There were some interesting sights and stops along the way.  The route included the Vanderbilt University Campus, Music Row, the Gulch, the State Capitol, the military branch of the Tennessee State Museum, Legislative Plaza, Public Square, and the Goo Goo store.

 The full-sized replica of the Parthenon at Centennial Park

 We found a new greenway in the Gulch area.

 Another view of the Gulch Greenway

Walking through the fountain at Public Square.

Saturday, July 18, 2015
Hikers Nancy Juodenas, Alice Cannon, Monica Hopkins, Jim Lesch, Betty Magee and Chris Magee enjoyed hiking on the Wall Trail, Forks of the River Trail, Little Duck River Trail, and Moat Trail at Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park, Manchester, TN back on July 18, 2015. Waterfalls included Step Falls, Big Falls (shown in the photo) and Blue Hole Falls.

Saturday, August 1, 2015: On a relatively cool morning in August, six hikers gathered at Beaman Park Nature Center for a short 3.5 mile walk on the Sedge Trail and Henry Hollow Loop Trail.. It was an easy, pleasant hike with good company. 

The hike ended with a walk in the creek, which cooled us off and slowed us down enough to be able to see crawdads, minnows of all sizes, and little snails cleaning up the rocks.  We even saw a baby snake wriggling quickly away into the brush back on the Sedge Trail.

Black Mountain

On May 23rd, five hikers from Nashville met six hikers from the East TN chapter for a joint hike on Black Mountain, near Crossville TN.  The Black Mountain Trail is part of the Cumberland Trail.  We began our hike at the the top of the mountain, hiking the loop trail clockwise and stopping at the south overlook for photos and fantastic views of Grassy Cove.

Continuing on the southern side of the loop we arrived at the junction with the Cumberland Trail where we began descending between huge boulders and passing a small cave.  As we descended we noticed some late spring wildflowers such as spiderwort, yellow trillium, blackberry, and indian pink.  There were two mystery flowers; one that looked like a fire pink but that we later learned was "round leaved catch-fly", and the other turned out to be milkweed.

We hiked to where the trail meets the the highway (SR68), about 4 miles, and made an about face back up the mountain, stopping for lunch at Windless Cave.  Continuing back up the mountain and through the boulders, we finished the clockwise loop, stopping this time at the northern overlook for a luxurious rest and then back to the parking lot.  It was a great day for a hike!

 Our group

 Cave

 Lunch break

 Milkweed

Round-leaved Catchfly

Edgar Evins

On Sunday March 15, 2015, Nancy Juodenas and 3 hikers form Murfreesboro, explored the Millenium and Merritt Ridge Trails in Edgar Evins State Park.  It was the first really spring-like day in a long time and the sun and warmth were a welcome change.  The trail conditions were quite muddy, but once the ridge was attained, the trail conditions improved.  Lunch was enjoyed by the shore of Center Hill Lake and some hikers even got their feet wet in the refreshing coldness of the lake.  On the return trip down the ridge, since the day had warmed considerably, some early wildflowers were spotted, such as toothwort, spring beauty and harbinger of spring. The highlight was a patch of the beautiful white bloodroot.  It was a great day for a hike!