Hole in the Wall- First Day Hike 2016

We did our 3rd consecutive First Day hike.  The weather was a bit chilly comparative to the last few weeks of record setting warmth, however, it was good hiking weather.  Our destination was the Hole in the Wall, near Hubbard Springs.  Now most of us had heard of this place, but none of us knew exactly how to get to it, nor did we know the history behind it.  It turns out that Hubbard Springs was quite the happening place about a century ago.  It had a hotel, train depot, and General store.  The springs were thought to have medicinal properties, which brought guests to the hotel.  The hole in the rock was drilled and blasted to create a wagon road from Cranks, KY to the railway at Hubbard Springs.  Cranks Creek Lake is visible from the tunnel, at least it is when the leaves are off.  The hike is 4 miles round trip on the old wagon road.  There's an elevation gain of a bit over 1, 000 ft.  Permission from the property owner is required to access the trailhead.  It made for an excellent First Day hike to kick off 2016!

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