Grayson Highlands Wilburn Ridge and Twin Pinnacles

The hiking club returned to Grayson Highlands today to do two trails: Wilburn Ridge and Twin Pinnacles.  When I awoke and went outside for the first time as I was loaded up, I felt the humidity had left overnight and the temps were cool.  I was excited because I knew we would have some good views today.  More often than not, when in higher elevations, views are obscured by clouds, haze, fog or drizzle.  Today, though, was spectacular.  The air was perfect, the breeze was cool and the haze was gone.

We arrived at Massie  Gap and hiked up to Wilburn Ridge too see the ponies.  The ponies, though, were hanging around the parking area, bumming for food.  However, we enjoyed blueberries, blackberries and black raspberries that were abundant all along the trail.  There were several outcroppings to climb on for views.

We returned to the parking area and had lunch, though we kept busy shooing off the ponies, one of which was particularly persistent.  Then we headed up to do the Twin Pinnacles.  It was quite a climb up but we managed it.  The views from both the Big and Little Pinnacle were amazing.

Great hike on a great day!

Carver's Gap and Rhododendron Gardens

We decided to visit the famed Rhododendron Gardens of Roan Mountain in the middle of the week to avoid the crowds.  We settled on Wednesday, June 20th and left Dot at 8:00.  Upon arrival around 10, we were surprised to find droves of people and a steady stream still descending upon the Carver's Gap parking area.  Apparently more people were interested in hiking on the balds than viewing the gardens.  There were hiking clubs from all around.  We joined the lines of people and took in some views from Round Bald.  There were still a few blooms on the balds to enjoy.

We headed back to the parking area and drove up to the Rhododendron Gardens.  We were told that heavy rains had knocked off a lot of the blooms but there were many left to enjoy.  Unfortunately, a low hanging cloud kept us from enjoying the overlooks.  And a cool breeze caused us to change our picnic venue further down the mountain at Roan Mountain State park.  We explored around the area and hike the Cloudland nature loop.

the gardens

Round Bald

Panther Creek State Park

We headed west this Saturday instead of the usual east or south for our hike.  Our destination was Panther Creek State Park near Morristown, Tennessee.  It is a scenic park that sits alongside Lake Cherokee.  We stopped at the visitor center for maps and recommendations, and settled on doing the loop that overlooks the lake when you reach the top.  It is called Lookout Point loop.  We also took a spur trail to the lake's edge, and had a break on a well positioned log.  Our total mileage was nearly 3 miles.  As we returned to the beginning of the loop, the heat and humidity increased, so lunch on a shaded picnic table was a nice reprieve.  It was a good day, and a good park.  There are several trails in the park, so a return trip is probable.

Overlook from the trail

Spur trail to water's edge.  We all sat on this log for a snack/break

Geese and other birds were abundant

Kingdom Come State Park

Our Memorial Day hike was at Kingdom Come State Park in Cumberland, Kentucky.  Our group did some short hikes.  One was to Raven Rock.  This park mostly has shorter trails, but can be combined for longer hikes.  We also had picnic lunch and rented some pedal boats while we were there.

Elk Garden to Buzzard Rock on the AT

We headed out at 8 this morning to Elk Garden Trailhead near Whitetop, Virginia's second highest peak.  After close to 2 hours on the road, we unloaded and geared up and hit the trail.  The trail began in the woods, but emerges on a bald.  The wooded sections are usually uneventful, but this one looked like an enchanted forest.  The areas alongside the trail were covered in trillium, trout lilies and other wildflowers.  It was gorgeous, along with the views from the bald of course.

Doe River Gorge

This morning, eleven of us headed to Hampton, Tennessee to hike Doe River Gorge.  The hike is on private property owned by Doe River Gorge Ministries.  It is a five mile out and back hike along an old narrow gauge railroad that was used to haul high grade iron ore from Cranberry, North Carolina until the 1920's.  Now, the owners allow hikers to access the trail during the off season if a release form is signed.  Today the weather was grand and so was the hike.  Both the scenery and the roar of the river made for an enjoyable hike.  An added bonus was some not often seen red trillium.  Nice ones as big as your hand were sprinkled along one section of the trail.  Hats off to the owners to keep this area well maintained yet unspoiled.

Persimmon Ridge

Today the hiking club headed to Jonesborough, Tennessee to do about a 3 mile loop at Persimmon Ridge Park.  Finally, a pretty day after weeks of rain and or cold or snow.  This hike looped around the ball fields and water park and had some ups and downs.  We began by the campground and took Luke's Trail, then Walter's Trail and finally John's trail, to return to the road back to the parking area.  This trail was mainly a wooded trail and dropped down to a stream couple of times.  There were a few wildflowers and the trees hadn't leafed out yet, so we had some views of the area.  The footing was packed earth most of the way and made for fairly easy walking.

Laurel Run Park Guided Wildflower HIke

Finally a break in this horrendously cold, wet spring weather allowed for a few of us to participate in a wildflower hike at Laurel Run Park.  This off the beaten path park is the setting for a spectacular array of wildflowers.  And you don't have to go far to seem them.  You will see them as you drive into the park as they are sprinkled all over the hillside to your right.  Bays Mountain naturalist, Bob, gave us a tour around to examine and photograph the wildflowers.  We saw many species.  We didn't get a lot of traditional hiking in today, but we learned a lot about our native wildflowers.

Virginia Bluebells

Trout Lily

Trillium

First Day Hike 2018

Today was exceptionally cold.  So cold that I was glad we chose a nearby walking trail for our first day trek.  Our own newly paved Greenway from Food City to Leeman fleld was recently completed and provided the perfect location for our hike.  Or maybe more like a walk.  The trail is 1.4 miles one way.  We did a balloon loop with the loop portion being a lap around Leeman field for a total of 3.4 miles.  We had a group of 14 hikers who braved the 18 degrees with a wind chill warning in place.  I would estimate single digit wind chills during portions of the hike.  We bundled up and headed out.  It was frigid but there were nice views of the frozen river and we flushed out the blue heron that frequents that portion of the river.  Looking forward to warmer weather and more hiking!

The Brave Ones