Blue Heron Camping and Hiking

We had 12 hikers for our trip to the Blue Heron area of the Big South Fork. The predicted weather report kept some campers away but it only rained for a few minutes Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon. We hiked the Blue Heron loop on Wednesday and celebrated Marietta's birthday at our community meal that evening. Thursday, we drove to Yahoo Falls, hiked the loop and then on to Markers Arch. We also hiked the Natural Arch in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  After packing up Friday morning, we visited the Blue Heron Mining Community and Split Bow Arch. We saw lots of wildflowers and an abundance of Mountain Laurel. 

Campers/hikers were from the Highland Rim, Murfreesboro, Nashville and Plateau chapters: Jim Barritt, Joe Campbell, Cathy Conley, Chuck Dean, Patty Dean, Wendy Fish, Cyn Hartlieb, Mark Hubbard, Melissa Love, Sara Pollard, Marietta Poteet, and Georganne Ross.

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Flat Rock Cedar Glade

We had 17 hikers from several chapters to hike the loop at the Flat Rock Cedar Glade in Murfreesboro. Mark Hubbard of the Nashville chapter led us and identified an amazing variety of rare and common wildflowers. The trail is flat with little elevation change and we took our time to enjoy the abundance of flowers along the way. Too many to name, but a few we saw were Blue False Indigo, Sunnybell, Prairie Larkspur, Phlox, Columbine, Wood Sorrel, Shooting Star, and Missouri Evening Primrose.  

Hikers were David Brand, Susan Brand, Doug Burroughs, Mary Ann Clairmont, Betsy Dozier, Debi Dunson, Wayne England, Chris Hoffman, Mark Hubbard, Nita Kjelvik, Sterling Kjelvik, Connie Matthies, Starlith McAdams, Christy Ortner, Sara Pollard, Dianna Richter and Julie Walski. 

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Collins Gulf - Cheryl

We hiked 5.75 miles at Savage Gulf South beginning at the Collins Gulf trailhead.  We saw a small amount of water at Suter Falls.  We did see several wildflowers along the way.  On this hike, we went past the entrance of Horsepound Falls to the river.  It was dry but there were some small amounts of water flowing over the rocks.  We walked over to the cave and didn't see any water there.  We traced our steps back to Horsepound Falls where the water was flowing really pretty this time of year.  Everyone enjoyed lunch there.  This was an in and out hike; once we were done with lunch, we headed back to our vehicles.

Those in attendance were hike leader Cheryl Smith, Sara Pollard, Amanda Carkhuff, Jay Brain, Alan Nguyen, Jean Breuer all from Murfreesboro chapter.  Misty Fell, Sheila Miller, and Carolyn Day from the Plateau chapter.  Kim Bowers from the Nashville chapter.  Non TTA member Kelly Jackson joined our group. 

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Rock Creek Loop - Sara

We had 6 hikers to hike the 7.5 mile Rock Creek Loop at Big South Fork. We hiked it counterclockwise starting at the Blevins Cemetery. It's a beautiful trail that goes along Rock Creek most of the way. We saw an abundance of wildflowers which Mark could identify for us. The trail has rock steps that lead up and down slopes with wooden plank bridges and larger bridges across side creeks. We had a nice breeze and enjoyed lunch beside the creek. Hikers were Jim Barritt, Jean Breuer, Debra Dodd, Joan Hartvigsen, Mark Hubbard and Sara Pollard

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Virgin Falls - Sara

We had two chapters represented on our out and back hike to Virgin Falls, and it was a hot day to be hiking in March. We saw lots of beautiful wildflowers along the way. We explored Sheep Cave and all the waterfalls we passed were flowing nicely. We left our packs at our lunch spot and hiked to the top of Virgin Falls. Coming down was tricky in the narrow passage, but we all made it.  

Hikers were Jean Breuer, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Sara Pollard and from Clarksville Evelyn Bishop, Cinde Jones, Paula Sanders, Steve Turner and Deborah White.

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Cumberland Trail backpack- Graysville and Laurel/Snow pocket segments

Eight of us backpacked the Graysville and Laurel/Snow pocket wilderness segments of the Cumberland trail. It was a very hot weekend! We started at Roaring Creek trailhead and headed North. Enjoying the waterfalls, overlooks, and rock formations. We set up camp about a mile before Hwy 30 with a good water source, flat area, and a campfire. Sunday we contiued on across Hwy 30 and dropped down into the Morgan Creek gorge. Wonderful display of wildflowers all the way down the mountain. We crossed Morgan Creek and followed Richland Creek up to the campground and back down to the parking area. It was around 16 miles.

Backpackers were: Sara Pollard, Cynthia Skidmore, ,Cindy Strang, Curtis Thomas, Bryan Tauchen, Jean Breuer, Craig McBride, and Lora McBride.

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Cumberland Cove - Sara

We had 10 hikers led by Sheila Miller on the trails at beautiful Cumberland Cove in Monterey. These trails are on private property where Sheila and Jerome Phifer live. The trails are well maintained and have good signage. Some of the ropes to aid in boulder and creek crossings were installed by Jerome and a great help to the hikers. We started the hike at Overlook Park and hiked the Cowpens trail. The hike ended up on a big rock with views of the creek. The most strenuous part of the hike was down to see Devils Creek Falls. Then on to the North loop to a creek crossing and along beautiful bluffs stopping along the way to see Preachers Rock. At the end of the hike, we took a short drive to Eagles Flight to see a special overlook. It was a beautiful sunny day, and everyone enjoyed the challenging and beautiful hike.  Hikers were Jay Brain, Jean Breuer, Cindy Clark, Mark Hubbard, Sheila Miller, Shy Murphy, Alan Nguyen, Jerome Phifer, Sara Pollard, and Cheryl Smith.

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