Elk River Float

 

This was a joint event with the Highland Rim chapter. We put in downstream from the Tims Ford Dam in Winchester and paddled 8 miles to the Farris Creek Bridge. After setting up the shuttle, we launched our kayaks and a canoe in the cold water of the Elk River. It was a cloudy morning and a heavy fog stayed on the river the entire trip. We also had light rain most of the way and Georganne was able to construct a "rain vest" out of a white garbage bag.  The only folks we saw on the river were fishermen at the beginning so we had the river to ourselves due to the dreary weather. We stopped for lunch at 5 miles and were able to get out and stretch.  We still enjoyed paddling the beautiful Elk River. Paddlers were Jim Barritt, Cathy Conley, Joan Hartvigsen, Pete Jacobs, Renee Jacobs, Nancy Juodenas, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Sara Pollard, and Georganne Ross. 

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Walls of Jericho

 

Walls of Jericho hike , 27 June 2026, Peggy Harris, Don & Joanne Nalin, and Joe Campbell

Cummins Falls and Burgess Falls State Parks

 

We had 8 hikers to hike Cummins Falls State Park & Burgess Falls State Park on a hot and humid day. We met at the Mack Prichard Visitor Center at Cummins Falls and hiked the Blackburn Fork Trail to the overlook. We took the John Cummins Trail to start another hike on the other side of the park. We took the Low Gap Trail to the Lou Garrison loop and then continued on to the river overlook. Our views were limited because of the foliage but we saw a few flowers and lots of blackberries about to be ripe. Then we drove to Burgess Falls State Park and enjoyed lunch under a pavilion. We hiked the River Trail to see the waterfalls along the way and returned via the graveled Access Trail. Hikers were Melodie Baker, Jim Barritt, Jay Brain, Craig Doucette, Lora McBride, Sara Pollard, Bobetta and Russ from Knoxville. 

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Santeetlah Lake

  

This joint event with the Highland Rim chapter was planned for June 16-19 but because of the menacing weather report for Thursday, we paddled Santeetlah Lake Wednesday but didn't stay to paddle Fontana Lake on Thursday. We packed up Thursday morning and didn't stay until Friday. Joan, Brian and Ruth Wofford stayed behind and paddled Fontana Lake though. We paddled about 8 miles on Santeetlah Lake passing beautiful homes and awesome views of the mountains.  We stopped for lunch at a picnic table in a shoreline camping area. After paddling, we returned to camp and hiked the connecting loop trails in the Joyce Kilmer National Forest off the Cherohala Skyway and saw some beautiful, old forest trees. We camped in the Rattler Ford Campground in the Nantahala National Forest. Campers were Chuck Deen, Patty Deen, Cyn Hartlieb, Joan Hartvigsen,  Sara Pollard, Lynn Rosser, Brian Wofford, and Ruth Wofford. 

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Stones River Battlefield

Sara Pollard led a hike at the Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro. We watched the 9-minute video in the Visitors Center about the Civil War battle in the area before starting our hike. It was a warm day, but we were able to stay in the shade most of the time. After the hike, Evonne Drown, Wayne's wife joined us for lunch at the Red Robin Restaurant. Hikers were Jay Brain, Anna Lina Buckley, Betsy Dozier, Wayne Drown, Sheila Finney and Sara Pollard.

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Chapter Picnic 2026

We had our chapter picnic tonight and enjoyed hot dogs, sides, and desserts. Thanks to everyone that came to fellowship.

Tim's Ford State Park

We hiked the Lost Cove Overlook Trail crossing over 2 long suspension bridges, had a couple overlooks to Tim’s Ford Lake. At the second overlook, we continued our hike on the Evan’s Point Trail, aka Ray’s Shoreline Trail, to the Devil’s Den Cave where we had our lunch. We traced our steps back to the Marble Plains Trail then arrived back to the second overlook where we hiked to paved trail back to our vehicles.  We hiked a total of 7 miles, then enjoyed some ice cream at the visitor center. 

Those in attendance with TTA were leader Cheryl Smith, Alan Nguyen and his wife Hana, Sara Pollard (Murfreesboro), John Gizelar (Sumner), and our non TTA hikers were Shay Schofield, Paula Farley, Shannon Cox, and Lori Beers. 

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