On Tuesday, April 23, Jane Reyling led the Crockett Park Greenway hike in Brentwood TN for the Nashville and Murfreesboro Chapters. Brenda Clampett joined me for this nice morning walk. There were birds singing and flowers blooming along the way. Our route covered about 5.6 miles. It was a pleasant day with good conversation. I now know the location of the Brentwood library and that they are having a book sale this weekend. There were other walkers, and runners along the paths as usual.
Jane Reyling led Sara Pollard and Debra Dodd on the Mossy Ridge loop trail at Percy Warner park in Nashville, TN.
It was warm and humid for today’s hike with spring flowers and new growth on the trees to enjoy on this pretty trail. This was a peaceful quiet morning, so we could hear the small creatures scurrying in the leaves. We walked slowly to enjoy the views and birdsong along the way.
There were few hikers today so we had the trail to ourselves for long stretches. It was a nice time with good friends.
Sara Pollard led 5 hikers on a beautiful trip to the Walls of Jericho. Two new hikers joined our hike - Tammy & Jamie. There was an abundance of wildflowers and shallow streams. The hike started on the Tennessee side with a side trip to see the Blow Hole. The water was gushing out of the cave, and we enjoyed a snack break. The hike down to the Blow Hole is narrow and steep. Lora pointed out the names of wildflowers and we saw quite a few varieties. The water was deep at the "walls" creek crossing, so Lora and Jamie were the only ones to venture across to the end. The others enjoyed lunch and watching everyone else cross the creek to the "walls". We hiked out to the Alabama trailhead. We saw lots of hikers, campers and dogs along the trail. It was a warm and beautiful day for a hike. Hikers were Jamie Madson, Lora McBride, Jane Reyling, Georganne Ross, Sara Pollard and Tammy Pomeroy.
Jay Brain led 4 hikers on the Dog Cove trail to Dry Creek Falls. This trail is in the Dog Cove Historic Area and is part of the Lost Creek & Virgin Falls State Natural Area. The hike started at the kiosk and was 3.5 miles to the falls and back. It's a beautiful 2-tiered waterfall and we were able to hike down to the base. We stopped at Meditation Rock on our way there and had lunch at the end of the trail before returning to the trailhead. There were beautiful rock formations, shallow creek crossings and an abundance of wildflowers. The weather was perfect and we had nice views of farmland along the ridge. Hikers were Jim Barritt, Jay Brain, Joan Hartvigsen, Sheila Miller and Sara Pollard.
Sara Pollard led 4 backpackers on a one-night trip on the Mullens Cove loop in the Prentice Cooper State Forest. It was cold with temperatures dropping in the 20’s at night. We camped at the Hemlock Branch campsite with a nice creek nearby. Plenty of firewood to stay warm. Beautiful views of the Tennessee River. The pink sign was from a previous event on the trail and Craig got to show off his beard. We hiked in counterclockwise and after setting up camp we took a short hike to the Ransom Hollow overlook. On the way out Tuesday morning the Mullens Cove Overlook was closed for some reason. The backpackers were Jim Barritt, Jean Breuer, Craig McBride, Lora McBride and Sara Pollard.
Chapter members Rene and Pete Jacobs have officially visited all 57 Tennessee State Parks and have the certificate! Rene said they were inspired by the passport stamp book they received at our chapter meeting from State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath. Next on their list to visit are the four future Tennessee State Parks: Middle Fork Bottoms State Park, North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park, Scott’s Gulf Wilderness State Park and Devil’s Backbone State Park. More information at https://tnstateparks.com/about/future-state-parks.
We had 9 hikers to hike the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail. We met at 8:30 am CT at the Black/Brady Mountain trailhead on Highway 68. We explored Windlass Cave and then a back country campsite with what would have been a nice view, but it was too foggy to see into Grassy Cove. It stayed cloudy all day and we weren't able to see much from the overlooks. We enjoyed an early lunch at the South Overlook. We explored old homesteads and a spring house. After hiking the short loop at the top of Black Mountain we made our way back down to the trailhead on Highway 68.
