The Blessing of the Hounds

Oscar Blevins farmstead at Big South Fork Park in Tennessee

O God, who dwelleth not only in the temples made with hands, but also in such peaceful retreats as this place; help us as we daily look out upon its beauty to know that Thou are near. May the hills and the river, the trees and the verdant meadows, and all the glories of Thy handiwork, be unto us as gates whereby we may enter the vast temple of Thy Presence and think quiet and compelling thoughts of Thee. We ask this through Him Who was conscious of Thy Presence in Temple and hillside, Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Amen

And because this the Collect for the Blessing of the Hounds–a photo of my grand dog, Lyra. Okay, she’s not a hound, but a shepherd, which somehow seems more apropos for a Sunday.

Lyra by Frank Logue

Home Again

A final couple of parks and we have travelled back South so that I can write up the eleven parks for my May 31 deadline. Biggest lesson learned while working on this book–NEVER agree to hike 120 trails in eight months, particularly when more than half those months are too cold to hike. I don’t care how old you are, it makes for exhausting work. But, I will say, now that Spring has finally arrived, the trails are incredibly beautiful. They are greatly improved by the addition of foliage and wildflowers, and having a hiking partner adds to the enjoyment as well because there is someone with which to share the experience.

Irises at the last park–Cove Lake.

Big South Fork

The entire day was invested in hiking the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Yes, that’s a mouthful. Because the park is in both Kentucky and Tennessee, and I am working on a book on day hiking Tennessee, our hikes were concentrated on the Tennessee portion. We arrived at the park with a fog settled over the Big South Fork, so we headed upwards to Bandy Creek. There, we hiked the Oscar Blevins Farm Loop. I will admit that I was a tad disappointed to find a tar paper farmhouse built in the 50s. When you are born in the 60s, that doesn’t seem like history. But, the farm was beautiful, the trail very scenic, and when we returned to the Visitors Center, we found we had narrowly missed a mama bear and two cubs (sad face).

Blevins Farm

Detail of fence by Frank

We then drove the rutted gravel roads to Twin Arches to hike the strenuous up-and-down-staircases to and from the arches, which were quite striking. I felt sorry for the four Corgis that that we met on the trail who struggled with the steep steps (with their owners, of course).

North Arch

Steps at the arches by Frank

Finally, we ended up at the Big South Fork, itself, walking the trail to Angel Falls. Don’t let the name fool you because it is actually a rapids created when some locals hoped to blast a split waterfall into a better fishing area. Oops. I have to admit that I found the open coal seam on the hike more interesting than the rapids.

The coal seam

We ended the day at Frozen Head State Park only to find the office closed because all the rangers were training. Sigh. Back there tomorrow as we had to flee the quickly approaching thunderstorm.

An Awe-full (awful) Day

Because the trail we hiked was awe inspiring. The first trail we hiked in Pickett State Park–the 9-mile Hidden Passage Trail–took us through diverse terrain. Waterfalls and weathered sandstone “rock houses,” rhododendron forests, and slabs of sandstone atop cliffs and wide open areas devastated by the Southern Pine Beetle. That meant there was a lot of sun, but despite the fact it rained the previous night, we slathered ourselves with sunscreen in the morning. And a good thing because I still got a lot of sun. Redneck, I believe, is the term.

There was mountain laurel and violets, blueberry bushes with promises of the fruit to come, butterflies galore. And ticks. Twenty-eight between the two of us. And the other “awful” thing was the fact that I had planned on buying lunch makings near the park, but there was no store within miles of the place. So, other than a little almond and dark chocolate M&M trail mix, we didn’t get any food until late in the afternoon. But, you know, that was okay. The trail was worth it.

And, before we left the park, we hiked two more trails–The Natural Bridge Trail. Very cool. And the Indian Rockhouse Trail. Very cool, literally. It is a massive sandstone rock house and the temperature was probably very close to a cave-like 58º.

And here are some photos from the day:

Crystal Falls

Hiking through a rock house by Frank

Violet

Thompson’s Overlook by Frank

 

Mountain Laurel by Frank

Natural Bridge

 

Scattered

Four State Parks today with very different trails, and add to that a scattered chance of thunderstorms, and you get–exhausted. First park. Short and strenuous but easily done because it was only two trails–one to the overlook of the falls and one downstream of the falls, and only a total of less than two miles.

Cummins Falls

 

The second park was challenging to say the least. It said it was a 4.7 mile trail and maybe it was when the CCC built it in the 1930s, but by the time we hiked it, the four foot treadway was often down to less than a foot due to erosion, and badly maintained as well, and lots of poison ivy, and was more than more than 5 miles. Not excessively off, but considering some of the brush we had to cut through and side hill trail that disappeared into gullies and lake . . . it took a lot out of us.

The plants are taking over!

And then we hiked a couple of short but nice trails that made up for it. Two parks that only had one trail each and both significantly historic because they were related to Tennessee personages–Cordell Hull (Nobel Peace Prize for forming the United Nations) and the famous Alvin C. York (yes, the movie–Sergeant York with Gary Cooper). SO, exhausting day, but awesome, and sometimes trying trails, but all in all, worth the effort.

A woodland walk along the Bunkum Cave trail.

 

Walking across the suspension bridge to the York grave site.

And just for fun–snakes on the trail today__

Look at that color!

Serious Ascension

As in we’re seriously sore. LOTS of climbing today. Yet, despite the rain that spattered us off and on, it was a seriously beautiful day with lots of waterfalls, amazingly big hardwood trees, songbirds and wildflowers. And, incredibly, we managed to finish three parks–Rock Island, Burgess Falls and Edgar Evins. So, some photos from the day:

Twin Falls in Rock Island State Park

At work in the rain

Putting cars on cinder blocks since there were cars and cinder blocks.

Big Falls in Burgess Falls State Park

He was disturbed by us hiking on his trail in Edgar Evins State Park.