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The Cumberland Trail

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    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Hiked Soddy Creek Gorge (North) section with cspan recently. It's a great section with beautiful water falls, deep pools, high bluffs, and serene, pine forests. The bluffs are becoming popular with climbers but we didn't see any.

      The first 1-2 miles was rough. Blowdowns, brush, and faded and minimal blazing made the trail hard to follow. I appreciated the extra set of eyes and perception/intuition.

      Sadly, there was a lot of trash and debris on the first section along the creek. It looked like a graveyard for old tires.

      This hike is a little over 12 miles and parts are strenuous, mainly because of navigation and rocks but overall, it wasn't terribly difficult. It can be hiked with two other sections to make the longest contiguous section of the CT, 30ish miles, which would be an awesome hike.
      Great to see you out on a walk and back in the Cafe. :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Like Tipi Walter, when TJ’s not around, she’s likely on trail somewhere. TW has been so consists over the years I can literally sit here and think “Walter must be coming back soon” and sure enough, within a day or two, he’s postin’ gottta be like setting my internal clock, strange how the mind works.
    • SandyofPA wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      ......... I added life to my years, not years to my life...........
      I like that saying, a lot. :thumbup: I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal it and use it at every opportunityIs it a Traffic Jam original ?
      It can't be, I have been using it since before I ever heard of Whiteblaze or the Café! :P
      You're right, not original, I heard it in a bluegrass song.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      SandyofPA wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      ......... I added life to my years, not years to my life...........
      I like that saying, a lot. :thumbup: I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal it and use it at every opportunityIs it a Traffic Jam original ?
      It can't be, I have been using it since before I ever heard of Whiteblaze or the Café! :P
      You're right, not original, I heard it in a bluegrass song.
      Bluegrass songs, can be a good place to pickup philosophy about life. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      SandyofPA wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      ......... I added life to my years, not years to my life...........
      I like that saying, a lot. :thumbup: I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal it and use it at every opportunityIs it a Traffic Jam original ?
      It can't be, I have been using it since before I ever heard of Whiteblaze or the Café! :P
      You're right, not original, I heard it in a bluegrass song.
      Bluegrass songs, can be a good place to pickup philosophy about life. :)
      and bluegrass festivals are great places to pickup women.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Astro wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      SandyofPA wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      ......... I added life to my years, not years to my life...........
      I like that saying, a lot. :thumbup: I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal it and use it at every opportunityIs it a Traffic Jam original ?
      It can't be, I have been using it since before I ever heard of Whiteblaze or the Café! :P
      You're right, not original, I heard it in a bluegrass song.
      Bluegrass songs, can be a good place to pickup philosophy about life. :)
      ...and hunting and cooking tips
      m.youtube.com/watch?v=5iD-zoSJH90
    • Dan76 wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      SandyofPA wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      ......... I added life to my years, not years to my life...........
      I like that saying, a lot. :thumbup: I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal it and use it at every opportunityIs it a Traffic Jam original ?
      It can't be, I have been using it since before I ever heard of Whiteblaze or the Café! :P
      You're right, not original, I heard it in a bluegrass song.
      Bluegrass songs, can be a good place to pickup philosophy about life. :)
      and bluegrass festivals are great places to pickup women.
      I found that a great way to meet women is to be a guide dog puppy raiser.
      Walk the puppy through a mall or store and it's like a women magnet.
      I was invited home for lunch, or dinner, by a bunch of women over the years we raised puppies for The Guide Dog Foundation for The Blind.
      In fact, I've told my wife Kathy that if anything happens, and she dies before me, that the first thing I'll do after getting over the grief is to go volunteer to raise another puppy. 8o
      That's when Kathy told me that when I die, she's going to get a second dog ;(
    • Yesterday’s hike was in Possum Creek Gorge. I started at Retro Hughes Rd., near Dayton TN. and my son picked me up at Heiss Mt. Rd.

      The trail dipped in and out of the gorge and meandered along the ridge. It was a nice hike with lots of water falls and frozen streams. Winter hiking is always rewarding but the hard part is getting started.

      It was 24 degrees starting out so I jogged on and off for a few miles to warm up. The sun came up around noon and warmed the ridges and some of the bluffs, causing the icicles to melt and crash into piles on the ground. Some of the piles were too large to walk over.

      The trail crosses private roads and abuts private property at times.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • The bluff with icicles hanging down was very mild compared to a few that I walked by. The others were too dangerous to take time with the camera.

      The red mud in one of the photos is a consequence of strip mining in the 60’s that washes iron and sulfur into one of the creeks, causing the rust color.

      Also interesting is that there is an endangered plant, Scutellaria montana, that only grows in this area.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Kudos for hiking this time of year. What I like about winter hiking is there are few others out on normally popular trails.

      Good you’re careful around the monster icicles, folks have been terminated by them.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Dan76 wrote:

      Kudos for hiking this time of year. What I like about winter hiking is there are few others out on normally popular trails.

      Good you’re careful around the monster icicles, folks have been terminated by them.
      The empty shelters on the Ouachita Trail were great for setting up a tent in during the winter.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Anyone know how much of the trail is the same as the original Daniel Boone route?
      Really hard to tell - that would require looking at old hand drawn maps.

      On March 10, 1775, Boone and around 30 other ax-wielding road cutters (including his brother and son-in-law) set off from the Long Island of Holston River, a sacred Cherokee treaty site located in present-day Kingsport, Tennessee. From there they traveled north along a portion of the Great Warrior’s Path, heading through Moccasin Gap in the Clinch Mountains. Avoiding Troublesome Creek, which had plagued previous travelers along the route, Boone’s group crossed the Clinch River (near what is now Speers Ferry, Virginia) and followed Stock Creek, crossed Powell Mountain through Kane’s Gap and headed into the Powell River Valley.
      About 20 miles from the Cumberland Gap, Boone and his party rested at Martin’s Station, a settlement near what is now Rose Hill, Virginia that had been founded by Joseph Martin in 1769. After a Native American attack, Martin and his fellow settlers had abandoned the region, but they had returned in early 1775 to build a more permanent settlement. Just before reaching their intended settlement site on the Kentucky River in late March, Boone’s group was attacked by some of the Shawnee, who unlike the Cherokee had not ceded their right to Kentucky’s land. Most of Boone’s men were able to escape, though a few were killed or injured. In April, the group arrived on the south side of the Kentucky River, in what is now Madison County, Kentucky.

      awesomestories.com/asset/view/…-Boone-Wilderness-Road//1
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Yesterday was another shuttle hike with cspan, AKA Time Zone. We did the Lawson Mountain section which is 9.8 miles with an added 1.5 to visit a lookout.

      The section started in a very, rural area after driving on asphalt then gravel, and finally dirt/mud. We were definitely in a community of mountain people and I can only imagine how peaceful it is to live in such an area and how close-knit the community. Sadly, there’s no doubt this area is also plagued with poverty and probable drug abuse.

      The trail itself was difficult to follow at times because of ankle-deep leaves, tall grass, and blowdowns. But it was well-blazed (except for a few spots) so we’d point ourselves towards the next blaze and often go cross country.

      I started off with a bad headache and felt sluggish so wasn’t on my A game. As I usually walk in front and pick out the path, my standard reply became, “I’m taking the scenic route.” :)

      Dang, this trail is steep and challenging, mainly the first third of the hike. It was slow going and Time Zone now understands why I’m called Traffic Jam.

      We were descending from Lawson Mt. (I think) when I spotted a large, brown, creature (what is it with me and large, brown animals?). We had paused for some reason and I said, “C, there’s a bear.” Pretty quick we realized they weren’t bears but a pack of wild hogs, at least a dozen. And they were big, maybe 150lbs. The hogs noticed us and scurried up and over a ridge, thank goodness. It was my first, wild hog sighting while hiking and it was exciting and scary.

      I was lazy and only took one photo the entire hike...the post-hike celebration.
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      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • But cspan took some pictures and generously shared them with me.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • I’m at 60.7 CT miles.

      And my previous statement about the Three Gorges section being the longest contiguous section of the CT was false. The trail description must be outdated because it appears the New River to Frozen Head is the longest.

      It’s difficult to figure this trail out sometimes as it’s ever-changing and the conference website isn’t keeping up and/or isn’t entirely accurate.

      They list the Lawson Mt. section out of order which confused me for a bit, it should be...

      Anderson and Cross Mountain
      Lawson Mountain
      Arch Mountain

      This is what the conference site shows...
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • Jake Ace wrote:

      You’d think Daniel Boone was 9 feet tall from reading all the folk tales ;)
      a good read is “Boone” a biography by I forget the name, always held my interest reading short sections at the book store.

      No - he was a family man indoctrinating his family into values that were important to him and wanted his boys to follow him in things that may make money and they cleared a trail with axes. - In my book we call this OUTSTANDING!
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • 121.5 mi on CT thus far, almost 74 to go, based on cumberlandtrail.org website figures (and not deducting temporary/unofficial parts). My remaining miles are almost entirely at the northern end, starting with the Obed River 14.1 mi segment. But enjoyed hiking Lawson Mtn segment with Bo Peep. I mostly agree with her review of this section - she covered it well.

      I'd add (editorialize) that I consider a well-blazed trail to be one where there's always a blaze in sight. Just as you pass one, you can see the next one. That's far from assured on the CT. Now, when that happens, most of the time the trail is pretty obvious and you will see the next blaze eventually just by continuing on the path. But, probably a couple times per section on average, one comes to a stretch where the trail is faint or worse, and the blazing is missing* too. You make your best guess, and backtrack if, after a few minutes, you still don't see a blaze.

      • or misleading. I've sometimes seen single blazes at turns and double blazes for when you're supposed to go straight!
      Another comment - on the map above, just look at that big blank area in the middle. That's where we were. :whistling:
    • Time Zone wrote:

      121.5 mi on CT thus far, almost 74 to go, based on cumberlandtrail.org website figures (and not deducting temporary/unofficial parts). My remaining miles are almost entirely at the northern end, starting with the Obed River 14.1 mi segment. But enjoyed hiking Lawson Mtn segment with Bo Peep. I mostly agree with her review of this section - she covered it well.

      I'd add (editorialize) that I consider a well-blazed trail to be one where there's always a blaze in sight. Just as you pass one, you can see the next one. That's far from assured on the CT. Now, when that happens, most of the time the trail is pretty obvious and you will see the next blaze eventually just by continuing on the path. But, probably a couple times per section on average, one comes to a stretch where the trail is faint or worse, and the blazing is missing* too. You make your best guess, and backtrack if, after a few minutes, you still don't see a blaze.

      • or misleading. I've sometimes seen single blazes at turns and double blazes for when you're supposed to go straight!
      Another comment - on the map above, just look at that big blank area in the middle. That's where we were. :whistling:
      Welcome! So glad you decided to join us, TZ!

      Regarding blazing (or lack of)... when hiking solo, I am usually very vigilant about my surroundings and hyper-sensitive about getting lost. I love to hike solo, but there are times when it makes me anxious. It was difficult to enjoy some of the BMT sections due to what I believed was poor blazing.

      Hiking with a trusted partner allows one to relax and not worry as much. Because I feel more secure in sketchy areas, my opinion about blazing seems to be more relaxed.

      Does that make sense? I think that’s part of being female...opinions are tied to emotions. :)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Bo Peep wrote:

      Welcome! So glad you decided to join us, TZ!
      Regarding blazing (or lack of)... when hiking solo, I am usually very vigilant about my surroundings and hyper-sensitive about getting lost. I love to hike solo, but there are times when it makes me anxious. It was difficult to enjoy some of the BMT sections due to what I believed was poor blazing.

      Hiking with a trusted partner allows one to relax and not worry as much. Because I feel more secure in sketchy areas, my opinion about blazing seems to be more relaxed.

      Does that make sense? I think that’s part of being female...opinions are tied to emotions. :)
      I've definitely noticed that too - when solo, I'm keenly aware of my surroundings. Almost having constantly to be "on" in terms of focus, at least on the CT. That level of attention does have its benefits and virtues. At the same time, IMO, there's nothing like reaching a great overlook or splendid waterfall and having someone to share the experience with, to turn to and say "Wow, isn't that great?" That beats "Well, you had to be there."

      Not only that, a second set of eyes can be quite valuable when the blazing goes quiet or the trail fades away under leaf litter (or due to lack of use). At the very least, those second set of eyes saves you time - but in a bad situation, they may save a lot more than that.

      Oh - and I suspect us dudes have our opinions influenced by emotions too, whether we admit it or not, or wrap it in post-hoc rationalization.
    • Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      You’d think Daniel Boone was 9 feet tall from reading all the folk tales ;)
      a good read is “Boone” a biography by I forget the name, always held my interest reading short sections at the book store.
      No - he was a family man indoctrinating his family into values that were important to him and wanted his boys to follow him in things that may make money and they cleared a trail with axes. - In my book we call this OUTSTANDING!
      Same holds true with other animals as well, be it a brood, pack, murder or gaggle...if ya watch a flock of geese you’ll see most head down and eating, except for a few “Sentry’s” who have neck erect and a watchful eye, when it’s their turn to eat, another will take over the position almost telepathically.
      My dogs never slept so well as when they were cuddled up close, but shift a little and watch them “one eye” ya as to say...”what’s up” :D
    • Enjoyed hiking another CT section with Time Zone. I’m now up to 70 miles. So very grateful to have a hiking buddy to share shuttling duties and who puts up with my slowness.

      The mountain laurel was past their prime but still very pretty.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • Bo Peep wrote:

      Enjoyed hiking another CT section with Time Zone. I’m now up to 70 miles. So very grateful to have a hiking buddy to share shuttling duties and who puts up with my slowness.

      The mountain laurel was past their prime but still very pretty.
      You're rockin' now!!
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference