Long Hunter

February 2007
Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating............Outcasts Total: 53.2 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………14.0 Miles

This is the trip of the Gentle Gail Force Winds. I had hiked this trail about thirteen years ago and it held some special memories kinda. I was hoping that I remembered it a little better than Greg remembering the Stone Door.

Once again it snowed in Tennessee and surprisingly it happened for our hiking trip. We know that there is something wrong now. How can it be that every Ranger in Tennessee is so happy? Yes, once again we have a Ranger giggling while checking us in. He mumbled something about not worrying about too much company out on the trail.

This time we finally had someone brave enough to hang with the tough guys. Greg’s sons, Nathan and Chase, went with us along with all three of his dogs. A little on the nippy side the trail hugged the Percy Priest Lake. The weatherman had said five to ten mile an hour winds with gusts up to twenty. Yea, that was close. I guess this trail was easy enough on Troy’s knees as he left us on the way in and on the way out.

The trail was real nice and as long as we had cover from the wind, the temperature was just right. At one point on the trail two guys were heading the opposite direction. When they saw us they left the trail and headed into the woods. Not sure what that was about we kept an eye out for a while. Greg suggested that they might be a little queer.

After we set up camp, we had time to spend skipping rocks across the lake and shooting skeet (actually throwing rocks at big flat rocks that Greg through up in the air.) We also tried a little Jug fishing. There were about twelve Jugs in the water just off the shore. We tried numerous sticks and small trees to recover a fish with no luck. I even went as far as to try to walk on the water, which didn’t come out so good.

After dinner Greg chasing stray dogs away through the woods entertained us. The wind had died down and we were gifted with a beautiful sunset across the lake. The boys headed to bed first followed by Troy. Before Troy got settled in good we heard what could only be described as a wounded animal screaming from the end of the cove. It screamed three times and then one more time a short minute later. Troy said it was those Swamp Monkeys. Not real sure.

Shortly after I went to bed, I heard a critter running around my hammock. When I sat up it was over by Greg’s hammock so I figured I was just hearing his dog stirring. Certainly the dogs would bark if something came into camp. I woke in the night to a mad man attacking the dogs. After I got up I realized it was just Greg. His dog’s had actually got loose and the others ripped through the end of his new tent where the boys were sleeping. He was not a happy camper. After shaking the tree, I went back for a comfortable nights sleep.

Shortly after breakfast, Mother Nature decided to turn up the fan a little. Those wind gusts got a lot stronger on the hike out. As I said, Troy left us behind and actually went for drinks before we got out of the woods. It took us a little longer because Greg had a lot of dancing to do on the trail. You should have seen some of those moves, one time he actually went about five feet in the squat position. My Dad would have been proud. Also on the way out beside a bench we found an open jar of Vaseline that we know wasn’t there the day before. I guess that Greg was right.

Cumberland Mountain

January 2007
Cumberland Mountain...................Trail Rating.......Outcasts Total: 39.2 Miles Byrd Creek Trail................0.7 Miles.........Easy
Pioneer Short Loop............2.0 Miles.........Easy
Pioneer Trail......................3.0 Miles........Easy
Cumberland Plateau Trail..1.0 Miles.........Easy
Byrd Creek Trail................2.1 Miles.........Easy
Cumberland Overnight Trail..6.0 Miles....Impassable
Additional Road Hike........1.0 Miles.........Easy
Total………………………......15.8 Miles

This trip started off with warning signs that we should have caught, but didn’t. Our first warning was the phone call to the ranger to get information on the trail. A blonde answered and proved to be quite full of information. OK, I didn’t know she was blonde until she spoke and then confirmed it when we arrived at the park. The conversation went something like this: Hello, we are planning on taking your overnight trail and would like some information on it…………..overnight trail? Yes, the map that I have doesn’t have any trail lengths or names on it. Could you please tell me the length of your Northern overnight trail?………….Is that trail number 2? My map doesn’t have any numbers on it, I am asking about your overnight trail with the campsite on it………..what number trail is it? If you were to go to the campsite from the visitor center, how many miles is it?…………Trail number two is about six miles. OK, Is there a water source at the campsite?…………water source? You know, like drinking water?……..No, there isn’t any drinking water at camp. Is there a river or lake nearby?……….There is a lake by the visitor center………. Is there a river or lake by the campsite?…………..I don’t think so. OK, Well we will be up there this weekend to hike………I think the trail is closed. Your overnight trail is closed?……..I’m not sure. After we got there we found out that all of the trails had names.

Anyway, we could tell that it was getting close to hiking trip time because the weather was getting colder and colder. When we got to the park we found another happy lady who giggled when we said we were here to hike. This was an older lady and Blondie was sitting over on the other side of the room next to the fireplace giving another couple some information. When we convinced the lady that we really were going to hike in this weather she took out a blank sheet of scrap paper and asked our names. She asked for our cell number so she could call and check on us. We don’t take cell phones on trips. Anyway I am sure that that unofficial piece of paper ended up in the trashcan before we left the door. She took out a map, with trail names and miles on it, and showed us an area that was a little overgrown and may be hard to hike. OK.

We headed out on the Southern loop first which a really nice hike with beautiful scenery and only one broken bridge. One of the standing jokes we have is the special map reading skills of my brother. He had accidentally added ten miles on a trip we took in the Smokey’s. Well, I found out that it might be in the family genes when we came across a road, which I said “Hey, that isn’t on our map.” It didn’t take Troy long to see the map and point out the error of my ways. On the map, what I thought was a boundary line was really a road. Then came up the “where does the trail go from here?” about the same time that Greg stated, “You mean this trail?” from the other end of a bridge. I might have taken a little slack from that incident.

We came back to the visitor center and ate our chicken, again really good. A few people stopped a safe distance away and watched in amazement as Greg and I devoured the last bird.

We picked up our packs and headed out on the Northern loop. Troy was yelling out “Greg, look at me” as he skipped along the trail carrying his new lightweight backpack and gear.

All was going well until we got to the place marked on the map by the lady. Talk about a briar patch. A familiar tune comes to mind “Well, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles and the ran through the bushes where the rabbits couldn’t go.” We didn’t see any rabbits. Much flesh was left on this section of the trail. After we cleared the massive briar patch the trail had numerous trees down across it and we came across a couple of bridges that were in need of repair with one completely broke in half.

A river ran the entire length of the trail. On the map it was labeled as Three Mile River, which would be one half the distance of our trail. Imagine that. Of course it did not label it a water source on the map.

Numerous times we left the trail and foraged our way around piles of trees where the trail had once been. We came across a bridge that was broke in half and we were feeling like it was time to find camp. We guessed it to be within a half mile when Troy said it was one thousand four hundred and eighty feet. Only Troy can be so precise. Finally he broke and showed us where it was spray-painted in red on the side of the broken bridge.

It was getting late and we hit the area where camp was marked on our map. We looked and looked with no luck. Finally we hiked a mile further down the trail looking for a campsite and ended up making our own.

New equipment was tested. Greg had his new sleeping bag, new backpack, and new hammock, instead of a tent. Troy had a new tent and new sleeping bag. I had a new hammock and new sleeping bag. We were using double sleeping bags, which were lighter and warmer than the old. We all were using the full-length foam rests instead of the Thermo Rest that we had used on prior trips. We set the thermometer to low to test our new set up, back into the teens.

I got up that night to pee and I got hungry so I went through the pack to get me a candy bar. It was quite noisy, but I tried not to wake up anyone. I figured that while I was up, I would put another long on the fire. As I was walked a safe distance from Greg’s hammock through the eight inches of dry leaves and caught a few briars, I could hear Troy snoring in his tent. I had never heard Troy snore at the fire hall. Let me tell you, that man can rip when he has eleven miles under his belt. I really wasn't worried about waking him anymore. I got to the campfire and remembered the briar patch that was on this side. Some quite moaning and cussing got me through and I got the fire built back up. Figuring that I made too much noise on the way through the woods, I just walked right past Greg’s hammock on the way back. One minor problem was the tent peg holding out his tarp. Greg let me know that he was already up from my first pass and got up for the rest of the night to sit by the fire.

The next day we got a good breakfast and broke camp. When we got to the second mark on the ladies map we found that the trail just disappeared into another briar patch. You can’t get there from here so we left the park and cut across the cow pasture. We tried to enter the park several times, but gave up with the briars and found a road to hike back on.

When we got back to the visitor center we decided to have a talk with the lady. We caught the Ranger inside as well. He then let us know that the trail has been closed for five years after a tornado came through. The previous Ranger had told him that they were going to use it a study for the University of Tennessee. He said that he was surprised to hear that we were out hiking that trail. When we asked about the campsite he said that the boy scouts had built a teepee at one time up there and had planned on building more of a campground, but never got to it. We passed along our thoughts.

Fall Creek Falls

December 2006
Fall Creek Falls..................................Trail Rating...Outcasts Total: 23.4 Miles
Upper Loop Overnight Trail 13.0 Miles.....Easy

This was Troy's trail. He has hiked this trail many times both alone and with his brother. He knew it was an easy trail so we had to adjust the weather to make it more interesting. It is not very often that Tennessee has snow. We pulled into the park on snow and ice. Greg was not impressed as I slid into the parking spot at the office. We found a very sweet lady at the office that checked us in after she regained her composer from laughing after we said that we were going overnight hiking. She asked if we were serious as she grabbed her book. After getting signed in we headed to the trailhead.

At the trailhead we parked next to a maintenance shop where a couple of deliverance type characters seemed happy that we were there. It kinda sent a warning flag up. Troy had made fried chicken the night before at the fire hall and it wasn’t long before it took my full attention. The coyotes and bears went running when they saw and heard me attack that first piece.

This trail was a bit easier than the last and it had plenty of beauty. We set up camp in low spot in the campground to keep the wind off us. We got our warming fire started and took our meds. Nothing like sitting around a campfire telling lies and smelling burning boots. Whoa, I was supposed to keep an eye on Greg’s boots while he was working in his tent. He couldn’t say a whole lot because later on he burnt his sock. Either way they were dryer than before.

Before we settled in for the night, Troy took out his new lightweight multipurpose tool. It has a whistle, thermometer, compass, and a small storage compartment. We were already in the low twenties and the sky was clear. It was time to test the cold weather gear. Troy was the first off to bed. He went into his tent and zipped it closed. Then we heard………zip…………zip…..zip………..zip……..zip. What the hell had that many zippers? Troy never did tell us what all he had, but he never came out or complained about the cold.

I found out that at 17 degrees my sleeping bag in the hammock was no longer doing the job. I started stoking the fire. Greg woke up a little nervous because it was light and he was getting warm in his tent. Do you know how big a fire has to get before you are willing to take off your clothes in 17-degree weather? After putting on all the clothes in my pack, I got back to sleep and made it through the night. Our low reading was 14.3 degrees that night.

We had a Turkey visit our camp that night and also woke up to a deer crossing the river and much to his surprise fell through the ice. We spent a bit of time warming up after that night before we broke camp.

On the way out Troy decided to show how he wasn’t hurting this trip by smoking Greg and I up the largest hill on the trail back to the car. On the last quarter mile of the trail, two mountain bikers were heading in and were quite shocked to find out that one; we were out hiking and two; that we spent the night. For some reason it seemed like they thought we were crazy.

Pictures

Stone Door

November 2006
Stone Door....................................Trail Rating........Outcasts Total: 10.4 Miles
Stone Door Trail.........0.9 Miles......Easy
Big Creek Gulf Trail....4.0 Miles......Difficult
Greeter Trail...............1.4Miles.......Moderate
Big Creek Rim Trail....3.2 Miles.......Easy
Stone Door Trail........0.9 Miles.......Easy
Total………………....... 10.4 Miles

The Stone Door trail is a trail that Greg had taken several times. Troy voicing his concern about the bad knees was reassured that Greg had taken an Obese couple on this trail and they had no problem making it as a day hike. Looking over the topographical map I made note of a steep descent and a slower but pretty good climb back out of Gorge, but after Greg's reassurance we decided to go with it. We did have some concern about water on this hike. That concern soon faded as the week of our trip, it rained and it rained consistently for a week. We then had a concern about dry firewood.

The rain stopped on the morning of our trip and we headed out. We met at the trailhead and Greg got us off to a good start with an MRE for everyone. This was Troy’s first experience with this kind of delicacy and just a flashback for me. The trail was beautiful as were the views out over the gorge. The Stone Door is a large crack in the rock, which has steps in it that take you to the bottom of the gorge. Once you go through the stone door down into the gorge the trail turns into a rock garden, which you would have no idea that there was a trail here had it not been for the trail markers on the trees. Once the trail hits the river it follows it the length of the gorge. There is a trail to another waterfall that we could not take because the river was up so high and flowing very rapid.

There was a wagon trail that followed the river. You are on and off this wagon trail many times until the climb out which is rather steep and requires a few breaks. Greg had a hard time recalling the ups and downs and stone hopping. He remembered the wagon trail, but didn't recall it being so steep on the way out. The thought occurred to me and I asked the simple question "Did you have a pack on your back the times you hiked before?" After a slight hesitation the "No" answer came back. He had always taken it as a day hike.

Troy nicknamed the climb out as Mt. Mother. After being assured that there was no water at the camp, I filled my gallon container with water before the steep incline to the rim and camp. I later found out that during our breaks on Mt. Mother, Troy was not interested in the rock formations that I was pointing out. I believe he was just tired of hurting and a little air was more important than my damn rocks.

When we got to the top you couldn't help but to hear the raging river that was flowing next to the camp. "I never saw that before" was the answer. The campsite was on the edge of the gorge. It is a beautiful location, but due to the temperature we decided not to camp too close to the edge with the wind blowing. We set up camp and the meds were taken. One other couple made camp at another site. They obviously didn't have the experience we had in making campfires. We saw a small flicker every now and then. Ours was more like a sunrise. While sitting around the campfire, we heard a truck pull up. A ranger walked over to our camp and asked if we had a permit. We shockingly said yes and then he wanted to see it. None of us had ever had this happen before. Anyway, we gave him a hard time about not having any wood at the campsite. We managed a good nights sleep.

The next morning we decided to check out the water falls. Right at the start Greg decided to test the water proofing on his boot as he crossed the none existent river next to the camp. I guess waterproof is a loose term and doesn't apply when the water is over your boots. A short period later Troy decided to head back to camp as the knees were complaining. This was the last time we saw Troy as he headed all the way back to his car and exited stage right.

With all of the rain, the waterfalls were amazing. One of the falls had a metal spiral staircase that took you to the bottom of the falls. The dog was a little leery of this means of going down, but did make it safely.

When we got back to camp we saw that Troy had gone and we hiked the rim trail back. More beautiful sites were had.

Back at the office we decided that this was not a beginners trail and we would start working our way back up to this level by taking easier trails first. We got online and found all of the State Parks in Middle Tennessee that offer overnight trails. Then we put them in order from what we felt would be the easiest to the most difficult. The lightweight backpacking was now getting serious.

Pictures

How it all started

In the fall of the year, I was talking to my fellow firefighters about an upcoming hiking trip that I was going to take in the Smokey Mountains. As we were talking I came to find that both of them enjoyed hiking. The more we talked we found out that none of us were hiking enough for our likings. Troy has a history of knee problems and is concerned about taking on too much at one time. Greg hikes a lot like my Dad, head down full speed and trip over everything on the trail. We came together and picked a date that we could all make in October. It worked out great because I would be just coming off my Smokey Mountain trip in late September. This would be a trial trip to see one; if we could get along on the trail two; if we were combatable with our different experiences and three; if we could get something started.

As I was prepping for my Smokey Mountain trip, I was in need of a new backpack. While discussing this with Troy we entered the field of Lightweight backpacking. When you mention something to Troy and he sees the light, you had better hold on. The man can do some investigating. Not only did I end up with a new lightweight backpack, I also ended up with a new hammock and a couple of new sleeping bags. Needless to say not only does he come up with the best equipment, he also comes up with the best prices. On top of that he reduced his equipment to a weight much less than mine. Greg, unknowingly after our second trip joined us when his girlfriend got a hold of his dream list and made it come true over Christmas.

So this is how it goes:

Hiking Creed

Troy’s Hiking Creed:

THIS IS MY PACK
This is my pack
There are many like it, but this one is mine
My pack is my best friend. It is my life
I must master it as I master my life
My pack, without me is useless
Without my pack, I am useless
I must shoulder my pack true
I must hike longer than my enemy
I must finish the trail before he finishes me.
I WILL!

My pack and myself know what counts on this hike:
It’s not the pounds of gear we carry
It’s not the sweat and blood we shed
Nor the body and soul we test and punish
We know it is the completion of the hike that counts
WE WILL HIKE!

My pack is human, even as I, because it is my life
Thus I will learn it as a brother
I will learn its weakness, strengths, its parts, its accessories,
Its shoulder straps, its zippers and pockets, and its limits
I will even guard it against the ravages of weather and damage
I will keep my pack clean and ready, as I am clean and ready
We will become one with each other.
WE WILL!

Before GOD I swear this creed. My pack and myself are
The defenders of my country.
We are the masters of the trail, we are the saviors of my life
So be it, until there is no trail un-hiked, only peace.