WildrLog

Bryan May 13th, 2007

Wow, time really flies! I’m a bit late posting this hike log entry. I’ll try to get better about that.

Today,
the main object of my hike is Gainer Ridge. Gainer Ridge is one of
the two moderate to strenuous trails in the park. The ridge was named
for Albert Gainer, one of the founding member of the Tennessee
Ornithological Society. In 1923, Albert and TOS managed to convince the L&N Railroad to make Radnor Lake a wildlife sanctuary. Gainer Ridge offers a peak at downtown Nashville during the
winter. Of course this time of year, well, let’s say you can really
practice your tree identification.

Trail: West Parking Lot to Lake Trail to Gainer Ridge Trail to Lake Trail to Otter Creek Road to West Parking Lot
Distance: 4 miles
Max Elevation: 1117 ft
Total Elevation climb: 469 ft
Trail Type: single track dirt, some locations mulched
Temperature: 70s, sunny and warm, not a cloud in the sky
Time: 1:30 moving, 0:24 resting
Significant Features: birds and trees!

Its a beautiful day and lots of people are this Sunday afternoon. Too many. The parking lot is packed. The Lake Trail and Otter Creek Road are packed. I don’t like it. I come for peace and quiet and birds singing. Heard to hear them along the Lake Trail. But it is 1,200 acres of pure wilderness in the midst of a metropolitan area of about 1.5 million people and I should be grateful this many people enjoy it. That’s more people who might care enough to save similar areas. Radnor Lake has a very exciting conservation history and will be the subject of an upcoming research post.

I get up to the Gainer Ridge trail and the crowd slackens. Of course, its a harder hike. I pass maybe 6 people along Gainer today. I stop at the top today for water and to change the batteries in my GPS. And to sit. Can’t see much today. The trees have recovered nicely from the late freezes and have filled in the views. I stop on the downside of Gainer to give directions is a few folks and pass onto the Lake Trail again. Back to the crowds on the Lake Trail and on Otter Creek Road.

Some of the best views of the Lake are from Otter Creek Road on the east side of the Lake. Large open vistas give a glimpse into the waters and all they contain. I stop to take pictures of the ducks on the logs. And then move on. The crowds have irritated me today, but I got my peace up on Gainer.

Links:

Friends of Radnor Lake

Radnor Lake State Park

Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Google Map to Radnor

My pictures from this hike

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Bryan April 29th, 2007

This weekend, I didn’t go on a hiking trip. That’s right, after hiking every weekend for over 3 months (save Easter), I didn’t plan to go hiking. Instead, I planned to help BUILD a trail.

History
The Cumberland Trail was first envisioned nearly 40 years ago by a number of conservationists who formed the Tennessee Trails Association. TTA worked with the state of Tennessee to pass the Tennessee Trails System Act in 1971 and the work began building in Tennessee’s wildlife management areas, state forests and state parks. Seeing that the project needed a body of its own, TTA formed the Cumberland Trail Conference in 1997. In 1998, the Cumberland Trail became Tennessee’s 53rd state park and its first linear state park.

TODAY
The route begins in southeast Tennessee west of Chattanooga. When
completed it will stretch over 300 miles to Cumberland Gap north of
Knoxville, skirting the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau along
the way. 165 miles of the trail are completed and open for hiking. The remaining sections are in various stages of completion (land acquisition, awaiting trail construction, etc.) Check out the Cumberland Trail Conference for maps to the open sections.

The trail is a partnership with the Cumberland Trail Conference, and state of Tennessee’s State Parks, Wildlife Resource Agency, Department of Environment and Conservation, Department of Tourist Developemnt and Department of Transportation. Other partners include private organizations, foundations, and the National Park Service (Cumberland Gap National Historic Park and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park). This is definitely one of my generation’s premier public-private partnerships.

FUTURE
The Cumberland Trail is a key section of a still under development western alternative to the Appalachian Trail.

WHAT DID I DO?
Well, first I got to work with some fine trail builders from across our state. Our crew built around 30 steps and gargoyled several sections of trail. We also built a cribbing wall. And on Sunday, I got to map a section of the trail with my GPS (ok, so that DID involve hiking the trail).

Trail: Cumberland Trail
Distance: 1.6 miles
Max Elevation: ~1,250 feet
Total Elevation climb: 396 feet on the return trip
Trail Type: single track dirt
Temperature: 80s, sunny and warm
Time: 1.5 hour moving with 15 minutes of lolly gagging
Significant Features: creeks, cascades, and rock overhang

The short section I hiked has a number of mined areas, which were reforested with pine. Board Camp Creek gushes off to the left as I hike out. The water from the creek tasted wonderful (I filtered it first as always). My decent was made easier by the steps that had been installed (way to go crew!).

The last pictures in the album are of a creek on private property that is obviously polluted with mine runoff.

I have been wanted to learn the craft of trail building for some time now. And learn I did. I asked a lot of questions, but everyone was very patient with me. I’m hoping to go back toward the middle of May to learn more.

Did you ever think while hiking a trail that someone actually had to build this? They had to pick the route, cut the trees, clear the brush, remove the duff, install the steps and cribbing. And its not easy work let me tell you. Our crew consumed plenty of water and Vitamin I.

I challenge each of my hiker readers to work on building or
maintaining a trail somewhere. And when you do, drop a comment on this
post to let me know about it! As a hiker, there is no more rewarding experience than working on a trail, knowing generations from now my grandson may ask those same questions.

Download the Google Earth track
Pictures

Reference links:
Wikipedia
Tennessee State Parks
Cumberland Trail Conference

Friends of the Cumberland Trail

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Bryan April 22nd, 2007

I finally got back my 4Runner back in operation and decided to venture a little further from home that I have lately. The South Cumberland State Park is one of my favorite places on the planet. SCSP is 11,000 acres of ten different parcels scattered around the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau. I ventured to one of my recently discovered areas, Grundy State Forest Natural Area.

Trail: Grundy Forest Day Loop
Distance: 2.5 miles
Max Elevation: 1896 feet
Total Elevation climb: 305 feet
Trail Type: single track dirt
Temperature: 70s, sunny and warm
Time: 1 hour moving with 1 hour of lolly gagging
Significant Features: creeks, cascades, and a nice sized bluff near one end of the loop

I discovered Grundy Forest about 2 years ago in a brochure at the state park’s visitor’s center. I finally decided to go there about a year ago and I’m glad I did.

Grundy Forest is the northern terminus of the 12 mile Fiery Gizzard trail. The day loop starts (I started by going right) walking through forest mainly for about 3/4 mile. I noticed a small glade to my left.

Today, the trail is more crowded than I’m used to. A group comes by with about 5 dogs. I stopped to let them by so Hannibal, my dog, won’t be fretting and I wouldn’t be rushed.

I make my way down to the creek and I sit and read while Hannibal investigates the creek. We move on along the creek until we reach the intersection with the Fiery Gizzard Trail. I decide to hike over to the confluence of the Big and Little Fiery Gizzard creeks.

As we’re headed back up, the geography changes slightly as we pass the large bluff. Hard to believe we’ve already made it through this loop. My buds and I are planning on backpacking Fiery Gizzard in a few weeks.

Map of Grundy Forest Natural Area

Trail Map of Grundy Forest Natural Area

Pictures

Friends of South Cumberland

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Bryan April 15th, 2007

After the Easter holiday, I continue my exploration of Nashville’s Warner Parks. Today I chose the larger. Percy Warner Park is over 2000 acres of mixed use (mainly wilderness) park off Highway 100 between Belle Meade and Bellevue in Nashville.

Trail: Warner Woods Trail
Distance: 2.5 miles
Max Elevation: 915 feet
Total Elevation climb: 519 feet
Trail Type: single track dirt
Temperature: 40s, cloudy and really cold for April
Time: 1 hour moving with 30 minutes of lolly gagging
Significant Features: just forest, some views of Nashville through the leafless trees

Despite the really cold weather we had, I had a real “hoot”. The Warner Woods trail is really that… woods. I wandered through oak and maple stands and lots of Mayapple and Honeysuckle. The highlight was this owl I got to see. He just sat there until I got too close. I’ve had the opportunity to see them in the park before along with a copious amount of deer.

Directions to the Nature Center

Pictures

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Bryan April 1st, 2007

Note: Wow, time really got away from me this week! I again decided to hike close to home this week… really close to home. The Wild Turkey Trail is at Henry Horton State Park, which is about 15 minutes from my house. What little camping I did with my family as a kid, we did most of it here. The park has changed a lot from back then. In fact, I don’t think the Wild Turkey Trail even existed back then. The park is mainly a resort park with an inn, a restaurant, and golf course. But they do offer car (tent) and RV camping as well. The Wild Turkey Trail is the longest of the two at the park.

Trail: Wild Turkey Trail
Distance: 2.5 miles (1.7 actual travel according to my GPS)
Max Elevation: 870 feet
Total Elevation climb: 130 feet
Trail Type: single track dirt
Temperature: 70s, cloudy
Time: 35 minutes moving with 7 minutes of lolly gagging
Significant Features: just forest

The trail head is away from the main park, just south and off the highway. This trail is a nice short getaway. If it weren’t for hearing the traffic from the highway during the last half of the trail, you’d have a nice peaceful walk in the woods. I was surprised to not see very many wildflowers along the trail.

I saw a lot of this plant that looked like a rhododendron, but looked too small to be to me. Do you know what they are?

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4/17/2007 Update: I noticed the plant in the picture above on the Warner Woods trail in Percy Warner Park, so I emailed the park nature center. Here’s the response:

What you have here is a Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum). It produces one edible fruit, but the fruit is edible only at certain times, so read up on it more before eating it.

Thanks to Keith and the Warner Parks Nature Center for ending the mystery!

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Bryan March 25th, 2007

The Warner Parks, along with Radnor Lake, are, in our time, geographical oddities. No, they’re not two weeks from everywhere as pondered by Everett in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? But they are 2,684 acres of mostly wilderness located in the middle of the overdeveloped 3 B’s area of Nashville (Brentwood, Bellevue, Belle Meade). It’s simply amazing for me to think that someone had the vision to set aside that much property for parks. Percy and Edwin Warner Parks are technically mixed use parks with horse trails, ball fields, and hiking trails. But much of the parks remain wilderness and Metro Nashville Parks are to be commended for that. I can’t find much on the history of the park, but information at park mentioned dates in the 1920s. Be sure to check the websites for the Nature Center and Friends of Warner Parks.

Trail: Harpeth Woods Trail
Distance: 2.5 miles (3.7 actual travel according to my GPS)
Max Elevation: 921 feet
Total Elevation climb: 446 feet
Trail Type: single track dirt
Temperature: 80s and balmly for March
Time: 1 hour 16 minutes moving with 30 minutes of lolly gagging
Significant Features: just forest

On this beautiful Sunday, I admit, I was feeling a bit lazy. I really didn’t want to drive that far after church, so I chose a nearby location. The Harpeth Woods Trail at Edwin Warner Park was just the ticket. A busy trail on this pretty weekend, I could still catch moments of wilderness and solitude. The wildflowers just starting to bloom and the split in two tree where probably the highlights of the hike. The nice rest in rocking chair at the Nature Center didn’t hurt either. Overall this is a moderate hike, but I would rate sections borderline strenuous. Harpeth Woods Trail is a great hike if just need to get some fresh air and exercise.

Map of Edwin Warner Park

Pictures are HERE and for directions from anywhere, click HERE.

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Bryan March 18th, 2007

Stillhouse Hollow Falls opened last summer as a Tennessee State Natural Area. The 90 acre tract was acquired with the help of a number of conservation organizations from the open market. The 75′ waterfall on the property makes this a treasure worth preserving. The trail map can be found HERE. Some other useful information from the University Of Tennessee on the area can be found HERE.

Distance: 1.5 miles total, there and back
Total Elevation Climb: 325 feet, mainly ups on the way back
Trail type: single track dirt and rock
Temperature: lower 50s, sunshine and clear, blue skies
Time: 1.5 hours including 1 hour of stops and lollygagging
Significant features: waterfall!!!

Stillhouse is a great short hike with a big payoff. It’s also about 10 miles from my parents house, so it’s really convenient to grab some of mom’s groceries on the way back (which I did, thanks for the burger mom!). Tennessee Trails has some quite a bit of work on the trail since I was last at Stillhouse.

I headed down the trail with several switchbacks for about 1/2 mile. At the bottom, I crossed the unnamed stream over a bridge and walked parallel to the stream. I saw the small cascades, but that’s not Stillhouse! I ran into a friend from Tennessee Trails and his children who were on there way back up. I walked right up to the top side of the falls (there’s a trail to get right next to it now). I continued past the falls on the main trail, down some steps, across the stream again, and back towards the falls. I passed an old home site I didn’t noticed last time. It really isn’t that old with concrete block foundation and bricked chimney. The falls are just spectacular, and are a real treasure for the area. I think I’ll be at this swimming hole come summertime! I spent about an hour here reading and journaling before anyone else came down.

Pictures are over HERE.

Loved it!! Have any of you been to Stillhouse? Are you likely to this summer?

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Bryan March 10th, 2007

Today, I hiked at the teenage Short Springs State Natural Area between Tullahoma and Manchester. The 420 acre natural area is managed by the City of Tullahoma, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Tennessee’s division of Natural Areas. Tullahoma’s water came from here once upon a time before the Normandy Dam project. I haven’t found any other history on the area. Check out the Trail and Topo Map.

Distance: 3.6 miles, mesh trail system
Total Elevation Climb: 260 feet, mainly minor ups and downs
Trail type: varies from single track dirt and rock to old road bed
Temperature: upper 60s, sunshine and clear, blue skies
Time: 2.5 hours, 1 hour of stops
Significant features: waterfalls!!!

First off, the turn off of Highway 55 is not marked at all, so here’s the link for your Google Maps and GPS tinkering. And for directions directly to the parking lot from wherever you are click here.

Once there, I found an extremely well developed system of trails. First, I took the Busby Falls loop which runs down to the falls on Bobo Creek. I crossed the creek, but didn’t go much further. It looked like they were building a trail on the other side (orange flagging tape), but there weren’t any blazes. It’s a pretty area and wasn’t busy at all (great for some solitude). The Busby Falls Loop reconnects with the Machine Falls Loop.

Machine Falls is the main attraction in my opinion. It takes a little rock hopping to get back to it from the trail. It’s worth it. As I got closer, I could see water seeping from between the rocks on my right. A few more steps and I was face to face with it. The falls are about 60 feet tall and almost as wide. I wandered around on the falls for about 30 minutes as there were a number of easy climbs around it. I was in awe of the sheer power needed to create this small wonder. It made me feel really small.

Back on the Machine Falls Loop, (I bypassed the Wildflower Loop since I photographed the only one I had seen thus far) I trekked until I got to the Adams Falls Loop. Note that on the published map, this is a there and back. it just says to me the trail system is still being developed. From the trail, Adams Falls takes some getting to. Since there wasn’t a soul around, I elected not to go bouldering over to it. I was disappointed because I’m sure I missed a treat. I’ll take a hiking partner with me next time.

I got back on the Machine Falls Loop which brought me around to the trail head by Short Springs Road. I’ll rate this a 3.5 out of 5 on the Bryan scale. I’ll definitely remember this place.

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Bryan March 4th, 2007

Around 200 years ago, this was a bustling industrial area. Montgomery Bell, one of Tennessee’s first entrepreneurs, owned iron ore mines and furnaces in the areas of Dickson and Cheatham Counties, Tennessee. Mr. Bell supplied, among other things, cannonballs to Andrew Jackson’s army during the War of 1812. Mr. Bell may have owned a share of the operations in what is now Montgomery Bell State Park

Distance: 6.0 miles, loop trail
Total Elevation Climb: 260 feet, mainly minor ups and downs
Trail type: varies from single track dirt and rock to old road bed to grass along the lake shore
Temperature: upper 40s, sunshine and clear, blue skies
Significant features: mostly forest, a few views into deep hollows, and the lake

As I normally do when I go someplace new, I stopped by the visitors center to get a trail map. There I encountered two problems: the visitors center is closed on weekends during the winter (um, seems like they’d have more traffic on weekends, but I’m sure there’s a logical explanation) and trail maps are not available outside the visitors center. So, I took to the trail with no official map (I did have my GPS and a guide book, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Nashville, which has a very simple map). Now that I look, they don’t even publish a map online.

The first couple of miles is just a nice walk in the woods. There’s nothing really strenuous about it. It’s just a really peaceful place. There are a number of stream crossings. As always be careful, but I didn’t even get out my gaiters. At about 1.7 miles, I will encountered a fairly nice backcountry shelter with about 8 bunks. It’s located right at the confluence of the streams and has a fairly nice view. I could just imagine listening to the streams babbling while falling asleep. Of course, its located the ideal distance to backpack in on a late Friday afternoon after work.

After another mile or so, the trail turns onto a gravel service road (still maintained and used) for about 1/4 mile and then onto an old maintenance road that borders the golf course.

About one more mile passes away and the trail turns back onto single track to the lake where I ran into a couple of guys fishing. The lake created by an earthen damn is about 17 acres. By the lake shore, the trail turns to grass, so watch for the signs.

After passing the dam, the trail heads back up into the woods along the hollow and up the hill. Another nice walk in the woods. If you download the Google Earth kmz file, you will find that I backtracked about 1/2 mile. I could have edited it out, but I decided to make a point. This was the sign at the trail junction.

Remember, I don’t have the detailed map and really didn’t want to get out the guide book. So, I headed for the parking lot. After about 20 minutes, I checked the GPS and decided to look at the guide book. Turns out it would have taken me to a parking lot alright. But it wouldn’t have been the one I parked in. I’ll chalk this one up to my own laziness, but the signage could have been much better. This is a definite nominee for the malfunction junction award.

I did enjoy this hike and am looking forward to day hiking the other half of this trail as well as an overnight trip in the near future.

Pictures are HERE

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Bryan February 25th, 2007

Today’s hike took me out west of Columbia, Tennessee to the western Highland Rim. The decade old Devil’s Backbone State Natural Area sits on the western edge of the Natchez Trace Parkway near Gordonsburg. The natural area gets its name from the old nickname for the Natchez Trace. The 450 mile trip from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee was frequently a difficult one involving murderers and thieves, Indians and floods. Travelers often attributed their troubles to the work of the Devil. And if that weren’t enough, it’s not the easiest 450 mile walk to take. For more information on the history of the Trace, click HERE.

Distance: 3.1 miles round trip
Time: 1.5 hours
Elevation change: approximately 100 feet total upclimb
Trail
type: dirt, some rock. Surprisingly not muddy after the rains yesterday.
Temperature: lower 50s, cold and overcast.
Significant
features: Forest and views of adjacent ridges during the winter.

The trail has a 1/2 mile spur to the loop. The trail runs mostly along a 100 foot tall series of adjoining ridges. The loop starts a slight decent in Spring Hollow finally reaching Falls Branch (no bridge for the crossing). There’s another branch to cross (this one with a bridge), and then back up you go rather rapidly. The return side of the loop runs along another ridge and then rejoins the spur trail.

The trail is in the interior of the property, so its a nice quiet and undisturbed place. Also, chances are you’ll have your solitude on the trail as it isn’t heavily used.

Not much wildlife activity today. I did enjoy the ride to the trailhead with my parents and the hike with my dog Hannibal. I did enjoy the hike and will definitely be back for the spring wildflowers.

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Pictures are HERE.

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