Hiking Journal: Sam Knob

Details

Date: June 4, 2012
City: Pisgah National Forest, Black Balsam District
Route: Trail
Rating: 4 out of 5

My Experience

I knew I wanted to come back here, but ultimately decided not to camp out and climb Cold Mountain in the morning. Instead, with darkness a few hours away, I decided to hike a loop down to Flat Laurel Creek and up a spur to the top of Sam's Knob. This is one of my favorite places. You start the hike in an area that appears completely clear, and quickly end up in laurel tunnels and small copses of trees. The creek at the bottom of the valley was amazing, with vegetation growing up and around it, creating a tunnel. The top of Sam's Knob was neat. You could see the storm coming in, and the valley below kept filling with fog and then the fog would disappate. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay too long as I had to get back before dark to my car. Wish I could have camped there, but with the storm that I encountered on my drive home that night, I'm glad I didn't.

The Beginning to the hike down to Flat Laurel Creek.

A dead tree.

Mountain Laurel.

Sam's Knob

 

Hiking Journal: Linville Falls

 

Details

Date: June 4, 2012
City: Pisgah National Forest, Grandfather District
Route: Walking Trail
Rating: 3 out of 5

My Experience

On my return journey from Chapel Hill to Nashville, I knew I wanted to see more of the Pisgah National Forest. The first place I wanted to see was Linville Falls and with it Linville Gorge, as I had heard it was the second largest gorge on the east coast. Ultimately, I enjoyed the brief 2 mile excursion, but it wasn't anything unbelieveable. If I had had more time, I would have hiked down into the gorge, which I think would have been much more impressive, but I was pressed for time and just the easy hike along the western ridge. It gave some good views of the falls, but was pretty crowded.

The bridge across Linville River above the falls.

The Upper Falls.

All the dead hemlocks in the forest from a blight.

The rapids that have helped form the Gorge.

Hiking Journal: Radnor Lake 2

 

Details

Date: May 13th, 2012
City: Nashville, TN
Route: Lake Trail to Ganier Ridge Trail
Rating: 4 out of 5 (Urban Location)

Our Experience

Having only a few more weeks here in Nashville, we knew we needed to get back to Radnor Lake and hike the other half of the park. We started by the dam at the west end of the lake, and hiked along the lake trail until we came to the Ganier Ridge Trail, which was moderately steep.

It was amazing coming to Radnor Lake again. In March the ground was just beginning to turn green, and the sunlight streamed through the trees, bathing the forest in a beautiful glow. Today, the forest was covered in green, and for most of the hike, except at the top of the ridge, we were in complete shadow.

My wife was again amazing at spotting wildlife, including the scared little guy shown above and the deer below.

We are definitely going to miss having such great hikes nearby, Minneapolis doesn't have quite the same level of secluded nature in the middle of a city that Nashville does although I think that might be because many more people use the parks there than here in Nashville.

With moving and everything else, we'll see how much more hiking we'll get to do before we leave. But as it is, I feel like we have done a lot, given our severe lack of time.







 

Hiking Journal: Pisgah National Forest

 

Details

Date. April 28, 2012
Route. Black Balsam Loop
Rating. 5 Stars out of 5

My Experience

We had planned this trip a couple of months prior, and hadn't planned on my wife having to travel to Minneapolis for a job interview at the last minute. So it was the dog and me heading to the Great Smokey Mountains.

We got off around 5 on Friday and then promptly got to experience Nashville traffic in all it's glory. So we didn't roll into the campground until around Midnight. After the car ride, May had no desire to go to sleep and I had no desire to stumble around walking her at night so instead I got to be awoken every 15 minutes by a whining dog. Ah the joys of camping with a dog. She won't be invited again.

Since the Great Smokey Mountains is a national park and dogs aren't allowed on the trails, I drove to the Pisgah National Forest. Wow. Made me question moving back to Minneapolis when I could live in a town like Asheville and be an hour away from amazing camping. I hiked the trail, and was blown away. Much of the trail is treeless, with an amazing view. You start the trail on an old railbed, which was used by the lumber company that clearcut the forest that had been here. It comes to an intersection with a number of other trails where a couple groups of hikers had gathered to rest. Along the way there were a number of campsites that were mind blowing. They were along a ridge, with a view of the sunset at night, and the sunrise in the morning. I'm desperate to get back and go camping on the trail.

The dog loved the trail, even the time we got lost, although she was exhausted by the end and slept most of the night.

The dog finally relaxing.

One of the many "tunnels".

Shining Rock Wilderness.

Another "tunnel".

 

Walking Journal: Ellington Agricultural Center

 

Details

Date: March 18, 2012
City: Nashville, TN
Route: Rogers Walk (and Edmondson Pike)
Rating: 3 out of 5 (Urban Location)

Our Experience

We didn't have a lot of time, Sunday afternoon, so we decided to walk down to the Ellington Agricultural Center, a short mile and quarter down Edmondson Pike from our apartment. We also wanted to bring May along, as we hadn't had a chance to do that on our biking trip the previous day. Overall, this was a pleasant walk, at least in the park, while Edmonson Pike proved again that Nashville isn't designed for pedestrians.

 

The walk is a pleasant 1.7 mile loop around the edge of the agricultural center, taking us along a creek and then through some of the gardens and buildings before plunging us into a small woodlet. There was no major change in elevation, and it was clear the trail was more for walking than hiking. There were a few people out, including one runner and a couple people walking dogs. Some of the trees were in bloom, which is a sight this northerner is not used to, and found to be very striking.

We might do this again, but only because it's so close, and when we want to get out into nature but don't have a lot of time, this can substitute for some of the better parks in the city.

The creek at Ellington Agricultural Center.

The beginning of Rogers Walk.

One of those hidden picture puzzle. Can you find the bike route in this picture?

 

Our Rating Scale

As we biked around the Stones River Greenway last weekend, we discussed what each of the ratings meant and came to a consensus.

Rating of 5. This is a "bucket list" type of hike or trail. These are the trails that we will be talking about for years for their beauty, unique nature and intangibles that make it one of our favorites.

Rating of 4. This is a great hike, and one we can definitely see doing again.

Rating of 3. The hike was fine, but didn't really blow us away. We likely won't hike it again.

Rating of 2. There are serious issues with the hike, and would recommend our friends not to do this hike.

Rating of 1. On some level, we have to ask ourself, why did we do this hike in the first place?

Biking Journal: Stones River Greenway

 

Details

Date: March 17, 2012
City: Nashville, TN
Route: Heartland Park Trailhead to Priest Dam Trailhead
Rating: 3 out of 5 (Urban Location)

Our Experience

We took our bikes out for the first spin of the year on the Stones River Greenway. There have definitely been some days that were warm enough to bike, we just hadn't had the time yet. All day it threatened rain, and we had a bit of rain land on us, but for the most part we stayed dry. The Stones River Greenway, at least the section we rode on, mixes amazing, hilly trails, cow pastures and scenic with garbage dumps and construction sites. We loved the chance to get out and bike in Nashville, a city we find to be less than bike friendly.

 

This was definitely a varied trip, and we likely won't be back to bike the same stretch of trail again. Some of our favorite parts were the beginning stretch that took us right next to a herd of cows. The next stretch took us up and down hills and then along a river. After crossing the river, that's when things got weird. First we smelled it, and then we saw it, a garbage dump, right across the river. You could see the water change color downstream from the dump, and the smell was terrible. However, soon after, we saw a beaver, right next to the trail, just chewing away. He didn't seem startled by our prescience, but we didn't have our cameras at the ready to take a picture. Finally, we made it to the dam, which unfortunately, didn't seem to provide us with easy access to the top of it to see the lake. After a loop around the parking lot, we headed back, where Jessy nearly ran over a squirrel who didn't seem to comprehend what a bike could do to it.

Priest Dam

Wooden Boardwalk

Map of Stones River Greenway, posted at Priest Dam Trailhead

Cow.