Kentuckiana Hiker’s Review

January:

This is the year that I started my love affair with the Great Smoky Mountains. I went to the Pigeon Forge Wilderness Wildlife Week for four great days in January this year and it truly opened my eyes. I still can’t believe it took 43 years for me to finally visit this truly magnificent National Park.

Wilderness Wildlife Week  is also a festival I highly recommend. The convention is held at the Pigeon Forge convention center and lasts 8 days. Registration and attendance is completely free. Each evening, you take a ticket and await the drawing for the next day’s guided trail hikes. Usually, each day includes up to 10 or 12 different guided hikes. You meet at the convention center in the morning, and then are taken by school bus to the trailhead of your choice. When the hike is over, a school bus will return you to the convention center.

And none of it costs a dime.

During my January stay, I hiked the Little River / Cucumber Gap loop and the Lower Mt. Camerer trails. I also got to go on a nature hike called an Owl Prowl, a favorite of the convention. On the final day, we took a driving tour of Cade’s Cove (my first time) before leaving for home. I’ve visited the park three more weekends since January, and I plan to hike the Appalachian Trail trough the Smokies in 2009 or 2010.

February:

February was a cold and snowy month in 2008. And I couldn’t motivate myself to get out for some cold weather hiking. But 2009 will be different.

March:

A deep run in the NCAA tournament for my Louisville Cardinals and an unusual March snow storm led to very little hiking for me. Again, this has to change in 2009.

April:

April of this year provided a couple more “firsts” for me. After reading about it in the local paper, I visited the Blackacre Conservancy in Jefferson County. What was amazing is that I had been driving past this small park for 20 years and I never knew it existed until the article appeared in the paper. In addition to a complete farm settlement that dates back to the 1700s, the Blackacre Conservancy also has several trails within the grounds. Driving into the park, the suburban surroundings disappear and you get the distinct feeling of traveling back through time.

My other “first” for April this year was spotting my first black bear on my return to the Smokey Mountains. I joined the IU Outdoor Adventure thematic community with my sister for a weekend trip. I joined the day hikers on a return trip to the Little River / Cucumber Gap loop and my first trip to Abram’s Falls in the Cade’s Cove section of the park. We were right on time for the dogwood and trillium season in the park. The black bear was spotted along Newfound Gap Road on the Tennessee side heading toward the top.

Another Sunday in April, my sister and mother joined me for a Spring romp in Bernheim Forest, about a 40 minute drive from Louisville. Bernheim is an arboretum and research forest that is a privately owned park but open to the public. It contains lots of great trails for all levels of ability and fitness, from shore nature walks to the epic 15 mile Millennium Trail through virgin forestland. This trip included lots of beautiful dogwoods and redbuds in bloom.

May:

I often go for hikes in search of photographs, and that was pretty much the story for the month of May in 2008. I returned to Blackacre for an open house which included traditional foods and horse carriage rides. I also scouted one of my favorite trout streams one weekend. Lynn Camp Creek is stocked yearly with rainbow trout for 5 months from March through July. It had been 2 years since I’d last fished the creek, so I decided to hike and scout it along with my camera. I was treated to some of my best pictures of the year. Last but not least, I walked a bit at city parks in Louisville, namely Long Run and William F. Miles.

June:

June kicked off a very hot Summer this year in Kentuckiana. I managed a day trip to Clifty Falls State Park in Indiana, just an hour north on the Ohio river near Madison Indiana. Clifty Falls has a special place in my heart since I’ve been going there almost 40 years. It’s a unique habitat with 4 different falls of over 60 ft in height. I highly recommend check it out if you get the chance. Be prepared to climb stairs if you want to go hiking.

Another first for the year was my third trip to the Smokies in 2008, but with my Mom on her first trip to the park in her 88 years. We had a great time, didn’t get to hike as much as we’d like due to bear activity, and we also spotted for Mom her first black bear sighting in Cade’s Cove. I also saw the largest puddling of swallowtails I’ve ever seen. Mom enjoyed the trip immensely and I drove her all around the park, from Greenbrier to Clingman’s Dome. The rhododendrons were in full bloom too!

Continue Reading