Tennessee Adventuring, Again
Thursday, 20 August
Once again, Sprinty is out adventuring. A small electrical-type project came up at Deep Creek Lake for which Darrell has experience with, so it became the basis for another adventure. As readers may recall, we have been spent the summers at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland since 2012. This year is the first summer we haven't spent all or most of the summer there.
Sprinty spent most of the day Monday at the Mercedes spa getting the alignment worked on. Unbeknownst to Sprinty, his human, and the Mercedes mechanic, Sprinty has been quietly suffering from 2 degree camber on both front wheels since last October. After Sprinty got new front struts installed, the subsequent alignment was not done correctly. Which caused Sprinty to ride on the edges of the tires, which has resulted in premature wear. Monday's spa treatment was to include new shoes(tires), however, shoes for all types of vehicles seem to be like toilet paper - in short supply. The spa said it would take over a week to get the tires - and Sprinty was not up for postponing a perfectly good adventure over worn shoes. After Monday's spa treatment at the Mercedes service center, Sprinty seems to be "walking" normally again. And his human has been in touch with a tire company near Deep Creek Lake about getting tires while we are there.
Having made many trips back and forth, all three of us were yearning for taking a different route. Darrell initially laid out a 9-day plan to travel the 640 miles. Kris and Sprinty approved. Then Darrell spent some more time (after all, being cooped up provides lots of time) looking at variations, and offered up a 12-day plan, which was immediately seized upon by Sprinty and Kris.
Like our last adventure, the trip is planned for alternating bike riding and golf. So our first activity was to ride our bikes on the Chattanooga Riverwalk (aka Tennessee Riverpark), a bike ride we had hoped to do on our last Tennessee adventure. Over the last several days, the weather forecast indicated 60% chance of rain all day. Undeterred, we stuck to the plan, half expecting we might have to cancel the ride, or shorten it, due to weather.
We drove mostly back roads and enjoyed very light traffic. We arrived at the parking lot, Tennessee Riverwalk at the Dam, about 9:30. Recheck of three different weather apps found two of them saying no rain, and one indicating it might rain.
The TrailLink description for the Chattanooga Riverwalk (Tennessee Riverpark): "The Chattanooga Riverwalk, also known as the Tennessee Riverpark, will ultimately stretch 22 miles from downtown Chattanooga near the Tennessee Aquarium to the TVA Dam and out to Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District (additional loops included in the mileage)." It indicated the current length of the trail was 16 miles.
https://www.traillink.com/trail/chattanooga-riverwalk-(tennessee-riverpark)/
As we started west, the trail was initially a little narrower than we expected, and both of us worried it was like that for the entire length. Fortunately, it was just that section. At the East end, we initially encountered a number of walkers on the trail. In part because the east end has several parking areas with lots of available parking and nice restroom facilities. I think we counted five restroom buildings in the first two miles.
The trail is very well done. Nice pavement, well marked, with art sculptures along the way. Based on the weather, we decided we would ride an hour and reassess the weather. By the one hour mark, the forecasts improved such that we could ride the length of the trail.
We were quite surprised when the end of the trail appeared at the 11 mile point as we were expecting a 16 mile trail. Turns out the 16 mile length includes some additional loops which we did not see to do. Both of us were disappointed to reach the turn around point early.
On the ride back, we stopped to get photos of the river views
There was one section of tight switchbacks that we bypassed on the way out and on the way back. Maybe Chattanooga's version of San Francisco's Lombard Street. From Wikipedia: "Lombard Street is known for the one-way block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, where eight steep turns are said to make it the most crooked street in the world."
Shortly after the section of switchbacks, Darrell's odometer reached 1,000 miles. Nice vista to reach that milestone.
Kris was not as excited about the milestone as her bike has almost 1,100 miles on the odometer, partly because we bought it with 31 miles on it, and partly because we shared the bike for about 10 days till Darrell got his. So our joint riding started with 91 miles on her odometer.
Once back at the parking lot, we enjoyed a nice lunch in the parking lot, one of the many advantages of bringing your house with you when you travel. With no other suitable outdoor (i.e., low-risk) activities of interest, we made our way to Harrison Bay State Park. Sprinty visited Harrison Bay State Park with Soleil friends Matt and Lori on a golf adventure in October 2018. Sprinty had reserved a nice level, mostly shaded site with a view of the lake and a nice breeze.
Friday, 21 August
During the night, light rain arrived. As we had elected to not run the air conditioner, it was nice to listen to the pitter patter of rain drops. Darrell woke up around normal time, while Kris uncharacteristically slept in. Darrell finally woke her up about 8am so we could get the day started.
Today was a golf day on our alternating bike/golf plan. We selected White Oaks Golf Course near Athens, TN. In part because it seemed like a mom-and-pop golf course, which we like to support. And it was 18 holes, whereas some other choices in this region of Tennessee were only 9 hole courses.
We had called the golf course for a tee time earlier in the week and were advised they don't do tee times. Just show up. Which we did about 9:45am. The parking lot was small, and still had room for Sprinty. We loaded up and headed out. We both got off to a rough start, with Darrell placing his ball neatly in the fairway lake on his second shot. Kris settled down on the next hole and slowly gained strokes to lead by 5 strokes at the turn. Darrell put his driver in time out after only a few holes. We each made one birdie, which was one of Darrell's few highlights of the day. In the end, Kris had honors.
We enjoyed playing at our speed - we had one four-some behind us, and everyone else was far enough in front we never bumped into them. We finished in under three hours.
After golf, we headed east to Athens, TN which had a couple of Starbucks in grocery stores for Kris to pay up. We then got diesel and groceries, and headed west on TN 30.
Last night, Darrell was perusing the "Offbeat Attractions" app and found that the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, TN was along the route to the night's stop. So you might be wondering, what is so special about the Rhea County Courthouse? It was the site of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of July 1925. John Thomas Scopes, a county high school teacher, was tried for teaching that man descended from a lower order of animals, in violation of a lately passed state law. William Jennings Bryan assisted the prosecution; Clarence Darrow, Arthur Garfield Hayes and Dudley Field Malone were the defense. Scopes was convicted.
Another web site described it as Clarence Darrow defended Evolution in the Scopes Monkey Trial and lost. William Jennings Bryan won. Bryan was rewarded with a courthouse lawn statue in 2005. Darrow had to wait until 2017.
From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial):
- "The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant."
Another interesting tidbit was that Tennessee textbooks at the time contained learning on evolution and the state required teachers to teach to the textbook. Classic "Heads I Win, Tails you Lose" type of situation.
The Rhea County Courthouse also had a Scopes Monkey Trail museum in the basement. While it appeared to be open, we passed as it did not meet our risk tolerance for discretionary visits of small enclosed spaces. Visiting the museum will have to a go on our Another Time list.
After a short stop, we continued west to Fall Creek Falls State Park near Spencer, TN. This state park had been an alternate stop on our last Tennessee adventure, but uncertain weather deferred it for later. Selected for this trip as we could reserve a campsite on a Friday night. Camping has always been more popular on weekends (Friday and Saturday nights), and this year has been even more so. Especially in or near popular places to visit.
From the park brochure: "Fall Creek Falls State Park is one of Tennessee's largest and most visited state parks. The park encompasses more than 29,800 acres sprawled across the eastern top of the rugged Cumberland Plateau. Laced with cascades, gorges, waterfalls, streams and lush stands of virgin hardwood timber, the park beckons those who enjoy nature at her finest. Fall Creek Falls, at 256 feet, is one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States. Other waterfalls within the park include Piney Falls, Cane Creek Falls, and Cane Creek Cascades. With its many amenities and panoramic natural setting, it is little wonder that Southern Living magazine readers voted Fall Creek Falls the best state park in the Southeastern United States."
Upon arrival, we stopped by the Camper Checkin, only to find it unmanned. Another camper told us to just go to our site, that our tag had already been placed on the site. One downside to contact-less check in is not getting park information when you arrive.
As we were between rain showers with a couple hours left in the afternoon, we chose to head for the Fall Creek Falls trailhead first. The park map indicated it was a 0.3 mile trail to the base of the falls. From the overlook,
That we were above to top of the falls at the overlook reminded us that the trail would be going down more than 256 feet in elevation. The sign at the top of the trail said it was 0.4 miles. We were game and headed down the trail. Down for over 30 flights of stairs (as measured by our iPhones) kind of down. Having recently rained, we took our time and made sure we did not slip.
As we went down the trail, we realized we are out of practice for hiking on trails this year - we forgot our masks. Rookie boo boo. Fortunately, there were not many people on the trail, and almost every time we passed people, we were able to step well off the trial as they passed. Lesson learned. Interestingly, none of the other people on the trail had masks or made any effort to step aside or turn away when passing.
The trail descended into the gorge, and we enjoyed the towering rock faces on both sides of the gorge.
At the bottom, we paused to enjoy the waterfall. If you look closely, you can see three people on the ledge behind the waterfall - which provides a sense of scale.
After we got back to the top, we both noticed that we had made the climb without any huffing and puffing like we had observed in other hikers along the trail. We were quite pleased with ourselves.
We then drove the Gorge Scenic Loop Trail. The drive included several overlooks into the gorge with beautiful vistas.
We made our way to the Piney Creek Falls trailhead and walked the short hike to Piney Creek Falls overlook. This time we had our masks, but we did not encounter anyone on the short trail.
By now, it was close to dinner time Eastern Daylight Time. Although we crossed into Central Daylight Time, we plan on keeping our EDT routines as we expect to be back in EDT tomorrow or Sunday.
Fall Creek Falls State Park also has a a large campground - 237 sites, and is home to an 18-hole golf course that is part of the Tennessee Golf Trail. We got Sprinty settled in and appreciated that the campground was a typical state park with well spaced sites. Perfect for social distancing.
Saturday, 22 August
Our original plan for today was pretty vague. One option was to bike ride on the Tennessee Central Heritage Rail Trail, a Rails-to-Trails Trail in Cookeville, TN. Another option was to do some day hikes at Falls Creek Falls State Park, Frozen Head State Park, and/or a waterfall hike to Northrup Falls near Jamestown, TN. Even had golf as a possible option (imagine that). Part of the reason the plan was vague by design was the constant forecast of 60+% probability of rain.
Further research last night found some negative reviews on the Rail Trail - part based on condition of the trail, part due to its urban location which had several sections along roads. The AllTrail.com review of the Northrup Falls hike indicated some recent car breakins at the trailhead, which was a deterrent.
So we just decided to ride in Fall Creek Falls State Park. We started by riding through our campground loop, then rode down the road to the Nature Center. Just before the Nature Center, we stopped at Jackson Hole to enjoy the pool and small waterfall.
We continued to the Nature Center and the Cane Creek Falls overlook. A very nice waterfall, but no way to get close to it.
Behind the Nature Center, we locked up the bikes and walked to the Cascades. We hiked down to the water so we could get some pictures as the observation platform had only a filtered view.
We rode the bikes back up the hill, appreciating the electric assist with every pedal stroke. With regular bikes, we might have talked ourselves out of exploring down the hills knowing we would have to pedal back up the hills. We rode though another two loops of the campground, then out to the golf course. Another check of the weather forecast reminded us why we were riding bikes this morning and not playing golf - thunderstorms were expected around 11am CDT.
We then headed for the lake to see if the lake trail was rideable. It was indicated on the trail map as a bike trail. After crossing the dam, we saw the trail, and rode it to the inn and back. Darrell then suggested taking the other trail that went in the other direction to Fall Creek Falls where we drove to yesterday. Kris was hesitant, but agreed.
We enjoyed a nice paved trail through the woods. We decided to go back via the Piney Creek Falls bike trail and the road. And rode through the remaining two campground loops on the way. All in all, we rode 14 miles - considerably more than we might have on the Rail Trail.
By now, it was lunchtime, EDT. After lunch, we broke camp and headed for our campground for the night, Bandy Creek Campground at Big South Fork National River Recreation Area near Oneida, TN. Google routed us on scenic back roads, and we passed through Crossville, TN. Figuring that our plan for the next several days might not be near a Starbucks, Darrell decided to treat. He figured by paying up in advance of the next golf game, Kris might cut him some slack. Ha, ha, fat chance.
We entered the Big South Fork National River Recreation Area From the west entrance, and as we neared the turn for Bandy Creek, the signs indicated a 13% grade. The turn for Bandy Creek was near the top of the hill. We went to the campsite first and within minutes, the Dark Sky app advised that rain was about to start. We had just gotten the ebikes covered and it started to rain. It rained for about an hour and a half.
When the Dark Sky app said it was about to stop raining, we headed out to do one of the hikes. Big South Fork National River Recreation Area is quite large and has a lot of hiking. However, the park information on the National Park Service web site is not well organized. Normally, you would go by the Visitor Center and get hiking recommendations from the Ranger. But the Visitor Center is closed due to COVID-19. Big South Fork National River Recreation Area also has a number of natural bridges, but trying to figure out where they are, which trails leads to which one, and where the trailheads are requires some detective work. Detective work hampered by spotty cell service.
So we picked what looked to be an interesting hike to Angel Falls that was nearby. Nearby as in at the bottom of the 13% grade with two very sharp switchback turns. Sprinty handled it with ease.
As we parked Sprinty, the sun was starting to come out. We decided to bring a rain jacket and umbrella just in case. The hike was along the river and was wet from the recent rain. We tried to avoid the puddles so we could keep our shoes pretty dry.
Angel Falls was 2 miles from the trailhead and was a portage location for the river rafting. Having recently rained, we only encountered three people during the entire hike. Angel Falls were not as dramatic as the ones at Falls Creek Falls - some might even say the payoff was not enough for a 4-mile round trip hike.
As you can see in the photo above, the sky in the distance looks a little dark and threatening. And about 15 minutes into the hike back, it started to rain, with occasional thunder.
We were very glad we brought the rain jacket and umbrella. And we quit worrying about keeping our shoes dry. As luck would have it, the rain stopped about the time we got back to Sprinty.
Surprising for a Saturday night, there were many empty sites in the campground tonight. The C loop (where we are tonight) is only about 3/4 occupied. Maybe a function of its remoteness and lack of family-type amenities like beaches, swimming pools, etc. Being a National Park Service campground, we are enjoying a water-electric site for $12.50 with our Senior Pass.
Sunday, 23 August
Sprinty enjoyed a very quiet campground. Perhaps the lack of amenities, and the rain, kept people inside. And as mentioned before, the campground was not full , which surprised us for a Saturday night.
As we headed out the east entrance, with the 13% grades and hairpin switchbacks, camping at Bandy Creek Campground at Big South Fork National River Recreation Area is not one I would recommend for inexperienced RVers traveling with large RVs. As Sprinty handled the grades and turns with ease, we appreciated his nimbleness once again.
Today's activity was golf. The closest golf course was the Town of Oneida Municipal Golf Course, a 9-hole course. It had better reviews than another 9-hole course about 20 miles further away. We arrived to a nearly empty parking lot and the staff said we were the first paying customers of the day. After a few minutes of chipping and putting, we were off. The practice putting green was much nicer than any of the greens we played at White Oaks a couple days ago. Promising.
Darrell decided his driver could come out of time out and hoped it behaved better this outing. We both started with good drives and made par. We pretty much matched each other stroke for stroke, then Darrell pulled slightly ahead to make the turn 2 strokes up. Kris continued her boringly consistent play, while Darrell made a few "oops". His biggest "oops" was finding the water hazard with his tee shot on 16. Splash! When the last putt had dropped, Kris had honors for the day by two strokes. Obviously Darrell's surprise strategy of pre-paying Starbucks yesterday was for naught.
We played at our pace and finished in under three hours. And beat the rain. We headed east to Indian Mountain State Park in Jellico, TN. A check of the on-line reservations found that had lots of sites available, but most looked to be out in the sun. Only a few had partial shade. We chose to wing it and hope they allowed same day checkin.
We arrived about 1pm and they had lots of available sites. They let us drive through the campground and pick one. We picked the one that seemed to offer the best shade. And by checking in in person, we got the senior discount which saved us about 25%.
After chilling for a bit, we broke out the eBikes. The state park is quite small, so we had to venture out on roads to get a real ride in. We rode on roads just outside of the park, then rode the bike lane almost to I-75. A check of Google maps saw that we could take a back road back to the campground. Avoiding the traffic in town seemed preferable until the dogs from two adjacent houses came out to greet us. Scared the hibbie jibbies out of both of us. After that excitement, we had a pretty boring ride back to the state park. All in all, we rode about 8 miles.
A check of the map of Tennessee will show we have about run out of Tennessee moving northerly. Tomorrow we will meander into Kentucky to play a golf course we played 8 years ago while traveling through this area, pre-Sprinty of course.
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