Journies Outside

Category: City

  • Pike Hollow – Pinwoods Trails

    Pike Hollow – Pinwoods Trails

    June 22, 2024

    Today I hiked the Pike Hollow Trail which is rated a moderate trail but I really didn’t find it to be very difficult. It started out in mowed grass, then dirt and some rocks, with very few inclines. The spider webs were HORRIBLE and I felt like a mummy wrapped in webs. It wasn’t the most exciting trail but it was nice to get out and explore another area. I did manage to scare up a wild turkey, racoon, turtle, squirrel, and a deer. There was a small creek crossing a couple of times but it was easy to cross without getting wet. For the most part it was a completely shaded trail. It did have a few outcroppings and an overlook area.

    Soon after the trail starts you will see the Pinwoods Trail but keep to the left and follow the Pike Hollow Trail. A little later you will come to a white trail. This is the connector trail and is a very easy dirt trail. I followed the Pike Hollow Trail and about half way around you will come to the white connector trail again. When I reached this point, I did follow the white trail down and back up just to say I had covered it too. Then I continued on the Pike Hollow Trail. Toward the end of it you will connect with the Pinwoods Trail. I kept to the left and followed it to the end. Then I was back at the beginning and walking the gravel Pinwoods Trail.

    It was a somewhat eerie feeling when the first sign you see is to be bear aware. Luckily I didn’t see any. The Pike Hollow Trail is about 4.5 miles and the Pinwood Trail is about .6 miles. It took me 3 hours to hike the Pike Hollow Trail and that was mostly due to the fact that quite often I had to stop and remove the cobwebs and spiders from me. The Pinwoods Trail only took about 11 minutes.

    On the drive down and back, I did see a couple of deer, a rabbit, racoon, fox, and squirrel.

    At the start of the trail there are a couple of picnic tables and a primitive restroom.

    I have a few more photos from these trails on the Facebook page

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836

  • Acorn – Devil’s Kitchen – Turkey Penn Hollow

    Acorn – Devil’s Kitchen – Turkey Penn Hollow

    November 22, 2024

    The plan for today was to hike the Turkey Pen Trail, but when I arrived I discovered that there was a little nature trail at the parking lot and the Acorn Trail and the Devin’s Kitchen Trail all were within the circle of the Turkey Pen Hollow Trail so I decided to hike them all. In total that put me at about 10 miles for the day.

    It was a beautiful day. The temperature was 30 – 40 while I was out. There was a little breeze once in awhile that was cool but overall, very pleasant temperatures for hiking.

    I saw two people at about the 3.5 mile marker and then at about the 6 miles marker I came across a single person on the Turkey Pen Hollow Trail. Other than these encounters, I had the trails to myself. At times you will be far enough away that you won’t hear any traffic. Because of the time of year, I heard very few birds. I did come across a deer on the Acorn Trail and a doe and fawn on the Devin’s Kitchen Trail. A few squirrels were here and there on the trails.

    The Turkey Pen Hollow Trail does have controlled burning at times so this was my second time to try and hike it. If it is closed, the parking lot will be marked off so parking is not allowed. If this parking lot is full, there is another parking lot to the right and one to the left that you may be able to use.

    There is a visitor’s center at the entrance of the park that has a bathroom. Or at the end of the Devin’s Kitchen Trail there is a primitive bathroom and picnic shelters.

    This park is very popular so planning ahead for crowds is advised.

    I have a few more photos from today on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836

  • Kessler Mountain – First Trip

    Kessler Mountain – First Trip

    November 29, 2024

    The original plan was to hike the Mount Kessler Loop that the AllTrails app had but I lost GPS and signal early on so I wondered around and still managed to do about 10 miles. I really enjoyed my hike. The trail isn’t really marked well. You will find trail markers where the trail intersects but that is about all. If you hike when the leaves have fallen and cover the trail, like the conditions were for me today, you will need to watch for the path. It is still visible but in some places you will need to look hard. I would recommend downloading a map before you go or have a paper map with you. On the way back to the parking lot, I did come across a trail map which was helpful but at about the same time, I also had cell service again.

    The trailhead isn’t really marked. When you pull into the parking lot where the AllTrails app takes you, you will see a “gravel” road and a path to the left with a wooden bridge. Take the path with the bridge. Soon you will come to a marker the has Last Call and Saddle Up, this is where I started. When you reach the edge of the woods, the Last Call trail is to the right and Saddle Up is to the left. They will intersect shortly on down the trail.

    When I reached the intersection of Terrapin Station, Crazy Mary, and Fayetteville Traverse, I lost reception. I ended up following the Fayetteville Traverse Trail all the way to the road where it ends/begins with the parking lot. I was very glad I followed this trail as I came across an abandoned cabin, and because I started out on a 25 degree morning at sunrise, I came across some frost flowers at the top of the mountain in the clearing. After the flowers, you will come to an intersection of Rock City, Flight Training, and Fayetteville Traverse. Here I followed the Flight Training/Fayetteville Traverse trail all the way to the road. I turned back and because I had only seen one other person on the trail so far, I followed the trail that says One Way Do No Enter. This is a hard trail and if it is a busy time, I would definitely not recommend doing this as it is very steep but a great work out. You will need to back track the way you came, back to the intersection of Rock City, Flight Training, and Fayetteville Traverse. Once reaching this intersection again, I followed the Rock City trail and it lives up to its name. It is a very rocky trail but has lots of rock formations and very pretty today.

    I took the Egg Beater trail to the Western Myth and then on to Spell Bound. This was also a challenging route to take. After Spell Bound, I took the Western Myth back to the intersection of the Goat Trail. I made my way back to the Serpentine, Trent Trail, and Fayetteville Traverse trails. Following the Trent Trail will put you back on the Terrapin Station trail and back to the intersection that will lead back to the parking lot.

    If you want to follow this route, this is the best I can do for a description as I was just wondering around trying to find my way back but loving every minute of the hike. I was doing mostly moderate to hard trails. I do hope to go back one day and try to the Loop which was the original plan. I believe the Terrapin Station and Crazy Mary trails will take you passed some really neat rock formations.

    It was a beautiful day today and by the time I ended it was about 44 degrees and I had taken my gloves and hat off. There was barely any wind. You couldn’t have asked for a better day to hike. At the end I did meet two bikers that were just started out so all in all I had the trails to myself today.

    I did see a couple of deer near the parking lot at the first, but along the trail for about the first hour or so I saw many others here and there. The gray squirrels were in abundance.

    I have a few more photos on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836

  • Bashore Ridge Loop – Dutton Hollow Loop – Historic Van Winkle Trail – Sinking Stream Trail

    Bashore Ridge Loop – Dutton Hollow Loop – Historic Van Winkle Trail – Sinking Stream Trail

    December 21, 2024

    It was a beautiful day for a hike today. I traveled over four different trails beginning with the Bashore Ridge Loop at sunrise (about 7:30 am) today when the gates were opened to the parking lot. There is quite a bit of parking at the Bashore Ridge Loop Trailhead and there is also a parking lot across the road. Based on the size of the parking lots, I’m pretty sure the Bashore Ridge Loop, Dutton Hollow Loop and the Little Clifty Creek Loop are very popular. There is a vault bathroom in the parking lot. I wasn’t able to travel the Little Clifty Creek Loop today as it was still closed from the tornado damage to the trail earlier this year. The park crew and/or volunteers have worked a lot of hours to get the Bashore Ridge Loop and Dutton Hollow Loop cleared for visitors. You could see the destruction all along the trail. I can only imagine how beautiful these trails were but they were still very pretty today.

    I traveled on the Bashore Ridge Loop first and went counter clockwise. This is rated a moderate trail but I found it very easy to travel. It is a rocky and tree root trail. I did walk down to the Beaver Lake Overlook and was able to get pretty close to the water. It was very pretty at the water and it was early enough in the day that the fog was gliding over the water. I did meet two other people at this area. Other than that encounter, I had the Bashore Ridge Loop and Dutton Hollow Loop all to myself.

    When I got back to the Bashore Ridge Loop and Dutton Hollow Loop intersection, I followed the Dutton Hollow Loop in a counter clockwise direction as well. This trail is rated as easy but I really found it about the same as the Bashore Ridge Loop trail. When I was at the bottom of the hollow, I did come across a couple of deer and a chipmunk. These were the only wildlife I saw all day.

    There is a shooting range close by and because of the noise, this may be the reason there is very little wildlife to see. I did hear a couple of birds but even they weren’t singing. This may also be because it is winter right now. Overall, I found these two trails very nice to travel over.

    From here I went about a mile away and visited the Historic Van Winkle Trail and Sinking Stream Trail. These also must be very popular trails as I did encounter three different families here. The parking lot is large, there is a vaulted bathroom and a picnic table here.

    The Historic Van Winkle Trail will be paved for the first little bit and then it will become small gravel. There are signs along the short easy trail that tell the history of the area. There isn’t a lot to see but there is a small stream that runs through the area.

    The Sinking Stream Trail is also an easy trail and is gravel, small rocks, and dirt surfaces. This time was loaded with so many frost flowers. (I did find frost flowers on all four trails today.) The trail follows and crosses the stream but you will have bridges to use to cross over the water. This trail was probably the quietest one for the day. It appears that during the spring/summer months, you will be able to find lots of flowering plants.

    The day may have started out about 24 degrees but it was sunny with very little wind and ended about 35 degrees.

    The Bashore and Dutton Hollows Loops are about 4 miles each. The Van Winkle and Sinking Stream Trails are about ½ mile each. On each of the trails, there are a few benches scattered along the trail but they are few and far between.

    There are a few other photos from this adventure on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836

  • Kessler Mountain – Second Trip

    Kessler Mountain – Second Trip

    December 6, 2024

    This was my second visit to this area and I had planned to follow the original trails that I didn’t follow on my first visit. Well, this did not happen again and I made my own trail.

    I started on the Saddle Up trail which is just to the left of the entrance into the wooded area. When I came to the first intersection, I turned to the right and followed it to The Last Call Trail. When I reached the intersection of Terrapin Station, turned to the left and followed it. This trail will lead you passed several large rock formations. Where Terrapin Station and Chinkapin Oak trails join, I followed Chinkapin Oak. I really enjoyed this trail. It was very diverse and had different terrains to travel through. It follows along the edge of the mountain. (There is a place where it meets Bewitched. I hope one day to go back and do this trail.)

    Chinkapin Oak will intersect with Crazy Mary. I took the Crazy Mary trail to the left to the intersection of Trent Trail and Spellbound. There were workers working on the Spellbound Trail so I turned back to the intersection of Chinkapin Oak and Crazy Mary and followed Crazy Mary. Not far after starting Crazy Mary, I came across a “pond” on the top of the mountain. Crazy Mary will take you along the edge of the mountain at times and you can see quite a ways. I enjoyed this trail very much.

    When it intersected with Fayetteville Traverse, I followed the Fayetteville trail to Trent Trail. I knew the Trent Trail would take me back to the intersection of it, Spellbound, and Crazy Mary but I hadn’t walked this area before so I walked to the intersection and back to Serpentine and then followed it to Fayetteville Traverse.

    This path had me hiking almost 9 miles. It was a work out as most of the trails are difficult and moderate. The Last Call and Trent Trail are the easiest in that they are a little wider and smoother in several areas but there are still roots and rocks.

    It was a very enjoyable hike.

    When I arrived, two runners were leaving and as I reached the parking lot one person was starting out so I had the trails to myself.

    People have marked this area as having bathrooms but I still have not been able to find any.

    I have a few photos of the day on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571357578836