End of Tunnel Ridge Road

Saturday March 26 2016

It was a perfect day for a hike. Evidently, everyone who has ever been to the Gorge thought so as well. I have never seen so many cars at the end of Tunnel Ridge Road. My plans were a couple of unofficial trails, so I hoped I would not see too many people (ha!). Given the number of hang tags I saw, my guess is the woods were full that night.

A nice walk along the Double Arch Trail, the Redbuds have started blooming.

Then off towards Star Gap Arch. I explored the ridge line near the arch.

You can see a number of people under the arch. Lots of people decided to visit the arch for the first time. I talked to one couple who lived in the area but had never been to the arch. And then towards the end of Star Gap ridge, there was a young guy and what looked to be his parents. He thought they were on the trail to Double Gap Arch (Of course, there was no map). And a young couple who were going to camp out towards Pepe's Point.

I love what water and sandstone does when given enough time. I still wonder why circles like these end up developing.

View from under the arch

No idea what these flowers are, but I like them.

Star Gap Arch from the trail to Jailhouse Rock.

I passed one guy (and his dog) on his way back from Jailhouse Rock and a couple guys had set up camp near the trail and three young guys were just leaving the Rock as I got there. I was glad to have the truly awesome view from Jailhouse Rock all to myself.
 

A great way to spend a couple of hours.

Indian Staircase Ridge

1/7/16

The weather was perfect and the semester hasn't started yet, so I decided to dump the kids at school/daycare and head to the gorge.

I've been wanting to explore the Indian Staircase area so that is where I headed. Started at the Bison Way trailhead, then up the trail to the Sheltowee Trace and then took the Indian Staircase Bypass trail from "Hinterlands".

Spooked 3 deer just as I got to the top of the ridge and then I sat and enjoyed lunch with a view.

I poked around the rockhouse under the ridge. I'm always intrigued by different shapes in the sandstone.

Followed the ridgeline towards the Indian Staircase and again enjoyed the views.

I wonder what made this circle in the cliff? I mean I know it was water a long time ago, but what made it a circle and left the surrounding area flat?

Then poked around the rockhouse at the end of the canyon before climbing back up on the ridge.

I filtered water from the trickle that becomes Sargent Branch and then headed up the "ATV Highway" and out the "Four Wheeled Wonderland trail. There are some amazing views on those ridges.

The light was really harsh, so this is the best picture I got of Cloudsplitter.

Then back towards the Indian Staircase trail and the Sheltowee Trace.

A great 5 hours in the gorge.

Day at the Gorge

I managed to get to the Gorge on an absolutely perfect Friday (4/24). Got to the trailhead about 10:30 and temps were right about 50 and no clouds. Started up the Douglas trail to explore Eagles Point, by the time I was 30 minutes from the from the car, I needed to take off my fleece, never needed it again.

Falls from Below

An "eagle" from the bottom of the falls

A seep about half way to the top

From Eagles Point

Looking down at Eagles Falls

There were lots of birds, not much doubt where the name comes from. I spent a lot of time just watching the birds soar and enjoying a beverage.

Based on this picture, I think the eagles are actually vultures

Surprisingly, there were not many wildflowers, I saw one iris that was just beginning to bloom and a couple redbuds, and these unknowns. (edit:Thanks to "copper creek" on kywilderness.com I now know that the purple flower is wild geranium and the yellow is ragwort.)

The Red River looked very inviting, but it was cold.

Based on a previous visit, I think these are otter tracks.

A redbud and a "white" tree near Copperas creek

I took my tripod so I could play with shutter speeds a little more than last time. The falls were still impressive, but the creek was a lot lower than a month ago.

I passed a couple groups of backpackers that almost certainly ended up wet if the weather in the gorge on Sat. was anything like Lexington, still a perfect Friday is hard to beat.