Carter Caves

The family has enjoyed the cabins at other state parks in the past. It was decided a while back that we would spend the MLK weekend at Carter Caves State Park because the weather would not matter if we were in a cave.

The weather was mostly overcast and low-30s on Sat and Sun. Woke up Mon to mostly clear skies and mid-teens.

I got to explore the park a little bit with my oldest and then by myself. There is good day-hiking and lots to see in the park. We will be back.

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.

Pine Mountain State Park

We rented a one bedroom cabin at Pine Mountain State Park. I got to do a little hiking both with and without the kids.

Honeymoon Falls

For my alone time, I started at the bottom of the Laurel Cove trail and headed up to Chained Rock. Along the way, the trail passes under Powderhorn Arch

My guess is this trail is one of the original in the park and was built by the CCC. It basically goes straight up and only switchbacks where it absolutely has to, a tough way to gain 1000 ft in about 1.5 miles.

Then up to Chained Rock. I first headed out the Timber Ridge trail and around Rock Hotel (nothing worth a picture since my battery was low), then back down to the car. A decent hike, but a good workout, about 5 miles and 1500 ft in 2 hours.