Backpack and Beer

November 8, 2020

It was a beautiful day and my son had been pestering me about kayaking. He really wanted to go camping/kayaking, but I thought the nights/mornings would be cold enough to not be fun for him. So, we went paddling for the afternoon.

I have paddled a little bit on the Kentucky River, but I had never launched at the small ramp near Clays Ferry and I-75. So off we went. We headed down river, but there is not much of a current, so direction doesn't really matter. After a little paddling, we were past the houses on the shore and it felt a little more remote.

I-75 bridge, almost back to the ramp.

November 28, 2020

I was looking for a long hike to burn off Thanksgiving. My youngest wanted to do something with Dad. There was not way she would manage a good hike, so we went paddling instead.

Not a lot of photos, it was a lot colder and my feet had got wet launching the kayak so, after a couple hours, my feet were feeling pretty frozen. I asked her to stop paddling since we kept getting out of synch and I wanted to get back to the ramp. As we got close, I wanted to take a photo of the bridge reflections. As I pulled out my camera, I noticed that she was looking a little crooked. I took the photo and said that we were getting close and she jumped. It turned out she had dozed off for a bit :)

Big South Fork
Nov 1 - 4, 2020 (3 nights) & Nov 20 - 22, 2020 (2 nights)
2020 Bag nights: 28
Trailhead 1: Leatherwood Ford
Trailhead 2: Divide Road & JMT

Kids soccer was over and I was getting antsy. My mother was still in town helping with homeschooling the kids, so my wife said go. I've been meaning to get back to Big South Fork and this seemed like a good time.

I decided that I would check out some of the view points that I had seen before as well as a couple new ones. The weather forecast looked sunny but chilly/windy at night (highs in 50s and lows down to mid-20s).

I started at Leatherwood Ford and headed north on the JMT aiming for an overlook that I remembered passing 4 or 5 years ago. I was hopeful that I'd find a flat spot for a tent that was close to some views.

I enjoyed the views along the way, but the wind was gusting into the 30s and it wasn't super comfortable to linger.

Looking south at Big South Fork

Looking west-ish up Falls Branch

Cruising along the JMT

I got to my overlook and decided it would work. After another mile or so to get water, I returned and setup camp and waited for sunset.

The sunrise was nice

The weather was perfect, a great day for hiking with a little bit of color left in the leaves.

Small cemetery off the trail.

Looking down at Charit Creek Lodge

Stitch of 4 vertical shots

Jupiter and Saturn low on the horizon

Almost Full Moon setting

Hatfield Ridge Arch

Hiking south on the Sheltowee Trace

These features in the sandstone always intrigue me

Falls Branch Falls

Lone grave just off the trail

Another boring sunset

Big South Fork of the Cumberland down below

Mars in the east and a hint of the Milky Way to the north

I cowboy camped and woke up with my quilt covered in a layer of frost. As it got lighter, it was obvious where the moisture had come from

The second glory I saw this year. It turns out the shadow part is called a Brocken Spectre

Angel Falls Arch

and then back to the car and home. So, a waterfall, a couple arches, an old cemetery, awesome weather and I only saw a couple people each day, but mostly felt like it was just me and the trees. Basically, this was a perfect couple of days.

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A couple weeks later and my wife said go, so back to Big South Fork. This time I started on the west side on Divide Road. I headed towards the Muir Overlook hoping to find a place to set up camp, but it wasn't going to work, so I headed down to the clearing below.

I setup on the edge of the clearing near the creek, gathered wood for a fire and left my camera pointed at the stars for a bit.

Mars

Star trails experiment. I need to work on these.

The clearing is mowed by the park service to leave it like it was earlier. This is all that remains of the house.

Nearby is the family cemetery

Ranson Boyat's grave (a sad story here).

After packing up, I decided to go bushwacking in an attempt to find Anderson Falls. I ended up getting close, but got cliffed out and had to retreat. I've seen a photo from the bottom of the falls, so I will have to make another attempt from a different direction.

I headed down towards the river and ran into a terrible/muddy trail from all the horses. The view of the river was nice though.