REDE RIVER GORGE- KY March 7-9

“check again. Lexington is south of Louisville. I live off I-64 in Indiana. Wouldn't I take I-64 to Louisville then on through lexington?”

“And yes if you offered me a ride on the 10th (opps) lets make that the 7th I would take it....”

“sorry john you are correct. yes i think 64 would be the best way”

“mine wasn't a typo...lol”

“I guess mine was then!!

I may just show up to see you!!”

“So tell me more about this trip. whats the milage like per day, how about the heights, sleeping in a shelter or doing the tent thing.
Im very interested in this trip. i have 15 days of vacation this year. But 10 is for AZ. so that leaves me with 5 dasy to hike with.

If i do go by Bus or Plane can i get a ride to and from the trail head (other then Opie please
)”

“Maple come on down so you can aggravate the he11 out of Opie...lol”

“just for that ewker i'm gonna let chelle have our tent to herself and i'm gonna cuddle up with you!!!”

“In fairness of the others, i will not go just p!ss off opie.
I will go to enjoy myself and the company of others”

“maple- yes you can get a ride to and from.

The mileage can be as short as you want or as long as you want.

Doing the tent/hammock thing. there doesn't look to be too bad of an elevation gain/loss at this place. i may be wrong.

Do any of you experienced RRG people want to chime in about this.”

“There's a really interesting article on traveling by Greyhound in those month's Outside magazine. Entertaining read!”

“Opie, I had heard you were kinda kinky but I am sorry to disappoint you but I don't go that way.

I have a better idea. You and Maple can share a tent so you 2 can get to know each other and Miss Opie can have her own or share mine”

“There's a really interesting article on traveling by Greyhound in those month's Outside magazine. Entertaining read!"
Artex
12:39:50 PM
01/24/03


do I really want to read this?”

“Okay, I'm in Lexington so here's a few tidbits:

Louisville is due west of Lexington, and I64 goes right through Louisville and right by Lex. For those coming north or south on I75, take it to Lexington and then turn east on I64. Take I64 east of Lex to Winchester, and take the Mountain Parkway to Slade. The Mountain Parkway is a 4 lane highway with exits and from I64 it only goes one way. You can't miss it. I can give more specific directions to the exact trailhead when we decide on one.

It takes me about 1 hr to get to the Red from Lex.

Travelling to Lexington by air can be a treat. Nearly everything goes through Cincinnati. Cincinnati is about 1.25-1.5 hrs from Lex. Southwest flies into Louisville, so cheap flights can be had into that town. Louisville is about 1.25 hrs from Lex. If someone were to fly and hitch, the airport in Cincinnati is right off the interstate. Louisville airport is fairly easy to get to, and Lexington is a pain to get to from the interstates. I don't know much about buses and that's the way I like it.

Relief - The Red is rugged but the hiking is fairly moderate in difficulty. The ridges in the gorge are short and steep. Climbs (and descents, duh) are not sustained. Trails are numerous but relatively short. You can link three trails together to make a 5 mile loop. You don't have to be in top-notch shape to hike trails here. Bushwhacking, on the other hand, is a #&%!$. There are alot of cliffs, that's what makes this area special. Some trails cross ridges that might be 20' wide with cliff on either side. If you suffer from vertigo I wouldn't say to cross this one off your list, but plan on spending at least part of each hike concentrating on your boots.

I'll decide in the next few days if I'm in or out. The enormity of this bugs my LNT nature. Maybe we should keep it in a campground. Anyhow, if I'm going I might be able to give a ride to a few folks that can make it to Lexington. I haven't decide yet, if I go at all, if I would leave Thurs or Fri.

Binks - do you need anything scoped out? If so let me know. I can ride out there and check specific things out if you like. I could even snap a few pics of possible campsites and some teaser pics of the arches. LOL.

It sounds like quiet a party brewing. I hope to see you all there.

Peace. MM.”

“If you have some ideas and wouldn't mind helping. That would be awesome. I'll take you up on the offer.”

“Mile Monster did mention something that might be worth looking in to. Right now we have 15 yes and 15 maybe's. If only 15 people show up is there areas for all of us to camp at on the trail. Would it be best to base camp say at Koomer and dayhike from there. Lots of options that way.
Just my .02”

“ductape said there were plenty of places at a couple of different spots.”

“I know two places myself that would hold everyone.”

“i'm still a maybe for this one....i am way behind on a big project at work, and it'll depend on how things go between now and march on the project.

dhutch, what time were you planning on leaving on Friday?”

“i do know of a couple, but, there are also a few big clearings right off of tunnel ridge road that would hold everyone's cars and tents. would be easy for everyone to do their own thing this way. just an option. 30 people is gonna mean at least 25 tents i think.
i too am having trouble with the lnt part of all this.
the spots on tunnel ridge road might have to be reserved but i doubt there's a fee.
i do know of a place that could probly hold all of that though. eveyone wouldn't have an optimal site but it would work. (possibly on roots or slight slant or something)”

“i also think we could sidetrack off almost any creek and find plenty of spots, we might end up getting spread out that way but it might be a good way to go.
esp. on chimney top creek off the sheltowee trace. looks like it's got a good amount of flat on both sides.”

“since walkindude and ductape think there is enough space for everyone to camp that is good enough for me. I really didn't want to base camp anyway.”

“If someone in Indiana needs a ride I can pick them up.

8)

Artex I am very pissed that you can't go!”

“I have joined the trip as a maybe. I put in for the days off and should find out by the end of next week if I will get them off. I'm looking forward to this so I hope it works out.”

“I'll be in my bivy and I pack very light anyway so I know I won't take up much room.
LOL!!”

“I'll be hanging my hammock on this one.

Smiley girl- Just go ahead and commit.”

“As I have said before the more the better!


8)”

“Walkindude- let's talk about which places then to camp.”

“Since LNT is an issue; I believe that the Forest Service encourages the large sites off Tunnel Ridge Road because they prefer the larger groups on the dry ridge tops. It concentrates heavy usage in a narrow area that was heavily logged in previous generations. While many of the rare micro-enviroments to be found below can be difficult to reach. The FS maitains the same sorts of system on FS road 9(A & B) on the western edge of the Geologic Area. The valleys along FS rd. 9 were heavily longed and drilled for natural gas in the not to distant past.
If you are energetic and concerned the offical last word would be the Stanton District Office (606)663-2852
The only official camp group in RRG is Koomer Ridge Camp ground. It has plenty of room, we ain't exacly talkin' peak season here. It also has showers, bathrooms and camping fees. You can hike down Koomer Ridge Trail and into the heart of the gorge but most of the big sights are shuttle hikes from the camp ground.
Now that I think about it, Koomer Ridge CG would be a great place to car camp for the folks that show up on Thursday and hook up with anyone that makes it by Friday morn. From there it is a nice 4.5 mile hike to Gray's Arch and Tunnel Ridge Road. A good little intro to the variety of Terrain.”

“Since LNT is an issue; I believe that the Forest Service encourages the large sites off Tunnel Ridge Road because they prefer the larger groups on the dry ridge tops. It concentrates heavy usage in a narrow area that was heavily logged in previous generations. While many of the rare micro-enviroments to be found below can be difficult to reach. The FS maitains the same sorts of system on FS road 9(A & B) on the western edge of the Geologic Area. The valleys along FS rd. 9 were heavily longed and drilled for natural gas in the not to distant past.
If you are energetic and concerned the offical last word would be the Stanton District Office (606)663-2852
The only official camp group in RRG is Koomer Ridge Camp ground. It has plenty of room, we ain't exacly talkin' peak season here. It also has showers, bathrooms and camping fees. You can hike down Koomer Ridge Trail and into the heart of the gorge but most of the big sights are shuttle hikes from the camp ground.
Now that I think about it, Koomer Ridge CG would be a great place to car camp for the folks that show up on Thursday and hook up with anyone that makes it by Friday morn. From there it is a nice 4.5 mile hike to Gray's Arch and Tunnel Ridge Road. A good little intro to the variety of Terrain.”

“Here I think I'll keep it as short as I can and I post it twice! DRAT!!
Where's Matt the WM? LOL”

“I am way into LNT!!!!!!!!!!


8)”

“funny story about LNT...

we had a new guy start in my group at work, and on the first day he proceeded to tell me how i'm doing all my backpacking wrong. so, right off the bat, i don't like the guy. anywhooo, he starts telling me that during some 14 day hike he's done, he'd been drinkning all of his dirty dishwater (apparently with some soap in it) instead of dumping it. that's all fine and dandy, until he claims that he started smelling people when they were two miles down the trail. said he knew two guys and a girl were coming towards him. yeah, right. what a freak!

i'm so lucky he sits next to me at work, at least for the next three months. :)”

“And you get to work with him. Oh joy. Try not to make eye contact and always steer the conversation toward weather, I guess. Best of luck with it.”

“I am a very weak maybe on this one, my Ol Lady is having a hysterectomy the last week of Feb. and I don't know how she will be getting along.Plus I will have to figure out how to scam time off at my new job.”

“Damn, way to much info”

“lmao @ mapleleaf”

“Spam, if it's vaginally it shouldn't be more than two weeks recovery. (how's that for TMI?)

I AM IN!

Ewker, thank you for posting the forest service # for maps. "Preciate it. I'll be ordering one today.”

“I found this website on the RRG. It is a good website, it shows some of the trails in 3D.
The Gorge Trail Hiking & Outback camping Guide”

“Ewker - I think I've seen this series of maps at the Joseph Beth (bookstore) here in Lexington. Pretty nice.

BTW, I hope I didn't come off as a know-it-all in my unabridged post above. There just seemed to be some questions of geography that I thought I could clear up.

Binks - I don't have any particular suggestions. I just thought that, since I am near the Red, I'd offer any help you might need. I could also try to get to the prospective campsite early to insure our chances of snagging it. Given knowledge gleened from my one weekend of interaction with this crew, though, folks will probably start showing up out there around Tuesday. LOL.”

“So....I know it's early but for those of us traveling a distance and thinking about time off work, when is everyone planning on meeting up? In general terms.”

“I know I sent a email to BB but no answer yet!

8)”

“I plan on getting there on Thursday afternoon. We're going to be camping off of Tunnell Ridge road”

“Can you send a email giveing info on where that is at?

8)

Trailhead for trail #204 or #Sheltowee??????”

“where are you going to be friday night?”

“Who me?

8)”

“I'm looking at the maps right now trying to figure mileage. It's not on the map that the park has. I'm having to go to other websites to get all the mileage info. I'll have it soon.”

“Good deal!

8)”

“Okay, I just posted some stuff on the trips page under "Here's the plan"

Will put more info on about hikes and stuff after I eat.”

“I am planning on being there Friday, mid afternoon...prolly around 2ish.”