Cumberland Gap turkey day trek

“better send me that email jerbear - hog_on_ice at hotmail”

““Hopefully that stream ya'll will cross to get to Hennsley has plenty of water. The water pump at the settlement leaves a little to be desired (it came out orange when we pumped it).


There is a spring house that I always get my water from. It is at the head of the stream between the shoolhouse and barn. Has a concrete box with a steel dome cover.”

“I know where you're talking about! That's a cool little building. :) It's before the chicken coop, right? In that cluster of buildings?”

“I'd rather go on this trip than go to Florida, that's for dang sure.”

“Ifin the chicken coop is to the right looking down the hill that is where I am talking about.”

“WELL, tommorrow morning will be the last I see of this post. I am leaving work at 12:15 and headed south fer the gap. I have a couple of small boxes of dememsinal lumber for a fire start.Yo bear, we be hikin!”

“Have a happy thanksgiving you guys. Jer, I'm thankful for friends like you. Enjoy your hike!”

“Back at ya Sass. Have a good turky day, and PEACE to you and joe and abby.
Now, see those who come at the hike wed or thurs as the case may be.”

“see you there jerbear - I'm leaving in another hour and should be there early afternoon”

“I will be leaving on Thurs. morning and getting there in the early PM, hopefully. I will see you all at Gibson. Is there anything that I should specifically look for if there is more than one group camping there?”

“Chili and I will be leaving this afternoon. I am leaving work at 4...hopefully we will be out of town by 5. Its not too far for us, an hour or so I think?? See you all there..”

“Have fun and be safe!

Happy Turkey Day, kids!”

“Happy Turkey Day Ms D...and be careful on the road!!”

“This trip was beautiful. Man them ridge hike are da bestest!Kicked out some good milage,told stories at the BIG wood fires. And on and on and on!
Thanks to all. We had a great hike. Some body else will do the TR.
I am not to good at typin.
I am good at eatin deserts and leftovers. Bout all! LOL And those who made em know that.SO I hope ya all made it back home safe and lets do it again. Yo bear!”

“Most excellent trip!

NGB and I arrived at the Cumberland Gap Wilderness Road Campground about 7PM to find Hog on Ice already set up with what was an engineering marvel. A stand to hold his hammock. It was really something to behold. Soon thereafter, jerbear arrived and we soon had a fire started and swapped stories until retiring for the night.

TH morning we shuttled vehicles and were soon joined by cowpatty and her cousin. We then hiked UPHILL to the Gibson Gap camp. It was only a 5 mile hike and only a 1500 foot gain (all in the last mile and a half), but the trail was steep in the places it was climbing. NGB and I made the 5 mile hike in a little over 2 hours and had our tent and tarp set up when the rest of the gang came straggling in. Later that night, willie4 showed up and was thankful for the fire. He could smell it for a mile and see it for a half mile. Happy Thanksgiving, willie4!

TH was a full Thanksgiving meal and a huge bonfire where many stories were told and retold. The night was topped off when we all ate some of cowpatty's pie. MMMM it was good.

We woke up FR morning to about a half inch of snow on the ground and were soon joined by stokely, who had packed in some Thansgiving leftovers (jerbear ate the whole damn lot of it for lunch FR and the rest of us got nothing). Friday's hike up the Hensley was most excellent, but cold. We warmed up in the sun on the down wind side of a cabin and had lunch before touring Hensley Settlement and then moving on to camp.

We had a stack of wood at Hensley that would have made stikmon or opie proud. We had a fire that couldn't quite be seen from space, but could be seen from about 40,000 feet. More good food and good company. Watching cowpatty pack that fudge around the fire was a real treat. Two hikers from Morristown walked up around 7 or so and were glad to see a fire. It was toasty around it, but a meter away it was freezing. Ovenight low was estimated at between 15 and 20. I had a 20 degree bag and it got tested to the max. Sometime in the night I had to drag my poncho into the bag for extra insulation. Worked like a charm and I was toasty the rest of the night. NGB had bought a Swiss Gear 0 degree bag from Sams and we were a little curious about how well it would perform. She was toasty throught out the trip and the bag is good to at least 15 and I am suspecting it is good down another 10 degrees based on how warm she reported to be. For $80, I say she got a good deal.

Saturday warmed up some as we move on across the ridge with a stop at Sand Cave and then on the White rocks camp. At camp, the crowd took a vote and the tribe split. Those who couldn't handle the cold from Friday night, bailed and walked out (another 3 miles). NGB, willie4 and I stayed and low and behold the overnight low was around 40. The next morning we went up to White Rocks and then hiked out.

All in all a beautiful hike that had it all. Big views, snow, good people, some great desserts (thank you cowpatty!), great stories and above all, yet another set of great memories.

Thanks to jerbear for setting this up. This was the best TT hike I have made in several years. Reminded me of the Thanksgiving hike of '03 in the Ozarks.”

“Miles travelled: 1310
Gas for car: $113.25
Frost bite: None for me
Performance of 35* sleepy bag: excellent
Scenery: awesome (still some fall color!)
Icicle feet: Ms. Powerbar (cousin)
3 mile downhill hike in 47 minutes to fetch car: me

Enjoyed the hike with everyone & sorry to have missed the last night. I just know Ms. Powerbar well enough (a lifetime!) that the decision to complete the hike that afternoon was the right one. After getting some yummy chow with HOI in Cumberland Gap we headed north.

Glad you liked the desserts. In deciding I would make do with one pan for everything I almost challenged myself too much - like forgetting I had the whipped cream for the pineapple upside down cake (Chili's 'pie')! Sorry about that. Sheesh...but it was good in hot chocolate :)

Thanks to all for the good company!”

“Hey guys, just wanted to stop in to say thanks for the trip. I had a really good time and it was a really great experience. I will be on the lookout for trips being posted again. If I see any of your names on one, I will know it will be a good one! Hopefully everyone got home and warm.

By the way HOI, I owe you some duct tape. Thanks, it was a lifesaver.”