Cumberland Trail Trip

“Anyone coming from the Indy area interested in riding together?”

“We are getting enough rain that the fire ban should be lifted.

Hopefully water won't be a problem but I will check on both the week before the hike.”

“Chili,
I have to change to a maybe at this point. I should know fer sure the week of the 10th.
Sorry.
See ya later.
Randall”

“No problem.”

“It looks like they (they are the evil doctors) may be cutting my tonsils out soon...if they don't do that, I may show up for this :)”

“Yep, as Chili was saying, the rain is here. Hope the ban is lifted soon. I might have to show for this one.”

“It's been mighty hectic around here, but I'm still on track for this trip.

I believe they had some verbiage on the Cumberland Trail website a few weeks ago about the fire ban which now has been removed. Don't take that as gospel, I haven't talked to the rangers recently.

I'm gonna bring some homemade boiled custard for Friday. It's goood! Flavored with some of Kentucky's finest of course!”

“Well, it's been raining for days. The fire ban s/b lifted by now.

I hope the weather is nice for this one. This will prolly be my last trip of the year so we have to make it a good one!”

“Will do.”

“Looks like I might be making this trip!!! I need directions.”

“Go south on 75 and take the Podunk exit. :)”

“I think it is exit 134. It is the LaFollette (US 25W) exit. The state park is within 1 mile of the exit (N on 25W).

I will call up there next week and see if I can reserve a site and post the site number for Friday night. Seeing as how we are car camping friday night, what about some fajitas?”

“As long as the tortillas are multi-grain, heh, heh.

I also have some homemade sausage I can bring for breakfast.”

“Yum! What do you want me to bring?”

“chips”

“I will get some info on conditions next week at the State Park. Hopefully, I will get to make a recon hike up to the shelter before this trip takes place.”

“How far is it from Knoxville? and how do I get there?”

“I'm ready for this trip. I think this longest I have gone without hiking for some time now. I'm going through withdraw.”

“Its about an hour....maybe. Go up 75 N. Take the LaFollette/Lake City Exit. Go to the right toward LaFollette. Cove Lake State Park will be on the left not too far off the exit. That is where we are camping Friday night.
last edited: 12/05/07 5:23:55 AM”

“Exit 134 (I think that is the right number but it is 25W toward Lafollette).

It is about 35 miles north of the I-640/I-75 split in North Knoxville.

You can be there from downtown in less than an hour.”

“Oh, and NGB and I are hiking up to the shelter on a recon mission Saturday. We plan on "caching" some rum. Anybody want anything else portered up?”

“Are there any maps for this trip? If so, where would I find them?”

“Thanks!”

“Do we have some water crossings? Any idea how deep?”

“Stash some diet coke with lime to go with the rum!!”

“This time of year I'm thinking hot buttered rum might be just the ticket.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20985,00.html”

“Yum!”

“You can count on it!!”

“I dont think there are any boots off water crossings. Once we start up the Devil's racetrack, I am pretty certain we won't see any. Any that are below that should be across a footlog or bridge.”

“I saw some fleece lined crocs at the mall last night. They looked nice, cozy and very comfortable but I don't think they would work well for stream crossings! :)

BTW, I'll be heading out on Friday morning, should be at the campground in the afternoon. However, I may decide to stop at REI in Nashville. In any case, I'll definitely be there before dark.”

“Stomper - look for the part for your hiking pole if you stop at REI. You're heading out friday morning? How many vacation days do you have, girl? lol. Better take advantage now, because tax season is coming. I'm going to see if I can leave early afternoon.
last edited: 12/08/07 8:20:24 AM”

“Hopefully it will continue to look good as we get closer to next weekend.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USTN0271?from=_topnav_undeclared”

“I get three weeks vacation plus I can bank another week with my overtime during tax season. As of now, I have three days left.”

“Are we car camping Friday night? And what should I bring? I never stayed in a shelter before,do I need a tent?”

“Yes we're car camping Friday night. BYOB. Chili tell us what to bring to go with the fajitas.

Bring a tent for Friday. If you want to stay in the shelter you shouldn't need a tent. I'm bringing a tent anyway in case the shelter looks to funky or is to crowded.”

“ what to bring to go with the fajitas

Margaritas
I'm bringing chips and a cheese dip.

How about some hot cocoa with peppermint shnapps for afterwards?
last edited: 12/08/07 7:30:26 PM”

“I think fajitas call for margaritas!!!!!!!!!

Jose Quervo you are a friend of mine,
I like to drink you with a little salt and lime.
I can't remember the rest of the words.
Report to the thread just for people who have been drinking.
last edited: 12/08/07 8:55:45 PM”

“Well Chili and I went on a recon hike Saturday to check out the shelter and bury some goodies for Saturday night. It’s a good thing we did too! It took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to hike 2.8 miles from Tank Spring to the Shelter. Partly because about 2 miles of it was an uphill rock scramble, much of which was hands and feet. And when I say uphill, I mean UPHILL. We probably had about a 1200 – 1500 ft climb. Then we spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out a “safe” way to get down off of a 10 foot high group of boulders! I am not much of a rock climber, but I did my fair share on Saturday. I also don’t care much for heights and much of this hike was about a 2’ wide section of trail then sheer drop off on both sides. Needless to say, my eyes stayed on my feet! Anyway, we finally found a way around the boulders, it was not pretty though. We made it to the shelter a short time later, buried the toddies shared a coke and headed back. We had about an hour to get back before dark. It was foggy and started raining a bit harder. We didn’t have water or light or anything really so we were busting it to get back to the car before dark. We got to the boulders again and had been wondering how we were going to get back up. We ended up going up the way we had started to go down before, I shimmied between the rocks into a space about a couple feet wide, climbed up onto a rock that was between the 2 sections and climbed up the rest of the way. Chili handed me the pack and sticks then he climbed up. So when we head out Sunday, we will have 2 possible ways to get thru. Go around and do some bushwacking or go up, packs off, do a little rock climbing and haul the packs up. All in all it was an adventure! We made it back out in a little more than an hour. Much easier going down, although my knees were sore, I fell a few times and needless to say, its butt to the ground in several sections.

So be ready for some rock climbing and getting dirty this weekend ya’ll!!!”

“Also, There is a good BBQ place at the campground we can eat at Friday night if anyone is interested. Let me know what you think!”

“I didn't expect to be out there as long as I was. I violated a cardinal rule in going without a light. We were humping it to get out, but made it with plenty of room to spare.

The climb up out of tank springs is a monster. If it is the same up Devil's race track, it will be a scramble.

Nothing we can't handle however. Bring your gaiters and rain pants. There is a considerable amount of growth below knee level pushing in on the trail. If it is wet or rains, you will need maximum protection on the legs to keep from getting wet.”

“Sounds like fun ta me!!
I may still be able to make this barring something terrible happening!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“Sweet! Thanks for the report. What's the shelter like? How many would you guess it will hold? Does it have turn-down service and a mini-bar?”

“sounds like they took the mini bar there already, lol.”

“The shelter is pretty nice actually. It's basically like the shelters in the Smokies without the bear cage. It looks like it would sleep about 12, so we should be fine. No tents needed!! Which is a good thing. Chili and I plan to pack light. If the climb up devil's racetrack is anything like the climb from tank spring, you will not want alot on your back to pull you backwards.

No turn down service, and yes, we did bury some toddys..hopefully it won't get too cold and freeze the cans of dt. coke!!! That could make for a mess on Saturday!”

“oh and if anyone has a saw they can pack in, that would be much appreciated. There is lots of wood if we can get it cut up!”

“This is sounding like an interesting trip. I'm hoping to get out of Indy no later than 3 pm.”

“The shelter seems a little wider and taller than those in the Smokies. It will hold a dozen with no problem. Two racks, one upper on lower. Lower rack is a couple feet off the ground. Upper rack is damn near head high. Wood structure with a tin roof. It is in good shape.

Plenty of downed wood near the shelter. I did a quick recon out about 150 yards and didn't find any water. Looking at the CT web site, I think I might not have gone far enough to find the wet weather creek.

I took a gallon of water, 4 diet lime cokes, and a fifth of rum up there.”

“Is the shelter water tight?”

“Dry as a powder house.

It is three sided, but the racks are back far enough from the front that it would take a hard driving rain to get in there.

In any event, I will have tyvek.”