Founder's Day 2008 at McConnell Springs

Daniel Boone National Forest: Parker Mountain Trail/Mark Branch

Got out for some more adventure the past two days. Noelle, Parker and I headed down south to the best little campground in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It's called the Great Meadow Campground and it's right on beautiful Rock Creek, a Kentucky Scenic River. It's quite secluded, thus it turns out to be quiet. But perhaps, the best part of the campground is the fact that it's free! We drove down yesterday morning and set up camp. Then we headed out to hike Parker's namesake Parker Mountain Trail

to Buffalo Arch. The trail, a bit overgrown at times offered a few good views,

some wildflowers and the chance to see one of the most impressive arches (in my opinion) in Kentucky.

After spending some time relaxing at the arch

we headed back down to the car. It wasn't a particularly tough hike, but hiking with the dog can sometimes be challenging. In the case of this hike Parker was battling allergies and sounded like he was about to hack up a lung.

After returning to camp and eating, relaxing, and sleeping, we awoke feeling refreshed and headed over to Hemlock Grove Picnic Grounds where we hiked the Mark Branch/Gobblers Arch Loop.

Another overgrown trail with two sections that were ridiculously steep. Another nice hike. After that we got in the old Subaru and headed north to Lexington.

Big South Fork NRRA: Laurel Fork Creek Trail

Well I just finished taking my last final, worked a full day at McConnell Springs, and then headed down to the Big South Fork for a little bit of adventure. Wednesday night I drove as far as Alum Ford Campground. It was the first night I had camped there without being serenaded to sleep by the local yahoos. No, on this particular night I was serenaded by Barred Owls. A real roadtrip would not be complete with some sort of mishap, and on this particular trip I forgot to bring along a headlamp. No big deal except I brought along a new tent that I'd never set up before. Of course it was dark when I arrived and I used the headlights of my car to get a little bit of light. Still a frustrating experience.

The next morning I packed up my tent and other belongings and headed to Bandy Creek Campground where I set up camp and then headed out on the bicycle for my destination- Jack's Ridge Trailhead. I knew the trailhead was on a four-wheel drive road, but I didn't realize that the road was just loose sand. It made for some difficult cycling. When I got to the trailhead I ditched the bike and started to hoof it down to Laurel Fork Creek. It was a beautiful hike along the creek and I even got to see some small waterfalls.

However, the creek was high from all the recent rains which made the fords a pain in the butt. I hate hiking in wet socks and boots, but by the end of the hike I got sick of taking them off for the fordings so I just got my feet wet. All in all a good day of hiking, an 11 mile loop. On Friday I had originally planned to hike another section of the Laurel Fork Creek Trail, but I didn't feel like fording the swollen creek numerous times so I changed my plans. I opted to hike the short,easy hike to Angel's Falls.

It was enjoyable, especially with all the pretty wildflowers in bloom. Then I drove to check out something on my Trails Illustrated Map that had intrigued me called "The Chimneys".

From there I hiked some horse trails to Indian Dome Rockhouse.

Finally I drove down the old O&W Road to the bridge. I parked there and hiked across and up to the Devil's Den Rockshelter,

then above for a great view of the Big South Fork River.

Hiking.....................Lexington

Today I had the itch to do some walking. I wanted to go somewhere interesting and explore some type of natural area, yet I didn't feel like burning precious gasoline. I decided to put on my shoes and go for a walk around the ol' neighborhood. I ended up walking over to the nearby outfitter, Phillip Galls, where I bought myself a pair of brand new Chacos sandals. My old Tevas had 7 years and probably a thousand miles on them. It was definitely time for some new footwear. What I like about the Chacos is that when they start to get worn out, you can send them back to the factory to get resoled. That, of course, means less waste. As for the old Tevas, I did some research and figured out that if I can get to a specially designated Nike dealer, I can recycle them. Noelle and I were planning a possible trip down around the Smokies region and there is a Nike Outlet store there that will accept them. A cool program, it almost makes me want to buy my first pair of Nikes since high school.

Anyway after my hour of blatant consumerism, I walked along Richmond Road on the shoulder, where cars zoomed past just inches away. Then it was on to Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate where I walked the grounds and took some photos. I walked back via Fontaine and on to Dead Pedestrian Boulevard aka Richmond Road and past the reservoir where I spied some cool birds and turtles. Not a bad day, but the real adventure will begin next weekend!

Fort Knox Treasure

Finally got out of the house for a little adventure. It had been way too long. Well today was supposed to be 70 degrees and so we just couldn't spend the day inside. We drove out to the Louisville Metro and went for two short hikes at Fort Knox. While we didn't get to see the vault where all the gold is kept, we did see some wildflowers,

waterfalls

and a few cave entrances.

We also had the opportunity to hike along the old Louisville and Nashville Turnpike.

A great day to be outside. After our hiking excursion it was on to the Bluegrass Brewing Company where we sampled some of their brews and ate a good lunch, then back to Lexington.

Really starting to look forward to the end of school. When school is over there will be much more time for exploration! 

Easter Adventure

Well today we were able to get out of the house for a little bit of a walk at McConnell Springs and onto Preston's Springs Park. Preston's Springs Park features a cave from which the waters that enter the Final Sink at McConnell Springs exit the subterranean world for the final time. Interesting little site that is seldom visited by anyone outside of the surrounding Cardinal Valley neighborhood. It would be interesting to see how far back that cave goes. However, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of room between the water and the ceiling of the cave, making for some dangerous conditions. Anyway, it was good to get out of the house for some adventure and good to have Noelle's mom accompany us on the trip.

Land Between the Lakes and Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Spring break started with a bang, well actually snow. We got about four and a half inches of the white stuff. It's the most we've seen since we've been in Kentucky. It did, however, melt within about two days and by the time we were ready for our road trip to Land Between the Lakes the snow was gone. The trip was nice. We especially liked Fort Donelson National Battlefield where we saw a great horned owl

and a bald eagle

and experienced the sights of one of the most important, yet least known, battles of the Civil War.

After Fort Donelson, we moved north into Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. The recreation area was pleasant, but not really all that exciting. We did get to see some bison

and elk (in a pen), and lots of birds.

The most interesting part of the recreation area, however, was the Homeplace, a restored village from around the 1850s.

Our days there provided a much needed shot of adventure!