Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Yesterday Noelle, Sierra and I packed up the car and hit the road. We would be headed into the Midwest yet again, this time for some friends' wedding celebration in Ohio. While Ohio might not seem like the most adventuresome locale, we plan on making the best of our time here. Today's adventure consisted of a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad through Cuyahoga Valley National Park between Akron and Cleveland.

We had not intended to ride the train today, but we ended up driving further than we had anticipated yesterday and arrived here pretty early. After lunch at one of the restaurants in Peninsula, we walked past the train station just a few minutes before the train was set to arrive and decided to go for our ride today instead of tomorrow. I rushed inside the station to purchase tickets

while Noelle grabbed some snacks and diaper bag for Sierra. We were ready to go just as the train pulled into the station.

The ride itself was very pleasant if unspectacular.

We passed through woods and old fields and were usually within sight of the Cuyahoga River.

At times it was even possible to imagine we were in a rural area. The interstate highway bridges we passed under were a reminder that we were smack dab in the middle of the largest urban area in Ohio and the homes of over 3.5 million people. Still, we enjoyed the scenery and Sierra just liked being on a train.

We passed by some bald eagles and saw some other wildlife like deer and songbirds.

Upon arriving back in Peninsula, we watched as the train blew its whistle and rumbled away.
We then headed over to our home for the next two nights: the Streetsboro KOA. What a mistake we made staying there. KOA I believe stands for Krapgrounds of America. The company is particularly good at making tenters feel like lepers. We were placed in an isolated part of the campground in an area that somehow managed to be both on a hill and swampy at the same time. Had we known that there is a small campground in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we certainly would have stayed there instead.

Ijams Nature Center: River Trail/Tower Trail Loop

To celebrate our seven years of wedded bliss (it's usually bliss at least), Noelle and I, along with Sierra headed over to Knoxville to do a little exploring. Our first stop was the very interesting Ijams Nature Center. We got our bearings and bought a trail map, then ate a snack in the car before hitting the trails. Our hike was a short one, but we packed a lot of interesting sights into the short walk.

We began with a walk through the woods on the North Cove Trail.

We then made a right turn onto the River Trail. The most interesting part of the hike was the section of boardwalk on the River Trail that led us above the Tennessee River.

Besides the river itself,

the boardwalk was interesting in that it passed by a cave

and along a limestone outcrop with lots of cracks for skinks to hide in.

From the River Trail we hiked back to the nature center on the Tower Trail. We saw the beautiful bloom of a Passionflower along the way.

Once back at the center we checked out the animals and exhibits,

along with the grounds surrounding it.

Then it was on to downtown Knoxville where we finally ate at the Tupelo Honey Cafe. I think the food lived up to its billing, and the $2 pints made things even better. After a late lunch we walked around town a bit and let Sierra play in the fountain at Market Square.

It was a wonderful day to spend an anniversary!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Low Gap, Camel Gap, AT Lollipop Hike

As I drove through Cosby in a real gully-washer downpour, I really started to reconsider my intentions of going for a hike today. Still, because I was so close to the Cosby Campground and the starting point of my hike, I decided to just keep driving and see what happens. It turns out that I made the right decision as the rain had ended by the time I reached the trailhead parking lot.

Despite cloudy skies, I would not get rained on during the entirety of my 16 mile hike until the last 20 minutes of my return to the car.

The hike started out on the Low Gap Trail as it meandered around the Cosby Campground. Even though the first section of trail was so close to civilization, it was an interesting walk. The trail closely paralleled Cosby Creek

and meandered through some huge old growth trees.

After leaving the campground area the trail started to climb in earnest. The tread was well graded and not too rocky, which made for good hiking conditions (especially on the descent later in the day). There were lots of late summer wildflowers in bloom to admire,

including the first blooming goldenrods of the year. After about an hour and a half of climbing I found myself at Low Gap for a descent down to Walnut Bottoms.

The second half of the Low Gap Trail was not as smooth as the first, but I was still able to make pretty good time on my descent down to Big Creek. Along the way I stopped briefly to check out some weird fungi,

but otherwise I kept a quick pace down to the aptly named creek.

I then followed a short portion of the Big Creek Trail to its junction with the Swallow Fork to complete that section of trail should I ever find myself approaching eligibility for the 900 Miler Club.

Then I retraced my steps back across Big Creek and continued upstream.

The views of the creek were impressive and I found myself frequently stopping to photograph it.

At a seemingly arbitrary point the Big Creek Trail became the Camel Gap Trail, which I would follow about 4.1 miles to the Appalachian Trail. The lower sections of trail bed were obviously an old railroad as evidenced by the railroad spike

I found right on the trail and another chunk of old industrial detritus.

Because of the trail's former use the grade was gentle and I found it easy to make the ascent. I considered stopping for a swim in a nice deep pool at the bottom of a small waterfall,

but because of time constraints I opted against it. The trail eventually left Big Creek and started to climb a little bit more steeply with an occasional view through the trees to the surrounding mountains.

Soon I was on the famed AT. The Appalachian Trail was high enough in elevation at this point that it afforded me the opportunity to hike in the clouds.

The mist coated everything including the numerous spiderwebs that decorated the trail-sides.

There was also lots of trillium lining the trail, and although it is no longer in bloom the leaves and fruit are still present and quite photogenic.

I also found quite a few lillies growing at that high elevation.

I believe that they are Turk's Cap. The trail made a short climb up to the flank Cosby Knob and I headed down to the Cosby Knob Shelter to use the privy.

I had spent the night in this shelter during my thru-hike in 2000, but it did not seem at all familiar to me 14 plus years later. My stop turned out to be good timing as it started raining while I was using the outhouse. I waited out the remainder of the storm inside the shelter.

From Cosby Knob it was literally all downhill. I made it back to my car in less than an hour and half after leaving the shelter. I did get rained on a bit on the descent, but still I did not get soaked like I had expected. Once back to the car it was about an hour drive back to Greeneville.

Cherokee National Forest: Hell Hollow Trail

Rain was in the forecast today. However, with it being a special Daddy/Daughter Adventure Day, I asked Sierra what she wanted to do and she said hiking. (I really do love that little girl!) And so, after a trip to the farmer's market, we set out to do some hiking. I found a short trail marked Hell Hollow on the map and decided that we would go to hell and back today.

We drove Clark's Creek Road to the trailhead.

I got Sierra into the backpack

and we hit the trail.

In the course of researching the trail I could not find much information about it. I now know why: it's not that spectacular. Still, any day out in the woods is a good day. The trail climbed up to a ridge with limited views off to the hazy mountains.

Then the trail descended a bit until it came to an overgrown section of old road bed. The trail is only .8 mile long and so I figured this was the official end of the trail. More adventurous hikers could scramble amongst the rhododendron to explore further, but with Sierra this would be our turnaround point.

The hike back to the car was mostly downhill. We saw a few mushrooms

and a pile of bear scat, but not much else that seemed particularly interesting. After getting back to the car and eating a quick snack,

I decided an appropriate end to our adventure would be lunch at the Old Town Dairy Bar in Jonesborough. We had lunch and the "special treat" of a strawberry sundae before heading home. Another successful Daddy/Daughter Adventure!

North Carolina Arboretum

Today Noelle, Sierra and I headed down to Asheville to check out the North Carolina Arboretum. The arboretum had originally been the focus of our trip down there, but after a delicious lunch at Mellow Mushroom we strolled around downtown a bit and ended up at Splashville an area of fountains for kids (and adults) to play in.

After Sierra spend about a half hour getting somewhat wet, we headed for the arboretum. While the parking fee is a bit expensive at $12, the arboretum is a very pleasant place for a stroll. We were all impressed by the Quilt Garden,

and the art work throughout the arboretum.

However, my favorite part was the bonsai garden.

We walked from the main parking area to an education center and then took a short hike back on the Natural Garden Trail.

Sierra was happy to go hiking. She walked a good bit of the way on her own, although Noelle and I did have to carry her a little bit.