Natural Arch and Cliffs

 September 12, 2019. First we moved our campsite from General Burnside State Park to the Koomer Ridge campsite in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

But in the afternoon, we went to Natural Arch, one of the most easily accessible and thus more visited by tourists. However, we did manage to find a way to make it more of a hike in to see it than just driving into the state park access. I looked for my file of info from that trip, but haven't found it yet, so I can't tell you specific trails we took unless I remember. I do recall a few of them, but not this one.

Anyway, we ended up at Natural Arch (there are many similar names, but this one is a state park). You can see it from an overlook on your way there. I am showing a longer view so you can get a sense of the landscape, in addition to the actual arch.

I'm pretty sure we arrived at the bottom of this arch. But one of the neat things about this one is that you are allowed to both walk under it and on the top.

Here are the steps going up.

It was late afternoon when we got back to the campsite. After dinner we walked the very short Cliffs Trail that goes beside the campground. Just because it was short did not make it less spectacular! I used this for my phone wallpaper for quite a while. Maybe I'll put it back on.

I loved it that not every steep spot was fenced off.

And wherever you are on a high spot there are awesome views.

In other news: I edited hard. I worked on some volunteer stuff that has to get finished. I wrote one of my columns. I'll see what more I can get done yet this evening. Surely a little something else. Yesterday evening I finished figuring out which campgrounds are closest to the daily pickup points so we will know when to move camps.

I'm trying to think where that file and map from this trip might be.

See Princess Falls and Fantasyland

Princess Falls and Fantasyland

 The next day (Sept 11, 2019) we went to Princess Falls. This is a view from above, but you could walk right down to the falls and play in the water. I think we ate lunch there. I may need to work harder at finding my notes from that trip to do a good job on these posts.

Almost every day we went out and did one or two short hikes that added up to something between 7 and 10 miles. I don't remember if this shelf cave had a name, but it was spectacular. So many places on that hike were like a fantasy land. I'm using a picture that has Marie in it so you can get a sense of the scale.

The colors were intense, the transitions were abrupt and unexpected. It just seemed otherworldly. For example, the cave walls are so red. Then the bowl was lined with those rounded, shiny rocks, and the bottom of the depression was pure sand. The light made the greens very bright. This view is looking out from under that shelf.

Also on that day, we saw pink Pinesap Monotropa hypopitys. It's usually white like it's cousin Monotropa uniflora (Ghost or Indian Pipe). I've only seen pink ones twice in my life.

In other news: I worked really consistently all day on things that need to be done. I wish I could say I made more progress. Got to cross one thing off the list. Had a Zoom meeting. Ordered one more thing I need.

See Cumberland

Cumberland

 I've decided I'm going to take the next few days and show you pictures of the trip Marie and I took to Kentucky in September 2019. That was the trip where I discovered the Sheltowee Trace Trail that I'll be hiking in a few weeks. Both my computer and my phone catastrophically failed on that trip, and I did not blog for over two weeks.

But it was one of the most interesting places Marie and I have visited, so I'd like to share some of it with you. We took my partially fixed up trailer and camped in luxury.

First we went to Cumberland River and Falls. The walk along the river was really interesting to me with all the hanging shelf caves.

Most of the waterways there were defined by this pale sandstone- on a nice day it's very picturesque with blue sky and green leaves.

Just upstream from there is the famous Cumberland Falls. It is about the same size as Tahquamenon Falls (so familiar to many of my Michigan friends). They are considered two of the greatest "block waterfalls" in the eastern US.

All of the previous pictures were taken from the west side of the river. On this hike, I'll be coming down the east side, presumably on the same trail this picture was taken from. So I guess I was also on the Sheltowee Trace there. This year, I'll get to see more of the river upstream from the falls.

One side hike we took (which is on the opposite side of the river from the Sheltowee) was to Eagle Falls, a fun little dribble where you could wade in the pool and play on the rocks.

And we loved the bridge across the river. I'll be hiking this. It's also part of the trail.

In other news: I worked my little summer job this morning, got groceries, made myself get some things done on my never-ending lists, and sorted all the food I still have left from my NCT hike. Even dehydrated food can get stale. Some of it had become unpalatable. I threw all of the things out that even I am unwilling to eat. Nevertheless, I ended up with more than enough snack items for the hiking days on this trip. Washed the tub and packed it back up.

Most seriously, I started a list of the things I must get done before I leave for over a month on this hike. Big item on the list was to order new shock cord for the tent I want to take and a couple small items for the hike.

I have to admit... I'm always really happy while planning a hike!

See Best Buds

Maps are Done!

 Well, my brain is fried, but the maps are done for the entire hike of the Sheltowee Trace Trail, Kentucky and Tennesee, 350+ miles.

One section is still closed due to a tornado, and that will cut out 9 miles, but they are trying to extend the southern end to get to a town and that may be done. I have sent that question and one other. Hoping for an actual response.

The guidebook is moderately useful. I mean, the trail would be very difficult without it, but it's not in a standardized format, so it's hard to tell what parts of the trail are single track, jeep road, forest road, etc. The FarOut app software is good for this trail.

Finally, I feel as if I know what I'm doing a little bit. I just can't get a sense of where a trail fits into anything on a phone app. It would be no big deal if I were familiar with this trail, but I've only hiked the southernmost 2.3 miles in 2025, and a few pieces in 2019 when Marie and I went to Red River Gorge. No blog posts from that- computer died. Anyway, now I feel much more confident.

I've left all these large, so you can click on them. This is the overview map from the guidebook.

I created 12 maps with a slightly closer view and elevations. Remember, these are condensed. Most of the elevation changes are in the 500-foot range.

And... drum roll... 90 maps with close topographic detail. There are 2 to 4 of these a day, and I will hike with these.

I hunted up a couple of pix from the Red River Gorge trip with Marie. Maybe I'll share some of this as I get too busy to think preparing for this hike since it was a superlative experience. I'll see a fair amount of places like this. Almost all of the trail is in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

And this is where I discovered the Sheltowee Trace Trail as it overlapped with some of the trails we were hiking.

The really sad part of the story is that Marie is not going on this trip at all. Her back is bothering her a lot. But Diane, Bill, David S, and Sue C are all doing parts or supporting parts.

And now, I am really DONE for the day.

See Obsessed with Maps

Zucchini Chaffles

 I've been trying to cut down on the carbs for quite a while now. But I love my carbs. I have found a few good substitutes. This is one of them- zucchini chaffles. I made a batch this morning, which is 6 chaffles. That will be 6 breakfasts for me.

Why am I doing this? I have my Granny's body type. This is the grandmother who competed with her brothers in goat cart races, played tennis in bloomers around 1900, rowed boats... Here she is on a horse when she was young and slim.



She climbed Mt. Marcy (highest point in NY state) in 1904.

But here's the thing. She stopped being active before I have any memories of her and became "just another" stout old lady (as to her body shape). Her health took a serious downturn when she was 76. I'm determined to fight off the stoutness. I don't like how I look that way, and more importantly, I don't like how I feel. I'm 78, so I'm already two years up on the loss of health. I weigh what I did in college, although gravity has distributed it a bit differently.

Fun fact- she was still vain enough to lace herself into a corset to try to hold the flab at bay. I remember being allowed to help with all the hooks and strings when I was a small girl. I thought that was fun. But I sure can't imagine wearing one of those contraptions!

My solution? Eat chaffles and salad and rabbit food. Cut down on sugar (I usually crave salt, not sugar anyway).

I'm in a dead heat obsession mode with the maps. Still 11 days of maps to go, but I can't make myself work on other important things until I have these done. Back at it now!

Miles walked in 2026: 296.9
Walked to the library and back.

See True Blue Gumby II