Book(s) Review!

     Hello everyone!  With the rain coming down and a ton of MBA homework to be done, there was no hiking trip this week.  An unfortunate occurrence, but hey life happens every now and then and we have to roll with the punches.  So while my wife works on her homework, I thought I would do some book reviews that I have been planning for a while.  The reviews will focus on the books I most use for planning our hiking adventures

     I will start off with the book that started it all, Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide edited by Jim Casada.  I consider this to the the trail bible of MOST of the trails in the Cherokee National Forest.  I have only used the half of the book dealing with the southern half of the forest so I cannot comment on how it handles the northern part.  I find that this book does a good job describing the trails and giving mileage that is fairly close to what we step off on a hike.  One of the things I like about this book is that the authors tell you what to expect on the trail without giving anything away.  Some book are written in a way that after you read the description, there's no point in going on the hike due to every little detail being given out.  That is not the case with this book.  The down side to this book is the maps.  Just a general over view with dotted lines and numbers showing the trail.  I would not use the maps in the book to direct me on trail.  Plus at a total 566 pages long, it is a little heavy to carry on the trail; even though I have done it.  The directions to the trail head are written in a strait forward and easy to follow manner.  Just make sure to watch the odometer if they list miles to a turn!  If there is any interest at all in hiking the Cherokee National Forest, pick this book up.  I linked it to Amazon, but bought mine at Books-A-Million and have seen several copies at the National Forest Office in my town.  I give this book 4 1/2 stars.
     Jackie bought the next book, Waterfalls of Tennessee by Gregory Plumb.  It is an ok trail book.  She loves to go to waterfalls on hikes.  She loves them so much, that in the 7 years we have known each other we have been to 57 waterfalls and counting (that total does not count the repeat hikes we have taken to some of the falls).  The book is good for a general overview of where the falls are located and how the trail is getting there.  I do find Mr. Plumb's ratings of the waterfalls to be fairly accurate.  If he says there isn't much to see, then unless the creek/river is in flood stage, there isn't much to see.  The trail descriptions are just blurbs and do not count on using the maps while on the trail.  The driving directions are okay at best.  There have been a couple of times while going to the some of the falls in the book that I had to turn around or stop and ask locals for directions due to how they are written in the book.  It would have been helpful to have a GPS location of the trail head listed, but they are not.  Just a throwback to the days of paper maps, no GPS, and cheap gas I guess.  Please don't think I hate this book, it is nice for what it is and that is a book all about waterfalls and a general way of how to get there.  I used this book to find Lula Lake Waterfall on Lookout Mountain and Falling Water Falls in Walden, TN.  If you want more details of the hike, you need to buy another book dealing with the area where you will be hiking.  I give this book 3 stars.
     After stumbling upon Savage Gulf's Stone Door, Jackie and I stopped on the way home and bought, 40 Hikes in Tennessee's South Cumberland  by Russ Manning.  This is a slim book coming in at a total 141 pages with some blank pages in the back for notes.  The book deals with a selective list of hikes south of I-40 on the Cumberland Plateau.  This book walks the fine line of a detailed trail description and giving the hike away.  There were a couple of times that I felt a little less info could have been given an the description would not have been the worse for ware.  Mr. Manning gives mileage, that again is close if not right on to what I get, and a difficulty rating of the trail.  Pay attention to the rating, I have found that Mr. Manning is a fair trail rater.  There are maps included before each section being discussed.  In a pinch, and I have done this as well, the maps can be used on the trail.  The maps are not super detailed, but they are workable.  With the Cumberland Tail Conference working hard to finish their trail and the book being published in 2000, the information in the book is now a little dated.  It is still a very serviceable book though.  Some trails will not change, like those in the State Parks or the trails around Sewanee, but just check the Cumberland Trail Conference page before hitting any of their trails from the North Chickamauga Pocket Wilderness northward.  I really enjoy this book and use it to plan my trips in Savage Gulf.  I give this book 4 1/2 stars.
     The next two book really go together, Hiking Tails of the Smokies and Waterfalls of the Smokies both published by Great Smoky Mountain Association.  These are top notch trail books.  A lot of people call Hiking Trails of the Smokies the Trail Bible of GSMNP.  Each and every trail of the park is listed in detail.  Each trail comes with an elevation profile, so you know what you are getting into, and a trail rating.  Since Jackie likes to hike to waterfalls, I use both books to plan out the hike.  I like how one plays off of the other.  For a quick overview of what we will be getting into, I look over the waterfalls, but for a detailed turn by turn mile by mile, I look at Hiking Trails.  Hiking Trails also comes with a large park map, the kind that you can pick up at the Visitor's Center or download from the website; not great for being lost in the woods, but serviceable for being on trail and figuring out how to get there.  The good thing about both of these books is that they are pocket sized.  Now Hiking Trails may be a little bulky but it still would be a good thing to have in the top of your pack.  If you were only to get one book on Smokies Hiking, get Hiking Trails for it's depth of information.  I give both books a 5 star rating.
     The newest book in my collection is 50 Hikes on Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau by Johnny Molloy.  I have yet to use this book on trail, but reading his descriptions of some trails that I have previously been on, he is spot on.  He has the usual length, difficulty, and elevation loss/gain and serviceable trail maps.  I wouldn't really want to carry the 240 page book through the woods, but it wouldn't too bad.  I am already using the book to plan a couple of trips to the Scott's Gulf area by Virgin Falls.  Some of his descriptions are better than the ones in 40 Hikes in the South Cumberland, and both books cover the same ground but I like having both to compare.  Mr. Molloy's book covers more of the Cumberland Trail than 40 Hikes, and it also runs from the Kentucky line to the Alabama line.  His book is the first I have found to mention hikes in Frozen Head State Park, which is one of the main reasons I bought it.  So being untested, I will give the book 4 1/2 stars.
     I hope that this review will help you if you are in search of trail guides for East Tennessee.  There are many trails out there and not every trail is covered by a book.  Sometimes part of the adventure is just finding the trail.  I know I don't think I will ever forget that herd of blood thirsty Chihuahuas that came after me when I stopped and asked a guy how to find Turtletown Falls, but that is a story best left untold.

Lula Lake Falls

     When I started this blog, I figured that I would list all of our hiking trails in chronological order.  Well as you all can see, I took a three and a half year hiatus...  So since I mentioned the Lula Lake Trust in my last post, I figured that I would tell about the time we went hiking there back in 2011.

     Lula Lake Falls is located on top of Lookout Mountain in Gerorgia.  The hardest part is finding a place to park.  After turning off the main road, you drop down onto a gravel one way road that twist and winds down to a grassy field and you just park in the field.  The parking was a little haphazard the day we went.  Since the Trust only opens the land to the public on the first and last weekends of the month, there is normally a crowd.  It was not that bad when we went.  Since there are several trails, the people are normally pretty well dispersed.

     Jackie loves to see waterfalls so we went on down the road and hit the waterfall trail.  The trail just splits off from the road and, I did not know this when I parked, it, the road, has parking by the trail head.  The trail is a nice trail and fairly wide.  After splitting off from the road, the trail goes at a slight downhill angle and goes past a port a potty before coming to a bridge crossing Rock Creek.  After crossing the bridge, the trail goes around a rock outcropping and drops down to a picnic table beside Lula Lake.  Looking back up the lake, you can see a small waterfall that drops into the head of the lake.  This would be one of the good spots to stop for a picnic if you are so inclined.  In the below photograph, the bridge is just behind the rocks on the left. 

     After taking pictures of the falls, Jackie and I went back and headed on down the trail.  After a short walk we came to an overlook for Lula Falls.  It was running pretty good and reminded me a little of Foster Falls.  We got some pictures and spoke with some people coming up from the base of the falls.  There is a trail going down to the base, but we did not hike it.  The trail was narrow and looked like it has a switchback or two.  The people we spoke to said that the view was nice but the trail was a little tough.  We hiked on down the trail to where it stopped at a metal rail drove in the ground with a private property sign on it.  I walked around and looked at some of the rock formations that were there and tried to stay on the Trust's property.

     We then hiked back up to where a trail split off to the north by Lula Falls, this trail is called Bluff Trail.  We then hiked up to the top.  The trail was a little steep but not that bad and it was not as wide as the trail to the Falls.  Once on top though we got a great view of the Georgia countryside.  We could see for miles the day we went.  The trail then goes along the top of the mountain.  This would be another good spot for a picnic.  If you are so inclined, there are plenty of trees around for hanging a hammock.  I am not sure if it is allowed though.  

     After taking pictures and enjoying the view, we walked south along the trail some more and found another trail labeled Middle Trail and we went down it.  This trail was a nice trail and took us through the woods and to Rock Creek.  It joins the Lula Falls Trail right after the bridge.
     Overall, I would give this trip a 9 out of 10.  I really enjoyed our hike there.  The scenery was nice, the waterfalls were running well and the trails are really well maintained.  If you have a day to spend on Lookout Mountain and it is near one of the open weekends, I would suggest that you go there.  When we first went, there was an old map of the trails floating around somewhere on line.  I was hoping that I could find the map and post a link to it, but alas time and the aging internet wait for no man and it has disappeared.  Do not worry though, the trails are well labeled and always make a loop or connect with another trail that will take you back to where you need to be.  I cannot wait for the final link to connect the Trust property with Cloudland Canyon to be completed.  That would make a pretty neat backpacking trip.

Directions to Lula Lake Property are found here: http://www.lulalake.org/about/directions.asp

Foster Falls/Climbers Loop Trail 11/1/2009

After seeing pictures of the falls at the South Cumberland Visitor Center, Jackie wanted to go and take pictures of Foster Falls. So we had a Saturday off together and went. Foster Falls is a TVA Small Wilderness area. At the parking area there are picnic tables and restrooms. The parking area is also one of the trail heads for the Fiery Gizzard Trail, the other trail head is the Grundy Forest parking area.

Foster Falls Sign

The Foster Falls trail head is to the left of the state sign, pictured above. There is a nice metal and wood walkway built up to take you over a creek and the top of the plateau. The bridge ends at the overlook. THe overlook provides some good, albeit distant, views of the falls. Jackie and myself took several pictures from here. We took Mia with us on this hike.

Foster Falls from the Overlook

The trail to the base of the falls begins at some steps that lead down from the overlook. The trail starts off as a road along some power lines. After going about 30 yards, there was a sign on the right that points down off the plateau. There are steps that help get you down over some rocks. After that, the trail disappears into the rocks. To follow the trail you must look for some flat rocks and white blazes on the trees. The trail isn't that hard to follow, but care must be taken over the rocks. We both stumbled several times.

Once at the bottom of the plateau there is a bridge across the creek. You can either go across or thread your way over rocks along the base of the plateau and over rocks along the base of the overlook to see the falls. We decided to jump the rocks first. I fell once, holding Mia and Jackie's extra lenses for her Cannon camera. We got some good pictures here. We also found a side waterfall that started under the overlook. The falls were beautiful. There had been some rain the week before and the falls were running at full power.

Jackie and I retraced our steps and crossed the bridge. The trail ran to the right and to the left. We went right, but Jackie was later told by a classmate and I found in 40 Hikes in Tennessee's South Cumberland Third Edition book that the trail to the left made a loop back to the parking area. There is a beach a the end of the trail, but the bottom the bottom was filled with rocks. Not good for bare feet swimming. We got some more pictures here. It was a nice spot. We went back to the bridge and took some more pictures. After those pics were done we went back to the car. The climb up was tough, read steep, and the rocks didn't help much. There were a lot of people on the trail that day.

Foster Falls from the end of the trail followed by the Swinging Bridge

Total Miles Hiked: .8

If we had followed the loop it would have been 2 miles

Grundy Day Trail (South Cumberland State Park) 10/23/2009

Jackie and I wanted to see some of the fall colors. We had planned to ride over the Cherohala Skyway but since it was raining, we went west. I had been wanting to go to the Savage Gulf, so we went. We reached the Park Visitor Center around 1-1.30 and the woman there told us about Grundy Forest. Not knowing when the sun would set, we went there.

The trail started at a picnic pavilion. There are two ways to hike the trail. One is to start on the Fiery Gizzard Trail Head and the other is to start the trail behind a picnic table pavilion. We decided to start behind the pavilion.

Start of Trail

The trail started off winding its way down the side of the ridge, very gradually. Within .25 miles we had dropped maybe 50 feet and came to a small creek making a waterfall down the side of the ridge with a bridge over the top of the falls.

We took pictures and then went over the bridge and on the trail. The trail climbed a little ways up the ridge and was fairly strait. When we came to the CCC Camp Site, the trail turned to the left and started down the ridge. Going down was pretty steep, but nothing bad. At the bottom of the ridge, the trail turned back left and followed a creek. It was nice with the mist in the air causing sun beams. The ridge was steep here, falling directly to the creek. The trail became very narrow, Jackie and I could not walk side by side any more. The trail reminded me of a mountain goat path. This was maybe .75 miles into the trail.

At 1 mile we came to the Haynes Hole Falls. This was a neat waterfall. It falls 25 feet according to the info I could find. We took many pictures here. There was a bridge over part of the rocks. it was really a nice spot. The water here was cold.

Haynes Hole Falls

The trail continues along the side of the ridge, a goat path for about another .5 miles. Then it meets with the Fiery Gizzard Trail. The Gizzard goes to the right over a bridge and up a ridge. After meeting up with the Gizzard, the trail widens back out. About .1 miles from the bridge, the trail comes to Blue Hole Falls. In my opinion it is not a pretty as Haynes Hole Falls and it was further away from the trail, but we were still able to get a couple pictures. The trail then goes into some undergrowth. It was like walking through hedges. Once through this area the trail becomes rocky. It runs against some bluffs and goes under a little overhang forming a cave. It was a nice spot. A good place to be if it begins to rain, but I would not want to camp there.

After getting through the bluff, the trail begins a sharp ascent. It climbs up the bluffs that it followed. The trail is steep and twisting. Once to the top the trail becomes level and there is an overlook, but with the trees being higher than the spot we couldn't see much. After the overlook, the trail begins a wide arc back to the parking area. It was a nice trail and I would hike it again.

Total Miles Hiked: 2