Wednesday's Hike--Coker Creek/Bald River Falls

Wednesday's hike will be Coker Creek and Bald River Falls, near Tellico Plains. Both hikes will be pretty short, probably a total of 5-6 mi. The drive to the trailhead will be a couple hours so expect a fairly long day. I'd estimate a Crossville return time of 4pm. Figure 8$ for gas. Meet at American Legion at 6:45.

Today's hike to House Mountain has been canceled due to weather and hazardous conditions. If you know of someone without access to the blog that planned to attend the hike, please pass this along to them. Thanks so much!

Wednesday Hike--Polly Branch /Caney River Loop

Wednesday's hike will be Bridgestone/Firestone's Polly Branch/Caney River loop, 7-8 mi with a pretty physical uphill at the end. There are several stream crossings including one w/ a steep downstream grade near the end of the hike. Usually if the streams are easily crossed near Polly Branch Falls, the last crossing is ok.I will give my hip another week of recovery time and skip this hike. But if the water is high near Polly Branch Falls, I wouldn't be heroic about crossing it. You don't want to get all the way to the last stream and then be confronted with the choice of a hazardous crossing or a long backtrack. Meet at Tractor Supply at 6:45. I assume the Browntown/Pleasant Hill hikers will meet the group at the Yellow Bluff trailhead. I may not be up early enough Wednesday to cancel this hike if today's rain extends into tomorrow, so somebody else may have to take on that chore....or simply meet at Tractor Supply and make the call at that time.

Wednesday's Savage Gulf Hike

We hiked from Greeter Falls to Stone Door Thursday. Here's the question...is the cantalevered rock near stone door(see sidebar) leaning more than it has in the past? Perhaps it is but Ginger says she didn't slide more than a few inches toward the edge. See the rest of the photos from Ginger and Jim.

Wednesday's Hike Rescheduled to Thursday

Wednesday looks hopeless so lets push it to Thursday and do Greeter Falls/Stone Door. This is one of our most scenic hikes. It's only 6 mi but at least an hour and a half drive. So we will be home later than normal...I estimate around 3. Figure 7$ for gas. We'll meet at Tractor Supply at 6:45 and the Pleasant Hill/Browntown hikers can join the caravan at the Uplands.If there won't be a full car load at the Uplands, email me and we can save some space in the cars from Tractor Supply. Some weather reports are calling for snow flurries Thursday am. If driving conditions look bad, we'll cancel or change the hike to a more nearby destination. So watch the blog for possible changes.

Wednesday Hike

Weather forecasters are calling for 100% chance of rain tomorrow. So absent a big change, I propose we reschedule for Thursday. We can give the weather forecasters a few more hours to change their minds but I'd like to choose between Wednesday or Thursday later today.

Hike selection is another issue. We had talked about Bridgestone/Firestone but big game hunting is scheduled this week and the area is closed to non hunters. I propose we do Greeter Falls/Stone Door which is a great hike but gets us home later than normal...around 3. Email me if you have any input on these issues.

Wednesday's Edgar Evins Hike

Six of us scouted Edgar Evins Wednesday. Nice views of Center Hill Lake's inlets and lots of opportunities for shoreline exploration. See photos.Hilly wooded terrain gave us a good workout. We stopped for lunch at the Mandarin Palace in Cookeville which was quite a treat...huge steam table selection, stir fry grill to order(go for the shrimp), sushi bar and good beer selection.What's not to like?Too bad there aren't more nice hikes around Cookeville.