Virgin Falls camping trip

Back at the first of November some friends, my Dad, brothers and myself took a trip to Virgin Falls state park.  We found it was a great place to hike.  There was a good amount of fairly difficult trails,  and a large cavern. Also the Caney Fork river was next to one of the camping areas.  The leaves were in their best color, and there were some good views.  We just camped over night but it was a very enjoyable trip.

This is Virgin falls, probably over 100 feet tall.

Here is my bag that I took. I added my leather sling bag to the back of my backpack for extra room.

 

                                                          One of the many rock overhangs.

 

 

 



 

Nothing like something warm to drink around the campfire.

 

 

 

 

All the wood was a little damp so the fire was a bit hard to keep going.

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the views that we stopped for on our way out.  I definitely want to come back here again.  I am always excited to get to explore a new trail.

Fall hike

This past weekend we had our annual church camp.  The leaves were very nice, and I was able to get lots of pictures.  There is a hiking trail that goes part way around the camp and it goes through some nice woods.  The first day I hiked it was cloudy, damp and cool, the second day the wind had dried everything out, and the sun had come out, but it was colder.

 

 

 

 

Here is the driveway looking toward the camp exit.

 

 

 

My knife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leaf in the center is Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), a very useful plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).  I had been seeing turkey sign the whole time, then I saw these out in a corn field close to the end of the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

Plantain (Plantaginaceae).  Plantain has a host of medicinal uses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow- Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the trail was about a mile long, and it had some easy ups and downs, I was glad to be able to explore some new territory.

Day hike

My Dad and two younger brothers decided to take a hike last Sunday afternoon.  So we went to South Cumberland Recreation Area; also known as Savage Gulf, or Stone Door.  This area mainly consists of a large "gulf", or ravine that is in the shape of a crows foot.  It also has several nice water falls, and many hiking trails.  Some of the trails are very tough to hike, and Fiery Gizzard trail, which is not actually in the park itself, is supposed to be the roughest trial in Tennessee.  We only hiked a short distance but we had a good time.  The weather was wonderful, It was one of the first days that really felt like fall.  The breeze was very refreshing on top of the cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my Backpack, hat, and Walking stick.  My Grand Father gave me this walking stick and I really like it, it is made of Dog Wood, and it is a good stout stick.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Stone door, it is 100ft deep and about 10ft wide, and it was used by the Indians as a passage to the bottom of the gorge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is me.

 

 

And this is my brother if you can see him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this is Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium).  But if it is not then please leave a comment.  Also if you know if the berries are edible then please let me know.

 

 

 

Ramaria formosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope I can go back later this fall when the leaves have turned color.

 

 

 

Camping Gear

Here is some of my camping gear that I use.  I got the small green backpack recently, It is African I think,and It is rather small.  I like that it is small because it is easy to get through the woods,and it keeps it's shape very well.  I really like a backpack that is slightly rigid and holds its shape.  Another thing I like is when it is packed up it keeps the weight in line with may body so it does not throw me off balance.  It also has two small pockets on the side in which I can fit quite a bit of things.  I have taken this backpack on an overnight backpacking trip and it held every thing very well.

The olive drab wool blanket is my bedroll and it fits perfectly on top of the small backpack. Then I strap another bedroll on the bottom of the pack, this bedroll consists of a tarp for my shelter a flannel sheet and another small blanket. Also in the pic is my leather shirt and moccasins, my belt and pouches, bayonet, and canteen

 

Here is how the bed rolls look. I also have one of my quivers strapped to it.

In this picture I have the bayonet on the side, all I have to do is reach over my shoulder and there it is!



This picture is kinda blurry but It gives you an Idea of the size of the whole thing.

I'm wearing my army belt and pouches in these two pictures, they contain matches, small cord, pencil and paper, and glow stick.  I also have another pouch that contains a first aid kit, but since I had another first aid kit in my backpack I did not have that one on.  The two side pockets on the backpack contain things I might need to get at real fast.  Here is a list of things in the outer pockets on this

particular hike.

First aid kit.

Poncho.

Emergency blanket.

A snack.

Flashlight

It turns out that it started to rain and I had to use my poncho, thankfully I was able to get to it easily, my brother had trouble finding his and it took longer to dig through his pack and find it.  That is why it is good to put things that you might need in a hurry where you can get to  them.