Blue Lobelia in bloom on Skinner Mountain
Woo Hoo Holler Get Away Week 2019
Dana & Kenny Koogler
Sharon McGee
Pictures are here:
Starting with frame 70
Skinner Mountain Pix starting with frame 533
Woo Hoo Holler Pix starting with frame 437
Fire Tower Pix starting with frame 151
Starting with frame 70
Skinner Mountain Pix starting with frame 533
Woo Hoo Holler Pix starting with frame 437
Fire Tower Pix starting with frame 151
Our friends John and Sharon asked us back months ago if we could house sit for a long weekend Thursday Sept. 19th and stay through til at least Sunday evening. They were planning a surprise 90th birthday party for John's mom in Florida. We agreed to do it, and
the bonus was that the Cumberland Homesteads Apple Festival coincided with that weekend.
Once in awhile things we plan work out just right.
We were eager to get over there to enjoy the day, but we did did not get the early start we'd hoped. We were two o'clock or better getting over there. By the time we packed, made sure our house was buttoned up, did our grocery shopping, grabbed lunch we were far later.
We arrived a little frazzled. Kenny has been working some funky hours. He just wrapped up trip #2 to Miami on Tuesday. He had to bring the crane home from that Hell Hole.
We were both ready for some quiet.
We took time Thursday afternoon to ride up Skinner Mountain. We had not visited the overlooks in a long time. We went first to the Bredesen Overlook. It is the official one on the south side of the mountain. It was beautiful on the mountain top today. Temperatures were cooler. It was about seventy degrees and a nice breeze blowing. Autumn colors were just starting to tint the leaves on the trees up here. A few orange, yellow and fiery red leaves were around the overlook. The area is very dry since we'd not had rain in twenty one days.
The view down into the valley was spectacular as always. The rock here at this overlook is real knobby. I made myself walk out onto it a little further to get a better view. From here you can look out and see a rocky bluff and the river far in the distance. You can see a road winding along atop that bluff. We'd later find ourselves first at the base of that bluff and then riding the road across the top of it!
Above: Kenny walks ahead of me down the path to the overlook
I had wanted to visit the Stand Alone Overlook, but we did not bring a rope. It is still a snaky time of year and I would prefer to grapple my way up that when the snakes go to bed.
We did ride round to the Mill Creek Overlook and take in the view from that side of the mountain as well.
Once we had checked out the overlooks we headed back out the mountain and tried a side path we'd seen on the way in. We thought it might connect to another trail down in Lost Cane, but it didn't. It was a Ricky Roysden dirt bike trail. Very soon it played out and became so narrow we weren't going anywhere. We went out toward the Woodland pond. It is a small forest pond that has standing black water all the time. I've never seen it dry completely up, but the water level was down a lot .
Below: a hazy evening view of the blackwater pond.
We had a nice evening ride and headed back to the house. I fed the animals and tended to them. Once I had them settled I fixed spaghetti for supper at Kenny's request.
Friday morning we woke and decided to head east to hunt up an assortment of places.
We went first to try to find an abandoned railroad tunnel in Robbins, Tn.
Last Fall we visited Tunnels 13 and 14. Today we were hoping to see Tunnel 15. We found where it is supposed to be, but it is down in a hole at one end. You have to walk to it from the south end and that turned out to be more than we wanted to tackle. While it is a very short distance it is head high weeds and briars. You can't see anything through that mess. We will go back when it is cold and see it. Houses lie in front of it and your approach options are limited.
Seeing how that fell through we went next to the Grassy Knob Lookout Tower.
We found it without any trouble. It sits up with a beautiful view across the plateau. It is in excellent condition and appears to still be manned. It has communications cable running to it. All outbuildings and structures are ship shape. Cab was locked, but we went far up as we could and enjoyed the breeze and the view. Off in the distance I saw a fellow at a house come outside. He was in one of those motorized wheelchairs and just zipping along. His dog was running after him barking like mad. It was a funny scene.
We headed toward Burnt Mill Bridge next. I had read in a column by Ben Garrett in the Oneida paper that the streams on this end of the Big South Fork tend to run year round moreso than the ones on the other end. I wanted to see Skull Creek Falls, Burnt Mill Falls and possibly Blacks Creek Falls. We had a picnic at Burnt Mill Bridge trailhead. They have vault toilets, several picnic tables, plenty of parking, and bear proof trash cans. Clear Fork flows by and they have even re-decked the old Burnt Mill Bridge for pedestrian use. From here Burnt Mill Loop takes off. We ate our lunch and were treated to a concert by a young lady who was with her boyfriend lounging by Clear Fork. Her first song was Amazing Grace which was very pretty, but the next number was something country that was not as pleasing.
We grinned at the singing. They soon left. We had the place to ourselves again. We hiked the short distance out Burnt Mill Loop to look across Clear Fork to see if the streams were even flowing. Had they been we'd have swam the creek or waded and gotten to see the falls. As it turned out both were bone dry! We will come back with the canoe and paddle the river when it is up and then we can take out and see all the falls. It will be a fun day trip for the future.
Above: beautifully redecked original Burnt Mill Bridge
We did not know what we'd get into next. Waterfalls simply were not flowing during this dry time. Everything was dusty and it is hard to figure what will still be worth doing when it is like this. We did stop by Rugby and the R.M. Brooks General Store on the way home. It was nice.
Above: old abandoned house across from the R.M. Brooks Store
Once we wrapped up our visit here we headed back to Woo Hoo. I laid down on the couch and got comfy and took a short nap. Once we got up and stirring again we headed out for a ride along the River Trail. We tried our best to get Otey the dog to ride with us on my lap. He was NOT having it. Finally we gave up. We went up to the Tinker Dave Beatty cemetery.
Then we went to the Choate Cemetery which is directly across the road from it. Next we went to the River Trail. Instead of going toward Swift Ford as we usually do, we turned and went downstream toward Guy Choate's place. We hoped we could go all the way through to Alex Stephens Road and make a loop back to the house. We were not disappointed. Though the area is dry this portion of the East Fork Obey river flows year round. It is not undercut by caves like its upper reaches are. Plus it is below the Big Spring so it is more constant.
The river was like an emerald ribbon winding through the forest. The woods were quiet and deep green. A faint tint of yellow and crunchy brown was coming to the forest. September is the dying of the leaves and coming of Autumn colors. The trail down in this area was incredibly pretty. We soon came to a spot where the trail fords back across the river. It doesn't have a name, but it is one of my favorite places along here. The water was aquamarine and emerald and reflected the mirror image of the trees and gray rocks. Far to one side the East Fork River was channeled tightly and curving along the bank.
above: The East Fork Obey River is cast in the gloom here in this spot
The trail fords back and forth a couple times. One of the last fords we came from creek left to creek right. This time of evening the sun is sinking into the gorge illuminating everything and casting a pretty golden glow over the scenery. Seeing the river turned to gold and the shimmer on the trees was really something magical.
Golden evening light cast on the trees and the river
Finally we were riding along the base of a rocky bluff. The trail began to climb until we were up in the evening light and riding along atop the same bluff! This is what we could see from Skinner mountain yesterday. It would not have been as neat if we hadn't seen it from that vantage point first.
We rambled along past rural scenes of farms, crumbling shacks and fields ablaze with both evening light and golden rod intermingled with wands of deep purple. The breeze was cool and we passed cattle and a few people on the back roads of West Fentress. Neither men nor beasts seemed like they had any intention to hurry about life there in those humble corners of one of the poorest counties in Tennessee. Jay Clark has written a lot of beautiful songs, but I could suddenly hear him singing my favorite one in my head. West Obey perfectly captures the heart and soul of the area. We are over on the East side today, but the feeling permeates the whole area. We passed an abandoned old homestead by Alex Stephens Road. Scenes like this can be found all over the Cumberland Plateau. The agrarian lifestyle is unattractive to most as well as unprofitable. People turn away from these areas in favor of towns and modern conveniences. We made our way out to Glenobey and back Hwy 52 to the house.
Above: Roadside fields full of goldenrod scepters and deep purple stalks of New York Ironweed. <3
Saturday rolled around and we went to the Cumberland Homesteads Apple Festival as we planned. I am going to write up a separate blog piece about that. All our Saturday doings deserve their own stand alone blog. Saturday was Apple Festival, Clarktown Springs, and the Stringtown Lookout Tower. We also visited Rural King which has newly opened in Crossville.
We love us some Rural King. Do not ever take photos in Rural King as it is verboten!
Sunday morning we got up and I cooked us a very leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, cantaloupe, and toast. We lingered over coffee and at last set out to see what mischief we could dream up for today. I had been wanting to re-visit Garrett Mill to check out the late Summer wildflowers. We headed there first. It has been sold since I was there last. I got the phone number of the new owner. I made a quick inventory of the flowers which were even prettier than this time last year! Water still flowed from the cave, but it was not much. Large leaf grass of parnassus bloomed in big clumps all over the place. Turtleheads of rosy pink and white were clustered in the seeps along with blue lobelia. Tiny dots of deep orange from spotted jewelweed dangled like earrings along the road.
Spotted jewelweed dangling from tiny stems
Once we finished here we continued driving Garrett Mill Road down toward Big Eagle Creek to where you have to drive through it. It was pretty down there.
Above: Big Eagle Creek littered with yellow and brown leaves.. the canopy still green.
We continued just driving around enjoying the scenery. We passed more abandoned houses and farms. I saw what must have been an old store on a corner. It had bars on the windows.
We passed the former Wascon factory. It is back in the country by Old Eagle Road if memory serves. We later passed the new Wascon facility in Livingston. They did not close up shop.. they just moved to bigger and better spot. We saw lots of natural gas and oil rigs out in the countryside of Overton County. I think that is what Wascon does.. the energy industry.
This building must have been a store at this location and with the barred windows.
I'd love to know what the name of it was if anyone knows??
We wandered round "lost" until we finally came out on Hwy 111 again. We headed toward Livingston. We thought we'd have lunch at The Steel Coop. The businesses I thought I'd like to visit in town were not open for another hour or more. We noticed Fred's Pharmacy was closed up! I shopped there this past Spring. Now it is gone. One of my favorite shirts is from there. It is my Bless Your Heart t shirt. We stopped by the Steel Coop only to realize it is closed on Sundays. We were fresh out of ideas. I suggested to Kenny that we just keep going and head to Cookeville. He agreed. We stopped for lunch at Rib City. They have delicious barbecue. Will definitely go back. Friendly service. Great food. Decent prices. Good family atmosphere.. Cookeville is an odd mixture of conservatives and liberals. I heard some conversations around me that were astonishing in a good way and funny. I was astonished at the conversations coming out of mouths that I would never have expected to espouse their various political views! Just goes to show you can't pigeon hole people.
We went by the Goodwill store next. We came away with some great finds. A new Rubbermaid tea pitcher for $2.99. A tripod to replace the one I lost ... like new for $3. 99
A remote control car for Gabe for $5. Got that thing home and chased the dog with it. Too funny. He started off chasing it then it turned around on him! We visited Serenity Thrift and it is very nice. Will go back, but we did not find anything we were interested in today. We passed Hwy 111 Flea Market on the way there. Kenny wanted to stop there on the way home so we did. We were not exactly blown away, but we did like it and we came away from there with a gorgeous area rug for our downstairs tv room. 8' x 10' Mohawk carpet for $135 and we love it. Will certainly go back if we need rugs or crafts. Lots of antiques.
We were both tired. Kenny had to head home at some point this evening though he did not want to. We figured we'd best go back toward the house. On the drive home he looked out into a field in the Alpine area. He spotted a pair of chimneys in the field and wanted to stop to see them. I walked out into the field to photograph the interesting old chimneys at the former home site. They stand facing one other I am guessing they must have been at opposite ends of the dwelling? Some large, pretty and very old dogwood trees still grew in what was left of the yard. It is now a cow pasture. Virginia pines were scattered in the field. One chimney was clear but the other was a sight to see. The entire top of the chimney was engulfed in strangler fig! I took my photos and headed back toward the car. I could hear a tractor and hear Kenny talking to someone. I hoped we weren't getting fussed at for stopping to take pictures. It was not the case at all. A nice man was driving the tractor and got out to visit with us a little bit. He was Kelly Paul who owns the place. He was stopping to warn us because he saw me in the field. He has seen lots and lots of copperheads in there this Summer. He didn't want me getting snake bit. Just said to be on the look out. I never saw the first snake and that is good. He shared the history with us. He is a kindred spirit in many regards. He is a farmer and a country boy. He is a young married person with a family. He recently moved back to live in his folks place the old Dugan Smith house. The property included this field. He said it was a good thing I stopped and got photos of the chimneys if I wanted them as he plans to tear them down during cold weather. He is going to use the stones to put on his porch. It will then match the stone foundation! He shared with us all kinds of interesting tidbits of history. He asked me if I knew of Josephine's Journal? I sure did. He said she had written about the place in her columns!
Bottom left corner old dogwood tree of a very large size! Behind it a huge Virginia Pine.
We finally made it home and Kenny stuck around until 8 pm. I hated to see him go, but I was fine alone. Sharon got home the next day. I slept like a baby and used the first half of Monday to get some chores done.
Sharon got home around one pm on Monday. Neither of us was real ambitious. We spent time catching up on each other's doings. We took a drive out through the country.
She took me back toward Alpine. We visited the Dugan Smith house and I got some photos of that as well as a couple Civil War grave markers. According to Kelly, they are not buried at the spots the markers are placed. They do not know exactly where the graves were. He said he believes he knows where the men were buried and thinks it was in his yard. He said he had been working and found two massive limestone rocks placed in the earth around his house. He said there was no other obvious explanation for why those would have been put there. He is probably right. When the Sons of Union Veterans came and wanted to put the markers
with the graves he said leave them where the were.
The graves are those of one G.W. Threet and another Jesse Threet who were killed while serving in the Union Army. The markers say G.A. R. Veteran which stands for Grand Army of the Republic. I never knew that is what the Union Army called themselves.
Kelly told us the walls of the house are three bricks thick! The house Kenny grew up in was from the same time period and its walls are FOUR bricks thick! Sharon pointed out that in Virginia old houses of this kind are a "dime a dozen" which is true! You see fewer of this type in Tennessee. If you look at this and enlarge it you can see that the foundation stone is the same type used in the chimneys down the road. Kelly will salvage those and repurpose them to go over the front porch. I would love to see it when it is finished.
To Read Josephine's Journal entry on the Dugan Smith home click here
Once we got done at the Dugan Smith house we doubled back to the cemetery of the same name. It was right beside those chimneys I'd previously photographed. The graves here are typical very old comb graves and some tabernacle graves like one finds on the Cumberland Plateau. Some of the more interesting ones I saw were one that had a Masonic symbol on it and another had the Daughters of the American Revolution emblem on it.
Daughters of the American Revolution marker on headstone
**Directions to see the Dugan Smith House, chimneys and cemetery***
Hwy 52 outside Alpine, TN.. turn onto Bolestown Road. The chimneys are visible from Hwy 52 easily. The cemetery is immediately beyond the chimneys in the same field. You can see it from Hwy 52 also. The Dugan Smith house is on the right hand side of Bolestown Road about a mile from Hwy 52. The Civil War Union Graves are on the left of the road directly across from the house. Here is the waypoint 36.418705, -85.153846
Once we finished visiting the cemetery we headed back toward the house. Sharon stopped for me to get some photos of an old house we had passed. It is abandoned and rotting down. It is one of those asphalt siding houses like my folks come from. Uncle James and Aunt Virginia, Grandaddy Brooks, and Aunt Marie and Aunt Ethel were the last ones in the family living in that type house during my lifetime.
Above: Photo taken of the asphalt siding house from the back corner. The front was so overgrown with weeds and small shrubs it was impossible to get a photo of it. Hard to even get a decent view of the front which included some log structure.
Next Sharon took me down Riverton Road to show me many of the crazy things she'd been telling me about for a couple years. Riverton Road runs from Hwy 52 all the way out to Dale Hollow Lake. All the years I've been coming out here I have not ever been to Dale Hollow Lake or driven this road. It was worth the price of admission. It is a crazy little road.
Dale Hollow Lake was pitiful today. It should be one of the cleanest, prettiest lakes, but today the dry weather and letting the water levels down for the season had it looking less attractive.
Above: I don't know if this is a real grave marker or a joke. It reads R.I.P. Zeke Hardy 1887-1928. It will certainly get your attention regardless of being a gag or a real grave marker!
Finally we wrapped up our day and headed back to the house. I fixed us chicken alfredo and steamed green beans for dinner. Sharon whipped up the most yummy tossed salad.
Dinner was great and so was the company.
We sat and talked into the evening. We discussed plans for the next day. We wanted to take the kayaks and go float the Calfkiller River and do some poking round Sparta. We weren't sure that was going to work out since we'd have to have a way to haul the kayaks.
The next morning she got the notion to hunt to see if John had taken both sets of his truck keys with him to Clearwater?? She came down with a set and tried them and finally got them to work. She called him and he agreed to let us use the truck. We two gals managed to load the kayaks up and tie them down securely. No incidents whatsoever!
Tuesday we went and paddled downstream from Church Street to near Hwy 70.
The Calfkiller River is a pastoral stream. Fortunately for us it still has plenty of water to make it a decent float trip. The current was barely perceptible. The water was green and cool. Fish and turtles and water birds were seen. Rural scenery was what lay along the river banks for the most part. It was very pretty and I enjoyed it. We saw a few other folks out on the water today. Couple guys fishing. It was very serene. Paddling back upstream was easy also. We were growing hungry for lunch. We loaded up the kayaks and set out to the Fragrant Mushroom next to do some shopping. I got me a coffee mug they made right there at the store. I also got a craft paper book for a bargain price. I am hoping to do some mixed media art projects. I liked the store a lot and will definitely go back.
Next we had lunch at Jack's Barbecue. It was delicious. It is a Christian establishment. The jukebox has only praise and worship music! That was a first for me. I like that type music a lot but I am a fan of honky tonk tunes on the jukebox. I just bought a shirt that reads
Support Your Local Honky Tonk!
Below are a few photos of the Calfkiller River
Once we got done with these activities we headed down toward Lost Creek so Sharon could see the falls. She had never been. I was in disbelief at how little water was coming over the falls. I had never seen them this low. They are still pretty and now she knows how to get there. We'll have to go back.
Lost Creek Falls at VERY low flow
Dodson Cave across from Lost Creek Falls.
Merry Branch Falls had no water at all on it.
Rock overhang above Dodson Cave. The road runs right over the top of this
Above: The bluff to one side of Dodson Cave. A gray curve flanked by green forest!
We were growing tired and had a drive home yet. We had talked about going to Dog Cove, but by now I had lost all interest. I had been dealing with a sinus headache all day that had never let up. We made it home and I took something to get my head opened up. Sharon went to visit Russ and Robin up the road. I rested and the dog lay down next to me to keep me company. I finally felt better and got a shower which improved my outlook even more.
Sharon returned from the Brown's home with an original Robin Brown painting for me! I was amazed and just loved it. I will post a picture of it soon in its spot at my home. I have the perfect place for it. I met Robin and Russ several years back. She was a talented painter back then, but her skill is grown exponentially. I think she is experiencing what artists call "un-bottling". She has a bonafide studio now I must go see. She has a style I call folk art and I love it. Her sense of color and composition are very pleasing to my eyes.
Below is a collection of Robin's paintings in Sharon and John's home. They are beautiful!
John, Sharon and Otey along the East Fork River in Autumn
Cabin at Woo Hoo Holler
The fire circle with John sitting out there poking the fire. Lightning bugs fill the air.
Copperhead Crossing above and below. If you know any history on it I wish you'd email me dkoogler@gmail.com
Merry Branch Falls had no water at all on it.
Rock overhang above Dodson Cave. The road runs right over the top of this
We were growing tired and had a drive home yet. We had talked about going to Dog Cove, but by now I had lost all interest. I had been dealing with a sinus headache all day that had never let up. We made it home and I took something to get my head opened up. Sharon went to visit Russ and Robin up the road. I rested and the dog lay down next to me to keep me company. I finally felt better and got a shower which improved my outlook even more.
Sharon returned from the Brown's home with an original Robin Brown painting for me! I was amazed and just loved it. I will post a picture of it soon in its spot at my home. I have the perfect place for it. I met Robin and Russ several years back. She was a talented painter back then, but her skill is grown exponentially. I think she is experiencing what artists call "un-bottling". She has a bonafide studio now I must go see. She has a style I call folk art and I love it. Her sense of color and composition are very pleasing to my eyes.
Below is a collection of Robin's paintings in Sharon and John's home. They are beautiful!
Above: The Evans Homeplace across the road from Woo Hoo.. the bank is a blaze of orange daylilies!
I was growing a little homesick for my own bed, Kenny, my grandkids. I figured I'd get up Wednesday morning and head home after breakfast. We had a few things to do first.
I made us breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs with swiss cheese, and slices of cantaloupe.
Then we we to the New Hope Cemetery on Little Crab road to put flowers on Ed Choate's grave plot. It was Ed who brought Sharon and John into my life. We lost him too soon.
We went and dropped off a live trap at Lisa's house nearby. We went by Russ and Robin's house to visit. I wanted to thank her for the painting. They seldom go anywhere, but you might know I'd come by on the day they had gone out. Oh well.. just one more reason to get back over there.
Thanks Sharon for a great time. I am blessed to have you as a friend. You are a generous soul and I love you. I love John too.. and Otey and Coon.
On the way home I mailed a package at the post office in Jamestown.
I also went by this old house I saw on Facebook market place. It is Copperhead Crossing.. a former stop on the Great Stage Road. It is at 4325 Chestnut Hill Road and its for sale.
It was fascinating. I am digging for history on it and coming up empty.
It was a long drive home and I was glad to get back to Kenny and my own bed. I got Gabe the next day and kept him overnight. Now I just need to see my other kids and grandkids.
Below I leave you with a short video of the Grassy Knob Lookout Tower
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