Wild Hyacinth blooming in Lost Cane
(Camassia scilloides)
Maple Hill Campground --First Camping Trip of 2020
Part 1
Part 1
Thursday April 23, 2020 thru Sat. April 25, 2020
Kenny & Dana Koogler
(During Corona virus pandemic 2020
with social distancing in place)
Click arrow to right to advance photos
Album is combo of various trips.
Skinner Mountain Pix
Above: Blue phlox growing by the road
Above: Two pretty Southern Red Trilliums
Above: a glance back Manson Road. Lots of new Spring growth.
Manson Road is a pretty drive, but it usually feels very long to me.
Thankfully the scenery helps ease the discomfort. Lots of place in Fentress County bring on that "You cain't git thar from hyere" feeling.
We made our way out to Big Piney Gorge and started down in it. It was mined for coal back in the day. Remnants of that activity can still be seen lying around. Mining equipment. Old roadbeds. Electric lines leading to nothing. Coal lies on the ground in places right at the surface. The trail down through this deep hole in the earth is particularly pretty. It carries a sense of loneliness and echoes of the past. I know of one family who lives on the slopes of this gorge off the grid.
They have thousand gallon propane tanks, generators, and back up generators.
People not to be trifled with.
Previous trips into this gorge and explorations of it led me to believe there were waterfalls that are undocumented. One will require rope to reach. We were able to find another one below it that flows on a different creek. There is yet another one that is a very small , wet weather stream. Beyond that we found another very scenic cascade. I believe we need to go back and explore after a good rain above that cascade for another falls.
Above: this falls is 15-20 feet tall.
This little trickle falls comes in at right angles to the one above.
A look at the arm of the gorge these falls lie in.
above: small cascade above the other two falls.
Prairie trillium
Steep gorge walls covered in moss and flowers
Close up of moss and wild stonecrop
Trail coming down through the gorge. It was an old coal road so in places it is pretty wide.
Heading down the trail at one place it is very close to the edge. A thick row of trees barely permits a view down over a steep drop off. I knew that down in here was going to be the most likely access to the mouth of the gorge with the falls. I'd long wanted to walk into there and see what it was like. We'd seen a glimpse upstream. I wanted more. I walked around checking out the forest filled with grapevines thick as a man's arm. Covered in verdant moss and vegetation. Speckled with wildflowers of varying shades of pink and red, yellow, white, purple. The only sounds were the stream, the breeze, and the songs of birds echoing in the hollow. Good for the soul and easy on the eyes and ears. It washes away the filth of the world of news media, disease, and fear mongering.
Above: Pretty cascade in the side gorge
Above: Looking down the gorge at the pretty stream
above: beautiful trillium turning pink with age
I want to go back to this little gorge upstream and see if there is indeed more falls in there.
Below is a video of the falls:
We continued down the trail til the sight of Big Piney Creek came into view.
It is a stream that comes from way up on the plateau and flows then somewhere before it ever gets to the East Fork river it goes subterranean. It is very clear and the color of the water is tinted blue from minerals. I find myself sitting staring at it. Every twist or turn down the stream and at every ford I am amazed at some new detail. Kenny and I want to bushwhack down the gorge to the point where the water goes underground at least. We've come upstream so far, but it is VERY rough. That end of the gorge is not as interesting, but it is still pretty.
Above: a vista of Big Piney
Above and below: amazingly clear waters and neat rock forms on the river bed
May apple blossoms were thick!
Glory to the Maker!
Finally we crept up the trail on the far side of the gorge to start the other leg of our loop today. The forest up top was green and the tiny leaves shivered in the branches high above. I saw some really pretty vernal iris and some fire pinks.
I also spotted some thick patches of birdsfoot violets in both white and lavender!
Above: Vernal iris
Above: Fire pinks-- we spied these on a funky little side trail Kenny wanted to check out. It was near the coolest rock house! Rock houses here in these parts are a dime a dozen.
Above: Birdsfoot violets
We made the rounds to King Mountain and the overlook. It was growing cloudy, but the view was still very pretty. Below: is the view from the summit
It had been so long since we rode King Mountain we got round to where we needed to turn and went the wrong way. Well, it wouldn't be a Dana & Kenny trip without at least one goof up. It was a short one, but if we had not taken a wrong turn I'd not have seen this:
In the middle of nowhere... is this abandoned house on King Mountain
The iris patch out front made it really neat. I'd love to know who used to live here and why they finally left.
Above: I also spied a very large pale yellow trillium on the side of the road near this tree.
Above: I thought of my friend Vickie Cunningham and how she sees hearts in nature in rocks and things.
We made it back to the truck in good time with no problems. It was a great first day and we fit a lot of fun into the hours we had. We made our way back to the campground at Maple Hill. It is always a great place for our home base when we explore and have our adventures. It is a good feeling to stay where you feel safe and welcome. It is well kept and the owners Ken and Valerie Edenfield never fail to exceed our expectations. They do a great job keeping the place just right.
Below is a short video clip of the lovely Big Piney Creek
Our first camping trip of this season was planned for Friday March 27 to last through Sunday April 5, 2020 at Standing Stone State Park. The covid19 pandemic ended up shutting down the campgrounds thus ending that possibility.
We realized private campgrounds were not closed, so rescheduled. Then things got real.. and the social distancing thing was called for. The governor finally mandated stay at home order for all non essential travel. We cancelled trip attempt #2. Finally now that things are opening up and getting better we decided try for a third time.
We waited til last minute because every time we make plans something fouls up and we don't get to go. Fortunately Maple Hill had spots and we were able to get a spot for Thursday through Sunday. We headed out Thursday morning and arrived just before lunch. We got set up and ate a quick bite. We gathered our things and headed out. We'd have to do something a little shorter since we only had half day left. It was finally decided we'd go over to Manson Road and park. We'd unload and go for a loop ride out Big Piney Gorge then around to King Mountain and back to the spot we started. It had been many years since we visited King Mountain. It had been a couple years since we were in Big Piney.
Kenny unloaded the machine let me go ahead and start doing what I do. I got out and started looking around taking pictures.
Daisy fleabane and some sort of vetch blooming by Manson Road.
Big Indian Creek flowing by the road. Occasionally you get a whiff of sulphur here. It is coming from methane gas. I saw a spot where crude oil was coming to the surface at the edge of the creek bank. This area is mineral rich.
Spearmint growing wild by the road. I had to crush some and sniff it. It reminds me of childhood and Mamaw's & PaPaw's house in the country.
Pinkest daisy fleabane I ever saw.
Abandoned home along Manson Road. Someone is keeping the yard trimmed. They have put out a garden in the back.
Kenny unloaded the machine let me go ahead and start doing what I do. I got out and started looking around taking pictures.
Above is where King Mountain Road comes back to close the loop we'd ride today.
I walked out Manson Road and took pictures. Eventually Kenny picked me up. I made him stop again in a few feet to allow me to take a picture of a spring on the roadside. I had already taken a photo of the old one below it. One thing that is common to Fentress County is lots of roadside springs. I know of at least three, and I'm sure there are more. One is on Manson Road. Another on Boatland. And yet another on Hwy 52--Livingston Highway. The reason for so many is that while Fentress county is rich in natural beauty it is very poor in other respects. It is very rural without a lot of infrastructure many of us take for granted. It lacks industry as a tax base and for job creation. Folks have to drive a long way to find work. Its population dropped 258 over the last couple years. Many areas don't have enough people living there to even get electricity. They won't run lines out to an area unless at least five homes are on a road or in a given area. Many folks do not have running water. Going to the spring to fill up containers is what they do for drinking water.
Fentress County Population 2020= 17, 959
Blount County Population 2020= 133, 088
Above: Old spring box rocked in and barely visible. It probably stopped flowing or got fouled by something.
Just a tiny bit up the road from the old spring is this fancy contraption. Now That is a SPRING!
As a kid we had indoor plumbing, but we also had outhouses still and they were still used. Additionally we had springs and still used them. The running water in Mamaw's house came from the spring.
As a person who was born on the edge of a changing time.... I look to spots like this as familiar and comforting. I have a soft spot in my heart for folks who live simply this way.
We puttered along Manson Road. The banks were loaded down with white and pink trilliums. Red trilliums. Prairie trilliums like little rosebuds. My eyes were hungry for wildflowers. I had been resentful as hell that the Rona messed with my camping trip and wildflower fest. Dammit all. So here I jumped out of the RZR and soaked it in. Kenny laughed. He was tickled for me. He enjoys seeing the wildflowers as well. The sight of natural beauty is very good for the soul. I clambered up a bank to get a close shot of an odd little white trillium.
It had an extra petal. It is pictured below.
I walked out Manson Road and took pictures. Eventually Kenny picked me up. I made him stop again in a few feet to allow me to take a picture of a spring on the roadside. I had already taken a photo of the old one below it. One thing that is common to Fentress County is lots of roadside springs. I know of at least three, and I'm sure there are more. One is on Manson Road. Another on Boatland. And yet another on Hwy 52--Livingston Highway. The reason for so many is that while Fentress county is rich in natural beauty it is very poor in other respects. It is very rural without a lot of infrastructure many of us take for granted. It lacks industry as a tax base and for job creation. Folks have to drive a long way to find work. Its population dropped 258 over the last couple years. Many areas don't have enough people living there to even get electricity. They won't run lines out to an area unless at least five homes are on a road or in a given area. Many folks do not have running water. Going to the spring to fill up containers is what they do for drinking water.
Fentress County Population 2020= 17, 959
Blount County Population 2020= 133, 088
As a kid we had indoor plumbing, but we also had outhouses still and they were still used. Additionally we had springs and still used them. The running water in Mamaw's house came from the spring.
As a person who was born on the edge of a changing time.... I look to spots like this as familiar and comforting. I have a soft spot in my heart for folks who live simply this way.
We puttered along Manson Road. The banks were loaded down with white and pink trilliums. Red trilliums. Prairie trilliums like little rosebuds. My eyes were hungry for wildflowers. I had been resentful as hell that the Rona messed with my camping trip and wildflower fest. Dammit all. So here I jumped out of the RZR and soaked it in. Kenny laughed. He was tickled for me. He enjoys seeing the wildflowers as well. The sight of natural beauty is very good for the soul. I clambered up a bank to get a close shot of an odd little white trillium.
It had an extra petal. It is pictured below.
Manson Road is a pretty drive, but it usually feels very long to me.
Thankfully the scenery helps ease the discomfort. Lots of place in Fentress County bring on that "You cain't git thar from hyere" feeling.
We made our way out to Big Piney Gorge and started down in it. It was mined for coal back in the day. Remnants of that activity can still be seen lying around. Mining equipment. Old roadbeds. Electric lines leading to nothing. Coal lies on the ground in places right at the surface. The trail down through this deep hole in the earth is particularly pretty. It carries a sense of loneliness and echoes of the past. I know of one family who lives on the slopes of this gorge off the grid.
They have thousand gallon propane tanks, generators, and back up generators.
People not to be trifled with.
Previous trips into this gorge and explorations of it led me to believe there were waterfalls that are undocumented. One will require rope to reach. We were able to find another one below it that flows on a different creek. There is yet another one that is a very small , wet weather stream. Beyond that we found another very scenic cascade. I believe we need to go back and explore after a good rain above that cascade for another falls.
above: small cascade above the other two falls.
Heading down the trail at one place it is very close to the edge. A thick row of trees barely permits a view down over a steep drop off. I knew that down in here was going to be the most likely access to the mouth of the gorge with the falls. I'd long wanted to walk into there and see what it was like. We'd seen a glimpse upstream. I wanted more. I walked around checking out the forest filled with grapevines thick as a man's arm. Covered in verdant moss and vegetation. Speckled with wildflowers of varying shades of pink and red, yellow, white, purple. The only sounds were the stream, the breeze, and the songs of birds echoing in the hollow. Good for the soul and easy on the eyes and ears. It washes away the filth of the world of news media, disease, and fear mongering.
I want to go back to this little gorge upstream and see if there is indeed more falls in there.
Below is a video of the falls:
We continued down the trail til the sight of Big Piney Creek came into view.
It is a stream that comes from way up on the plateau and flows then somewhere before it ever gets to the East Fork river it goes subterranean. It is very clear and the color of the water is tinted blue from minerals. I find myself sitting staring at it. Every twist or turn down the stream and at every ford I am amazed at some new detail. Kenny and I want to bushwhack down the gorge to the point where the water goes underground at least. We've come upstream so far, but it is VERY rough. That end of the gorge is not as interesting, but it is still pretty.
Finally we crept up the trail on the far side of the gorge to start the other leg of our loop today. The forest up top was green and the tiny leaves shivered in the branches high above. I saw some really pretty vernal iris and some fire pinks.
I also spotted some thick patches of birdsfoot violets in both white and lavender!
We made the rounds to King Mountain and the overlook. It was growing cloudy, but the view was still very pretty. Below: is the view from the summit
We made it back to the truck in good time with no problems. It was a great first day and we fit a lot of fun into the hours we had. We made our way back to the campground at Maple Hill. It is always a great place for our home base when we explore and have our adventures. It is a good feeling to stay where you feel safe and welcome. It is well kept and the owners Ken and Valerie Edenfield never fail to exceed our expectations. They do a great job keeping the place just right.
Below is a short video clip of the lovely Big Piney Creek
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