Dayton TN Trip

Dayton TN Trip -Immodium Falls

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Mary Anne Brewer 

March 7- 8th, 2020

Pictures are here 

   We wanted to get out and do something in a different area.   Kenny had been working hard and while he wanted to get away.. he did NOT want to hassle with the camper just yet.   He talked to me and decided the most relaxing thing for him would be to just book a hotel and make things easy.      We booked a stay at
a nice hotel in Dayton.  We made plans to meet up with Anne Brewer to hike.
Originally we were going to hike to McGill Creek Falls.   Anne is getting over a broken femur.   She is doing great, but I sure didn't want to risk harming her.
Part of McGill Creek Falls hike is a bushwhack.   We figured that would be best left for another time.  Instead we went to another falls I'd long wanted to see... Immodium Falls.

   I had never hiked this section of the Cumberland Trail and was very excited about it.    Anne met us at the hotel and we car pooled to the trailhead on Saturday morning.  None of us had any dealings with this area.   We had some directions. Kenny and I had both studied the satellite imagery and thought we could do better than parking at the trailhead.   Everything comes with a price tag.

    We parked at a road before Retro Hughes trailhead.   The distance was shorter, but the trade off was having to hike down a slope that was ugly and made for unsure footing.  It was clear cut by loggers.   We had to take our sweet time getting down that hill without killing ourselves.     No one got injured thankfully.

     Once down to the bottom of the slope we entered the woods and picked up a road that was actually part of the Cumberland Trail.  Before too long we reached a trail junction and entered the woods and found ourselves on a true trail.

   We all agreed it was one of the prettiest sections of the Cumberland Trail we'd ever seen.  Interesting rock formations, pretty cascades, deep hemlock woods. The weather was pretty and the skies blue.    It was warming up to be a perfect day.   We had stopped to get us a sammidge from Subway.   It was Anne's birthday today!   
Above: pretty hole of water and cascades on Little Possum Creek
         It was great spending time with her and catching up on her doings.
She is always a pleasure to hike with or do anything with.  We missed Vickie, but maybe we can all do something together before long. 

    It seemed like no time til we were at the brink of the waterfall on Little Possum Creek.. aka Immodium Falls!

 I wanted to see this while it was still Spring because the water is so blue!


 
   Above Anne and Kenny in the creek
Below: rocky cliffs along the hike




    We visited at the falls and took in the beauty of the aquamarine waters.
It was really worth the effort to see.  We sat down at the falls and ate our lunch.  We saw a couple other pairs of hikers throughout the day. 

      We began our hike back. No wildflowers out yet.  We were dreading the trudge back up that hill.   It was tough, but not as bad as all that.  We took our time and managed to make it back.  I'd not do the hike that way again. I'd just hike from the regular trail head.   This area is ugly from the logging.

      We finished up our day and took Anne back to the hotel.   We parted company.   We had not done nearly what we expected today, but it was nice just the same.   We had been overly ambitious, but it was just talk.
     Back at the hotel we got cleaned up and prepared to go have dinner.

   We tried a new place to us.   Jacob Myers on the River Restaurant
It was very good.  It was busy and the wait they said would be long.  45 minutes or more.  We decided to try to wait it out since there was not a lot of other choices.   We went outdoors and strolled along the river on the greenway.  It is a beautiful area.  Dayton is a very nice little town. 
 We were seated in twenty minutes!  The food was good.  It is a great place to eat with quite a varied menu.     I'd definitely go back again. It would be nice to try eating outdoors on the patio when the weather is good.  The scenery there next to the river is just the best.

       We went shopping at Burkes Outlet and I got a new purse.
We checked out a couple other stores, but didn't have a lot of luck.  Dayton's shopping options are limited.  We went back to the hotel to relax.

     We got up next day and ate breakfast in the hotel. It was really good.
They had a super clean kitchen and dining area.  They had pretty much anything you could want.   It was just right.   We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

      After breakfast we went to try another section of the Cumberland trail.
We went up the mountain and started hiking.  It was pretty, but we were very confused.  We were trying to reach some obscure waterfalls we found on Tennessee landforms.   We searched in several different directions.  One we found, but it was pitiful.  Like a cow peeing down a flat rock.   The other we never found.  The overlooks were pretty. The scenery was good.  We finally gave up and headed out.  All we got out of it was some fresh air and exercise.  Still better than sitting at home.

      All in all our little get away was what we needed.



 

Below is a video of the beautiful Immodium Falls