Red Ash and Turley Four Wheeling to The Flame
Saturday Aug. 27 2022
Dana & Kenny Koogler
30 mile ride approx.
We found we had a rare weekend free to do something we wanted to do.
I had only been riding at Red Ash and Turley a couple times. It had been forever since I was there. Rumors have been circulating that there are plans to cap off
The Flame. I had seen it once, but decided I wanted to go again while I still could.
You never know if these rumors are just gossip or if there is some truth to them.
It didn't take much convincing and Kenny agreed to go. He was not the most familiar with the trails, but he had Mike Smiddy's tracks and maps from Tackett Creek Mafia. He had used those successfully back in Spring to navigate.
We set out on what promised to be a beautiful late Summer Saturday morning.
We packed us a lunch and planned to have fun. The original plan was to come in from Huntsville and down Titus Hollow to see Asher Branch Falls, Adkins Branch Falls, the three falls on Duncan Branch. We figured we'd go over toward Montgomery and see The Flame and try to see Puncheon Camp Falls and perhaps try to find Wheeler Falls.
We did not go far before realizing that Old Hwy 63 that we thought would take us where we wanted to go is gated. In its place is Titus Hollow Trail. Kenny went a good ways on it before suddenly realizing it was heading for the Sand Mines and over some really rough trail sections called The Dragon's Back and the Widow Maker. Neither sounded like something I wanted to do. He did not want to tackle those today on a ride with just us. Plus we weren't heading in the direction we were aiming for. We turned around and headed back toward Highway 63. We needed to take another entry point further out that road.
Titus Hollow was pretty today. It was shady most of the way and cool. Red dirt, blue skies, sunshine, a nice breeze, and green leafy trees are a fine way to spend a Saturday. We also saw quite a few pretty late Summer wildflowers.
Above: Titus Hollow trail and lots of mud holes, but they are far better than being dusted out!
New York Ironweed's deep purple frills, tall wands of pale pink Joe Pye weed, shrubby seedbox little yellow polka dots, lots of deep yellow orange partridge pea, pink chinese bush clover, blue chickory, and red cardinal flower. The ditches were full of both the crimson orange blooms of spotted jewelweed and pale jewelweed in its buttery yellow. They had a rain storm the previous night and the roads were not a bit dusty. The swampy areas had dragonflies, croaking and hopping frogs.
We saw gold finches flit around and a big hawk. White blossoms on sagittaria in the ditches as well. Goldenrod and lots of giant ragweed lined the trails.
We got ourselves straightened out and heading in the right direction.
Below: sunny blue skies above us today
We finally arrived at sunny Wheeler Gap. We encountered a group of riders here who were stopped for a break. They were very nice. They were local folk and after talking to them thankfully we got a reality check. I had begun to have my doubts about the route selection Kenny was making. Upon talking to them we realized we needed to pick a different and shorter way. It was a mercy. I could tell they were worried about us riding alone. I know the look of "I pity the fool" when I see it. We thanked them and said our good byes.
We went a ways further and stopped in a nice shady spot out of the way to eat lunch. We discussed what to do next? I told Kenny it was clear to me that we needed to approach from Caryville to see the biggest batch of waterfalls. We'd just concentrate on The Flame and Puncheon Camp Falls. If that went well we'd see about Wheeler Falls.
Below: Virgins Bower was thick along the trails today. It is a wild form of clematis.
We got to wide spot along the trail in a sort of clearing. There sat a couple in a side by side. We passed them and waved, but then Kenny realized they had a flat tire. He stopped and backed up. We talked to them finding out that they had tried to plug the tire unsuccessfully. The hole was large. They had rented the machine and the rental place was on their way to bring them a new wheel and tire to make things right.
Since they did not need our help we continued toward the flame. We came to an intersection of a side trail and something in the brush caught my eye. I had Kenny stop and back up. It was a bridge! Matter of fact it was an abandoned railroad trestle. It was the Southern Railway branch that went from the Dean coal mines to Scott County. It ran along Roach Creek. I figured out the little side road or trail was one of the roads into the former mining community of Dean.
Below: Through the vegetation of Summer you can just make out the moss form of a railroad trestle.
Below: a more zoomed in view of the old bridge
We made our way down toward Montgomery and turned left to follow Roach Creek and Montgomery Fork up toward the flame. We saw a lot of the old railbed along our route. We also saw two additional trestles. One was very hard to get a clear shot of in Summer so I did not try. The best one is shown in the image below.
Montgomery Fork and New River were low water in most places. We did see one particularly pretty spot on Montgomery Fork. It is shown below.
The Oryx maps of Mike Smiddy showed a nearby waterfall on a side trail. It was too close not to at least go have a look. Before long we arrived at a drop off on the left and a wet rock. The waterfall was pitiful today. All it needed was water!
Before us was a large group of riders one of whom had a broken tie rod. They were working on fixing it to limp back out of there. They were the nicest folks from Brevard, North Carolina. We visited with them a bit. Then since there was nothing we could do for them we headed onward.
We soon came to a large pond surrounded by grasses and cattails.
A young man went fishing in this pond while we were there. He caught some brim and sun perch. We visited with his Dad who was staying in the area for the weekend from the suburbs of Atlanta. Nice people. We ran into Adam and Lexy, the Michigan couple who had the flat tire. They got repaired and back out on the trail. They made it to the flame! We chatted with them and enjoyed getting to know a bit more about them.
Below: young man fishing at the wildlife pond by the flame
Below: The Flame.. a methane well that is uncapped and burning. It gets extinguished periodically and must be re-lit very carefully! We were glad we could see it again. It was extra nice that there was no trash lying around as we saw the first trip!
We asked the gentleman from Atlanta if Puncheon Camp Falls was accessible. He said no machines, but it would not hurt to walk up there. We said our goodbyes and went onward toward those falls. We crossed a stream and neared the point where the trail was posted. Have to walk from there. About that time the side by side went to making this horrible noise and shuddering. We both had eyes big as saucers. We were riding alone and a long way back in there late in the evening.
Neither of us wanted to risk it. Kenny checked for sticks and objects the best he could out on the trail. Nothing. I remembered how my jeep acted when I got a rock under the skid plate. I thought my transmission was about to go out!
$110 later at the dealership and a medium sized pebble was the trouble. I happily paid it and rejoiced that I did not need a new transmission! The sound the RZR was making reminded me a lot of that jeep incident. Still, we did not want to fool around and be stuck in the mountains with a broke down machine.
On the way back toward the truck sometimes it made the noise.. and then it would quit.
Below: Lexy, Adam and Kenny
Below is a video of the muddy Montgomery Fork
On the way back down the mountain we stopped to take a photo of an odd sight.
Down over the embankment hanging up against some trees was a white Ford expedition. The suv was wrecked and just left there. It had been partially stripped of various pieces. Kenny was of the mind it may have been an insurance scam.
I don't know, but it sure looked like it was a wild ride!
We made it back to the truck without any trouble. We did not hear the bad grinding noise but one more time on the drive out. Turned out at home Kenny checked the machine and found a rock lying up in the works of the RZR against the drive shaft. Thankfully it is going to be okay.
I got a whiff of hickory smoke barbecue on the ride out to the truck.
I started checking to see where we might stop for a bite on the way home?
We ended up going to Coal Creek Smokehouse in Rocky Top. It was pretty good.
Kenny had eaten there before with Buck and Jody. Below are several photos that show what it is like. We had a satisfying meal and went home tired, but happy. It was a bluebird day and we soaked it up to the fullest.
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