Skinner Mountain Four Wheeling 2022

Staghorn Sumac in Autumn

 Skinner Mountain Four Wheeling 2022

Sunday Oct. 30, 2022

Kenny & Dana Koogler &

Sharon McGee

Skinner Mountain Ride Pix Here 

   Sunday morning we woke to rainy, much cooler weather.  The forecast called for rain off and on today.  We needed it badly so I did not want to complain.   We gathered our gear up after breakfast and headed over to meet Sharon at her cabin.

We were not sure what we'd end up doing. We wanted to go riding, but the gloom and cold and damp made us wonder if it was going to happen?   We sat and visited a little and chatted.   The rain held off so we went ahead.   

     Being in Fentress County this weekend and spending time with Sharon brought me back round to why I fell in love with this place to start with.   It is quiet and beautiful.   It is a fascinating place with amazing geological features like rock houses, arches, caves, overlooks and waterfalls.  The Spring and Summer wildflowers here are abundant.   It is one of the places my muse called me to find.

Boy am I glad I listened.    Skinner Mountain and I have a bond.  It keeps revealing various parts of itself to me.  It keeps telling me secrets. I reciprocate by continuing to come back and appreciate it and guard its secrets.   It is one of my special spots on the planet.  Here for me the history is almost palpable.   I am not sure what hits my heart chords about certain places, but I think it is the spirit of place.   The spirit of Skinner Mountain is quiet, tranquil, isolation, solitude, and  nostalgia .  It echoes back all the way to the time when the Cumberland Plateau was a sliver of island surrounded by the great sea.  Back to the eons of water and wind that eroded these deep hollows and caves and arches.  Back to the days of boat building on the mountain and waiting for it to "come a tide" to be able to take the boats down river to Nashville, Carthage, Celina and beyond.  Back to the days of Ed Choate's ancestors including his father living out their simple existences on the slopes farming, hunting, worshipping and keeping watch for forest fires. 

  It is a deep, ancient spirit of both joy and melancholy and being stuck in the past as time marches onward.   I can relate to that.  I admit I treasure it to the point I have spent some time worrying about it being abused.  Finding the "off ramp" to Frank's Flume in such a state the last time we rode here was upsetting.  It was deeply eroded, slick as snot and unsafe.    It is not an area that will hold up to heavy use by the masses.    I was dreading what we would find.   

     

   We learned a couple things this weekend that were useful information.  We though the road up the mountain belonged to one of the residents which was fine, but it turns out it does not.   It is actually one of the Fentress County roads that just doesn't get tended to. Probably because they don't have the money to repair it.   It has gullies and deep ruts down it. Erosion is a big problem.   The road up the mountain is still rough and rutted, but in no worse condition than it has been.

    Yesterday we learned that the trail along the ridgeline and down was in good shape.   Today we would see what the rest of the mountain was like?

    We wanted to visit the Rat Castle up top.   We went up to the ridge and found the pull off for the arch.   We walked down over the bank to see it.   It is a fun butt slide down into it.  A tree has fallen on it.  The laps of the tree is directly atop the center of the arch.   It looks rough.  It isn't as pretty since that fell on it, but the arch remains undamaged by it. 

Below is what it looked like before the tree fell

Below:  Kenny and Sharon ahead of me sliding down to Rat Castle's front door. You can see a little bit of how the tree is down over the middle part of the arch.

    

    The Rat Castle is an arch that has some cave like features.  It has historic carvings there that date May 9, 1898.  There is more carved, but I cannot make it out clearly.   It has a couple skylights.  I think it gets its name from the shape of the rock and how huge it is.  Also the fact that wood rats use it to stash nuts and food and build nests beneath it.   Today we walked around it more than we have previously.  It is quite large.  

  Below: Kenny looks out one of the back doors of the arch

Below: a hole in the support for the arch

Below:  I am outside the back door looking over my shoulder.

Below: We walked all the way round Rat Castle today. This is the east end of the massive rock formation. Look at all the holes in it! You can walk beneath that lip all the way round that curve where it dead ends.

Below: Kenny spotted this neat little rock house adjacent to Rat Castle. It is nothing spectacular. It is not a cave and doesn't still "go".  It does have a spring flowing out of it!  

Below:  the historic carvings on the rock

Below is a short video that illustrates what it is like at The Rat Castle than a photo can. 

  While we were finishing up exploring Rat Castle the rain began.  We made it back to the RZR and got in. It provides some protection against the rain, but not a lot.   I thought we might need to leave as Sharon did not bring her rain gear.   I was tickled to get to see the Rat Castle again.  About the time we got out to the intersection the rain let up.  Kenny stopped and asked us what we wanted to do? 

Sharon indicated she was fine and let's go on while the rain was stopped.

We continued down into Lost Cane.  It is a sinkhole basin in the depths of Skinner Mountain.  It contains many wonders. My muse is leading me to different areas drawing me ever deeper into the mountain.

Above: This rock formation is the size of a house. It sits by the trail heading down into Lost Cane.   We go down into this big hole sometimes to see waterfalls when they are flowing.  

   Lost Cane  sits at the heart of the mountain.  It captivates me.  Riding back there toward Frank's Flume one passes many side hollers that are as deep and narrow as the Dimholt Road mentioned in Lord of the Rings.  These hollers are veiled by trees and brush, but during Spring you can glimpse waterfalls cascading out of them.  I cannot help wondering what other secrets they hold?  More caves? More falls? More beautiful and rare wildflowers?  I do know that I will heed the siren song that calls me to explore .

  I see old road cuts and side trails leading off from the main trails we usually travel. I make a mental note of each one. Each one represents a future trip possibility. I pray I never lose the thirst for adventure.   

     We were pleasantly surprised to find the trails in excellent condition. I was seeing water breaks cut! I was amazed.  The trail had been groomed and maintained apparently for a recent dirt bike race.   All the way down to Frank's Flume we found the trails not worse for the wear, but better!  No downed trees. No erosion!  No waterfalls today either.  Driest I have ever seen it down here.  Even holes of water that I thought flowed perpetually were dry today.    Frank's Flume was still running though barely.  It was still pretty and we still enjoyed it. It was bonus to find the trails not as I expected, but the exact opposite!

Below: the Off Ramp at Frank's Flume has been cleaned up and is now much better!

Below: the barely flowing Frank's Flume

Below: The trail down in Lost Cane heading to the flume.

Below:  The trail at Frank's Flume.  If you look closely you can see black pvc pipe extending out of the ground. It runs a long, long way. Comes out clear down at Bill's Creek.  I have no idea what purpose this pipe was supposed to serve? Possibly water from the spring?  Not sure.  I wish I could find someone who knows the history of it.  

  Below: Riding along on the way out of Lost Cane I looked to my right and saw this scene.  I must find out where that goes?  It heads toward what was today a dry creek bed. I have seen the time that creek was flowing with water. 

       We asked Kenny after Frank's Flume what he wanted to do to make the return trip part of our ride today? I asked him if he was going all the way through to Bill's Creek out that rough scudder?  He indicated no, he wasn't quite up for that today, but we'd go down to the end of Lost Cane and turn left and start up the trail that brings you back out up top. It is a good trail or usually is.  It is a fun one that is a very steep, rocky, challenging climb.   

      We found that despite the groomed trails today no one cares about or uses the trail as it continues into Little Saigon and out to Bill's Creek.   This is where we began to encounter difficulties in the form of many downed trees and deep ruts.Too wide to straddle. Too deep to sit down in and ride without turning the machine over on its side. We'd be spending the afternoon winching out continually.

     Kenny cut a good many downed trees and moved them.  It began to rain on us again in earnest.  

Below is a photo of him out cutting trees and limbs out of the way.

Below: Just another pretty vista down along the trail. This is about where we turned left and began our climb back out of the Big Hole.  

  Today was hilariously funny.  I thought I remembered which way we needed to go and would freak out when Kenny disputed me.  Sharon was freaking out also. "Oh! He's gonna kill us!" We'd turn and back up and go around huge boulders to make a hairpin curve.   I had forgotten all these dark necessities.   It was like experiencing it all for the first time again consequently.  A thrilling roller coaster through a copper beech forest.  We'd be going along and the light would change to the prettiest russet hue.   We'd stop and just turn the machine off and look and listen to the quiet.   It was like something out of a Fairy Tale. 

   We spotted an old tractor tire and the cleat of a bull dozer down in Lost Cane near its end.   The old hog pen building was smashed to smithereens. All that was left was one lonely wall.     Little Saigon today was its usual inscrutable self.  Mossy and deep green and mysterious in the forsest. Looking like the ruins of Ankor Wat centuries from now reclaimed by velvet green moss. 

Below is a photo of part of Little Saigon's mounds that look like ruins. This photo was obviously taken during a Spring trip. 

  We made the super sharp  turn to start up the mountain again. It sits by a deep rut and makes turning tricky.  Kenny is good though and we made it.  Not without cutting some more trees and some more colorful narrative by me and Sharon.

  With the turn made and the climb begun it was full throttle to make the climb. The trail goes up by a dry, rocky creek bed to the right.   It is not getting much use and had a fair number of downed trees making difficult.   At last we topped out and were now on the hip of the mountain.  We entered one of those russet woods and just stopped to enjoy it.  More tree trimming.   Finally we emerged at the shoulder of the mountain and began the climb to the ridgeline.   Pretty the entire way.

Above and below : rust colored woods

 Once we gained the ridgeline and the main trail we turned and began heading down.  It was foggy now.   Skinner Mountain looked like one of my Granny's old velvet patchwork crazy quilts.  Rust, maroon, gold, hunter green, red-orange, interspersed with gray fog. 

Below is the scene with the fog and the gray trees

  We made it back to Sharon's cabin a bit on the wet side and somewhat dirty, but happy.  We were all hungry.  I had a gift card that was for The Steel Coop given to us by Sharon and John two years earlier.   We knew they were open so we went for a late lunch/early supper.  We drove over to Livingston and enjoyed a fantastic meal there.   They honored the gift card despite how long ago it was issued! They are awesome!    It was a wonderful time of catching up with a great friend.

I felt myself recapturing a little bit of my soul I had lost.   I regained inspiration and curiosity and fell back in love with an area that has become part of who I am.

       I do not know what the future holds, but I won't exclude the possibility of either moving to Fentress County or at least having a get away place there.  If the Evan's house ever comes up for sale that will be my sign that it is time.  

      I am already looking forward to the Spring and taking Sharon to see all the glorious waterfalls and wildflowers down in there!  Heck, I'd like to see the place in the snow sometime!  Who knows what may be out there for me to find.

Below is a video of the highlights of our ride today. It was beautiful and fun and I needed that.