Kyles Ford Falls and Elrod Falls

Pair of daylilies growing by the road

Kyles Ford Falls and Elrod Falls 

Kenny & Dana Koogler 

Tues. June 4, 2018

Kyles Ford Falls 

   We had a chance to get out for just a short day trip together.  I don't know why, but I just had a hankering to do something completely different.  I wanted to see some area we had never visited before.   I did what I often do to figure where I want to explore.  I got on the internet and began
surfing for information. Usually something will capture my imagination and inspire me to go
in one direction or another.    I felt a pull toward rural isolation.   I wanted off the beaten track.
I wanted seldom seen.   When you pick totally unfamiliar areas you run the risk of having the trip turn out very sucky.   I knew my poor spirit was not going to bear up to sucky right now and
neither would Kenny's.    I put a lot into the digging.   I found enough little visited waterfalls
and spots in the Rogersville, Hancock County area that seemed to fit the bill.   Kenny was agreeable.
The drive was not bad at all. Mostly interstate and the rest beautiful rural routes.   We were able
to get there from home in an hour and a half. 

    While digging for spots to visit I ran upon a website for River Place on the Clinch.
I had long wanted to go snorkeling in the Clinch River around its shoals.  It is a very clean river in
Tennessee. It is home to many species of freshwater mussels and types of fish that don't usually live
in our area.   I found the web site for River Place to be really helpful.  It even had maps on it.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Kyles Ford Falls listed on the map!  I had never even heard of it.  I checked the map out and then compared it against known waterfalls listed in that area on Tennessee Landforms. I figured it was possible it was a known falls being called by a different name.
It didn't take long to realize it was a new, unlisted falls.   That discovery removed any lingering doubts or ideas of changing trip ideas.  We had to go! 

      Another exciting possibility when visiting a totally new area is that we may end up
wandering around our butts to get to our elbow.   You know us by now dear reader......... we like
pain and suffering so trail confusion or "We're LOST" is always fun!  (NOT!)
Sure enough we managed to score one for TEAM LOST today.  Not knowing where to go we foolishly followed the Tomtom letting it lead us.  It took us on some of the most God forsaken
roads you ever saw in your born days.   We are used to rural isolation, but this was really out there.
Finally we got turned round and headed back along the Clinch River figuring if we kept going east we'd soon be in Virginia.  If we headed west......... we'd soon intersect a larger, more traveled road.
We came out at the Kyles Ford Bridge.  I recognized it from the photo I'd seen of it. I like old bridges too.  I use BridgeHunter.com   to help me when planning trips.   We headed toward the bridge.
Beside it sat River Place on the Clinch. It was lunch time so we decided our trip would start there.

 above: Kyles Ford bridge.  If you go looking for the sea foam green version of it.. you won't find it. It has been repainted a more neutral color.  The decking is all removed as well.

 Above looking upstream on the Clinch River. Not going snorkeling in that today.

Looking downstream from Kyles Ford Bridge.  The water levels are high, swift and muddy from recent flooding.

 Above and below-- views of the outside of River Place on the Clinch.

 above and below.. sitting out on the porch of River Place for lunch.

 

Kenny waiting on our lunch order to arrive. He's taking advantage of the free wifi signal at River Place.   phone service is spotty at best thus not going to be  using Google maps on the road!  We've done almost enough wandering round for the day.
 
   We went in to River Place and were greeted by two lovely ladies who made us feel welcome.
We sat on the porch to eat lunch. It was a perfect day.   Lunch was nothing fancy, but boy was it tasty.
Kenny had a cheeseburger and fries. I had a BLT.  It was just right.   The other thing we got from the nice ladies was directions to get us oriented for our hike to Kyles Ford Falls.   It is apparently one of those spots well known to locals and fairly well visited.   It is on TWRA property. 
Two routes are possible to hike to these falls. One begins near the TWRA conservation center along the main road. The other is an obscure, but shorter trail that starts off Horton Ford Road beside a red barn.   Waypoint for Kyles Ford Falls  also a link to 

printable maps.  

 below is a shot of the red barn by the trailhead.  There are TWO red barns on this road, but only one of them is on the correct side...... the RIGHT side heading east.

The trail head has ample parking and is well marked.
The trail hiked from this point is shorter. The next time I'd like to hike in from the other way.  Looks like on Google Earth satellite view there are some historic structures along the path. The hike from here winds up the ridge and over and into the woods.  It has a few wildflowers along it, but is on the non descript side.  Below is a view to be had along the way.

View out over the rolling hills from the Kyles Ford Falls trail.
Finally the switchbacks in the shady forest bring you out at the stream and Kyles Ford Falls spilling down the mountain.  A fellow on Facebook said his mom's people lived up on that ridge and that the spring that forms this falls was the drinking water source for their family!  I found that interesting and heart warming.  Nothing like hearing from the folks who lived there!

Below is a short video of Kyles Ford Falls.  It is not the most spectacular falls, but it is pretty and
had plenty of water flowing today.   The hike back to it was easy.


We enjoyed the falls and the cool shady woods around it before we hiked back to the jeep.
The day was growing ever hotter.

  Elrod Falls 

  We  headed back out Horton Ford Road and across SR 33 the Kyles Ford Highway past a crumbling down brick school and lots of derelict houses.    The Clinch River was on our left nearly the whole way.   Once we got to the intersection with SR 31 we took a left and headed toward the community of Treadway which is the closest named place to the falls.  The falls is situated in a community park. Parking is provided and is ample.  They have a couple picnic tables and a pavilion, but there are no facilities here.   The picnic tables and pavilion both look like they've seen better days.   We got out and there was only one other vehicle at the trailhead.   The walk to the falls is 0.1 mile or less.

The stream on the way is remarkably clear and full of small scenic cascades.   Lush green ferns grew near the trail.  We saw the man and woman who belonged to the car.   The rocks around the falls are sloped and very slippery. Kenny was having to be extra careful because the sensation and strength in his left leg and foot still were not normal.   Elrod Falls is astonishingly beautiful.  The water is clear, but also has a slight blue green cast to it when it forms the plunge pool.     I waded around in the water cooling off.   Kenny stayed on the opposite side. The couple we saw told us how to reach the upper falls and said there was a rope to hold onto, but to be careful that it was steep and very slippery.

 Above is the main drop of Elrod Falls.   You can see the greenish tint to the water.

   Below is a short video of it.

   We were not 100% certain we were going to climb up to the next falls.  I wanted to very much, but it wasn't worth Kenny getting hurt.  I helped him steady himself on me while he rock hopped the stream to get across below the main falls.    Once over there he could take a closer look at the climb and decide for himself what we'd do.  He got over there and was checking it out while I finished taking photos,and  soaking in the beauty of the falls.   What a special place this is.
I looked up once I packed my camera away only to find Kenny hooting at me from way up high.
He was fine! He'd gone ahead and come back for me!  He was actually helping ME with the climb.
Pointing out better holds and approaches.  He always wants to manage me and sometimes I am awfully glad he does.   This was one of those times. The rope was stout and reliable, but the rocks were super slick. Some of the steps up were rooty and far apart.    It was a very short climb though and once past the brink of the lower falls we were at the upper!  It is even prettier than the lower.
It has a very cobwebby appearance. I think the rock there is tuf.. or marl. It is rock that forms from plant matter absorbing minerals from the water.  Eventually if it absorbs enough minerals and the conditions are just right it will become travertine which is harder stone.
Tuf is crumbly.    I stood for a long time photographing the upper falls and just enjoying its beauty.

   We were growing tired and had an 1.5 hour drive home.   We began our climb back down.
I had to really take my time and that turned out to be a good thing.  On the climb down I could see a little girl in the plunge pool swimming with a pink inner tube.   I got closer I could see her father and mother.  I looked at the man and he smiled up at me.   All the Jesus bumps raised up on me.....
I got a good look at all of them.  They were melungeon.  Local folks with that same mixed race heritage as me.   The woman looked like my mother. The man looked like the men in my family.
The  little girl looked like my mom when she was a child.  He stared at me and I at him both of us just grinning.   Something passed between us.  I think sometimes when we are near our own kind we just know. They smell right.    I was extra glad to have come here.   I wished I had not waited so long to come.   Yet I am very glad to have finally visited. 

        Below is a short video of the upper falls.  

Three Fire Towers and Joe Mill Falls

White Milkweed on Clinch Mountain, TN 

Three Fire Towers and Joe Mill Falls 

Kenny & Dana Koogler 

Tuesday June 12, 2018

Pictures are here: 

Cumberland Mountain Pix

Joe Mill Falls waypoint on Tennessee Landforms

**Edited to Add-- as of July 30, 3025 I heard from a reader who says the Little War Gap Fire Tower is private property and off limits.  I am sharing that here to prevent anyone from getting in trouble or promoting trespassing. I do not know if the situation has changed since we were there or if it was always such?  I will say that the trail was signed very well as part of the old Trail of the Lonesome Pine".  As such we believed it was accessible to whomever cared to visit.  If that is not the case then or now it would go a long way to discourage visitors to remove any signage, eh? 

   Kenny and I had such a good time on our first trip to Hancock County that we turned around and went back  the next week.   It was so much fun exploring in a new area for us. It was also extremely pretty.  We just couldn't believe how pretty it was , and that we had not come to visit sooner.   The little corner of East Tennessee almost at the Virginia state line is exquisitely beautiful.   It is rich with history as well as natural beauty. It also is a great place for solitude.

You won't see nearly the hikers to even well known places that you would in the Smoky Mountains area.    

        I had been so thrilled at the finding of an unknown falls in the area and being able to add it to the Tennessee Landforms database. I was also captivated by the incredibly clear spring waters that form the falls in this area.   When you can look down into the stream and count each pebble that is some clear water!    We had seen one interesting lookout tower on our travels.  We had finally figured out how to access it.  I did some additional checking and learned that there were quite a few more in the area.  Some of them were really cool looking.

We found enough to fill the day and probably overflow it. 

    We managed to avoid the dumb navigation mistakes of the previous trip.   It made the drive much smoother and we wasted less time.  We stopped at Little War Gap where SR 70 cuts through the mountain just past Bean Station heading toward Rogersville.    We pulled over at a gravel spot along the road.   A gate lay just to our right and lots of litter around.   We got out and started looking for our path to the Little War Gap Lookout Tower.  It sits perched atop the mountain on a rock outcrop.   It is visible from Google Earth Satellite view.     The path to it
was not hard to find, but while it is traveled, you can tell it is not heavily used.    It was very skinny and unmaintained.    The forest was pretty and green.  It smelled sweet and fresh.  
I never did figure what that heavenly floral smell was, but I enjoyed it.  I saw some type of new flower for me.    It was tiny and white and reminded me of stitchwort.  Don Hunter finally ID'd it for me. It is Southern Rockbell.  Wahlenbergia marginata.  

Narrow leaf Houstonia.. or bluets Houstonia tenuifolia 

Path to the Little War Gap Tower.  

  The hike up was short and steep.  It did have switchbacks, but it also had some blown down trees and one real narrow, slick, rocky patch to overcome.   It was an odd trail situation for sure.  It appears that the trail is at least partly maintained by someone despite the bad places on it.   Someone had notched out steps in the earth at one part.   

   We wound up and up until we arrived at the rocky summit where the tower is found.
It sits on a rock outcrop.  Behind the outcrop is one of the neatest watchman cabins we'd ever seen.  It was a true log cabin.   It is down behind a cliff.  

 Above: First glimpse of the watchman's cabin below the tower site.  
Below: You can see a little of how the cabin lies below and behind a rock cliff.  

Below: Another view of the rock cliff the cabin sits by. You can see two legged pigs have been busy with their spray cans defacing the rock.   You can also see in the bottom left of the frame more of where the cabin sits in relation to the cliff. 

  You walk on past the above shown rock bluff and then at the far end of the mountain summit, you climb up a rocky spot that looks like steps.   I could not tell if it was man made or if the rock formation was just as it occurred naturally.    
Climb up here





Then you have to duck under these limbs and work your way out the rock face.



Little War Gap Tower is sitting out in the very edge of the mountain.


Here is the view from the rocks. It is not possible to gain access to the cab of the tower for that vantage. All the steps are gone and the cab is in extremely poor repair.

Above is a view of the tower from down in the valley.  It looks tiny from here. 
Click the link to view a short video of the visit to the tower site.  Little War Gap Tower Video

Here is a link to where I nominated the Little War Gap Lookout Tower for the historic database.

  We enjoyed climbing around in the rocks.  We saw a box turtle. The view was blue and beautiful.
It is part of the Trail of the Lonesome Pine.  It was a trail that started to run from up in Kentucky to Clinch Mountain. It was abandoned due to problems with lots of tracts of private property and permission to access those.    The day was nice and cool up here and good for hiking.  We were tickled to finally have figured a way to reach this special place.   We hiked back down after taking in the view and continued on toward River Place on the Clinch.

     We had visited River Place on the Clinch and eaten lunch about a week earlier.  It was great.
Today worked out just right.  Between the drive and the short hike we arrived right at lunch time.
We'd sit out on the porch and have a meal before continuing our adventure. I packed a bag with stuff to swim and snorkel, but the mighty Clinch River was still flowing too swift and muddy to be any fun swimming or snorkeling.   

 River Place on the Clinch

Very tame Papa Redbird kept coming over to visit with me while I ate lunch with Kenny. Mr. Lizard kept checking me out too.  Yikes!  

  We  had a good lunch. I bought a River Place t shirt I'd had my eye on.  I left word for a lady who works there.. Cathy.. as to how to reach the Little War Gap Tower.  She and her hubby were interested in going.    I told her we'd figure it out and share the information.  

     Next we continued in the direction of Sneedville.  We were heading for Newman's Ridge and the lookout tower there.   I have been told my heritage is "melungeon" which essentially translates to mixed race persons.  I had decided I was not going to take the DNA test, but now think I should. My sister took it and it was fascinating.   It bore out the whole Melungeon thing.  Mixed race doesn't even start to describe. If my DNA test comes out looking anything close to hers.. which it should....... we got the most mixed up pie chart you ever saw.   Ireland, England, (Isle of Man) Scotland, Iberian peninsula (Spain/Portugal) the Caucasus Mountains, the Middle East are a few I remember.  

Some of these we knew.  Some we merely suspected. It was back to the source of it all.. Newman's Ridge.  I had not known previously that there was a lookout atop the pinnacle of Newmans' Ridge.

     We got through Sneedville and if you blink you'd miss it.  It is a tiny town.  We followed the road ever upward toward Newman's Ridge looming over the town.  It was quite pretty up there.   Lots of old houses falling down.   The fire tower road we needed was gated off, but the work arounds were wide open.  We took my jeep on her first challenging four wheel drive.  It pulled like a boss.  

We made it up onto the road and continued.   Not a lot to see up there, but a few old buildings. The fire tower is fenced in heavily.  The bottom rungs of the steps are also gone.   Bummer. We managed to make it up there only to be foiled by a fence and a damaged set of steps.  

Someone has put up a  cross on Newman's Ridge.   

Some sort of old shelter atop the mountain.

 

Fire Tower on Newman's Ridge

Only view we got from the top of Newman's Ridge was from part way down.  Looking out over a well tended cemetery.   

  While the view and the trip up there was a little disappointing it was still cool to me to finally have stood in the place where Vardy Collins and family lived.  We headed back down the mountain and out of Sneedville toward the next tower.. the Clinch Mountain Tower.  I had actually seen a photo of that tower and a photo of the view from up there.  I figured it must be more visited.  We found the road for it without too much trouble.   We followed it out past all sorts of homes. A couple of them were nice and neat.  Most of them were tumble down shacks.   The road dead ended at the tower site.

Clinch Mountain Tower.  Third and final one for the day.

Once again.. the tower was in such bad repair that climbing it was not possible.

Steps missing and tower in bad repair. 

We had to settle for a view from the mountain, but what a view it was!

View from the Clinch mountain tower site.  of course the site had the usual graffiti tags on the surrounding rocks.   Some litter too.  

Way off in the distance we could see this big blue green lake or pond in the middle of some white sandy looking area.  I later learned it is the Lime Pile Spring. I found info on Pinterest regarding this spot.  Lime Pile Spring Grainger Co TN  Click the link to see the image of the place. Not my image.

We enjoyed the view, but still had a couple other spots we wanted to visit.  The rest were waterfalls so we continued onward.

      We planned our route today very well.  We were heading back toward Thorn Hill and both waterfalls we were interested in seeing were located here.   We figured we'd visit these and probably head back toward Knoxville via Rutledge Pike.   We started off with Joe Mill Falls since that was the first one we'd come to.  It was not hard to find, but there are three or four drops to it and they are spread out along a country road.   The first two are easy. The third is hard. The fourth is easy.

All are on private property and it appears the owners don't mind you going but they do NOT want littering.  The day we were there I saw no litter.  They have constructed a small bench near the main falls.  The grounds are mowed and kept and it is a park like setting.   We visited the lower falls and took a few pictures.   We went on and parked at the boulders for the main falls.  We walked up there and I spent time taking lots of photos.  It was just too pretty for words.   Orange daylilies were all over the place, but I was able to compose a shot of the falls with them in the foreground.  It was a nice effect.    

Lowest drop of Joe Mill Falls

Main falls.. Joe Mill Falls with the daylilies in front. 

Below is a shot of the falls front on.  I'm standing in the water for this one. 

I kept fooling with the picture taking until I realized I was very hot.  That water looked so beautiful and clear and refreshing.  I put the camera away and just dived in.  It was a bit of a shock to the system, but that only lasted a second or two.   The water smelled fresh and sweet and clean.   I swam around for a little while. I swam up to the falls and rubbed the moss on the rocks. It was not slick, but felt like damp carpet.  The day was perfect and sunny with a brilliant blue sky.  It was one of those moments I'll treasure forever.  I flipped over and did the back stroke across the pool looking up into the clear blue sky. All I could hear was the water, and the birds singing.   The sun's warm beams shone down on me like a blessing from Heaven itself.   I was glad I did not hesitate to waller in the experience and enjoy it fully.   Kenny sat on the bench and refused to get in.  He doesn't know what he is missing.    Finally I climbed out and wrapped up in a towel to dry off.  I did not bother changing clothes or any of that nonsense.  I knew the other falls was just up the road a short distance.  I might want to get in and swim again.   

     We passed a couple cars on our way to the next falls.  We also passed some very rough looking trailer homes.  One had an above ground pool that had been let fill up with icky water and leaves. 

We scarcely had any room to pull off when we spotted the third falls.   It was really nice, but reaching it was an ordeal. The weeds were thick and included a lot of poison ivy and briars.  Lots of litter was down there along the edges of the stream.  The banks were steep, rocky and snakey looking.   

So close but yet so far.  Finally I was just determined I was not going to wuss out today.  I was going to reach the base or bust.  I'd chance it.   We climbed down and did not get hurt, but it was tricky.  

I did wade out into the middle of the stream to take pictures and look around.   My photos of this falls did not do it justice.  Lots of tiny fish swam round my ankles in the water and nibbled at me. 

Third drop of Joe Mill Falls.  Not easy to make it down the bank in Summer.  Climbing back up turned out to be no easier.   We helped one another and managed to get back up without incident. 

We did not tarry long at this spot.  The road is narrow and it is not a good place to pull over. You really can't get out of the road here.   A Fed Ex truck came flying past us on that road. 

We went up the road to the final drop.  It was small, but scenic.  I got out and went down there to photograph it.  I got in and swam one last time. It is not as good a swimming hole as the first place, but is deep enough to cool off.   

Fourth and final drop of Joe Mill Falls.  Nothing is near this spot far as houses or such.  we were past bad trailer land.  

  I was cooled off considerably and felt better.  I did finally change clothes and put something dry on. 

We headed back down the road past where the main falls was.  The area was crawling with people! Where as we'd had the place to ourselves... it was  now filled with people going swimming. Hard to find a place to park.  It must be a popular hang out.   

   We went back to the main road and tried to find the way to Cedar Creek Springs Falls.  It was supposed to be only 0.10 mile from the road across a pasture field.   We did not find it, because Kenny took a wrong turn.  He took us the wrong direction so we'll have to try that one another day.

We were growing tired and had a pretty good drive home yet.   We wrapped up our visit to this area and headed home.    On the way we passed a surprise! I had wanted to visit Tate Springs.  I did not realize we were going right past it on the way home.  It was pretty.   I would not make a special trip just to see this, but since we were passing by it was worth a side trip.  It was one of those places that people used to come to "take the waters". Therapeutic springs.   It was now a childrens home run by the church.  

Historic Tate Spring.

View out across the grounds from the top of the gazebo.  You can see the childrens school in the distance.  

Below is a glimpse of the pretty wildflower meadow across from the spring.

    We had a loooong rather boring drive home. Blaine and some of those areas are scenic, but the drive is still a bit on the monotonous side.   All in all it was an excellent day.    Joe Mill Falls is more than worth the trip.    I look forward to going back to find Cedar Springs Creek Falls.  I also want to find the falls along Falls Branch. It is another series of roadside falls that look like a sure bet.   Tennessee Landforms shows lots of waterfalls in the area and lookout towers.  You can easily put together a trip that should be enough to make it worth the drive and fill up your day.

Last of all is a pretty video of all the drops of Joe Mill Falls.  

New Years Day Ride Four Wheeling at Tackett Creek

New Years Day Ride-- Four Wheeling at Tackett Creek

Friday Jan. 1, 2016

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Buck

Jody

Dan M.

Dan K.

Keith

Michael

41 mile loop

Tackett Creek via Carr Gap and back.

Photos are here starting with frame 301 

Tackett Creek New Years Ride Pix

Tackett Creek Google Map

   We had such a fun day on Thursday hiking and exploring off trail and finding waterfalls. 

Kenny went with me to do what I wanted.  Today I joined him in going four wheeling with his guy friends at Tackett Creek.   I wanted to prove I could hang in there with those dudes.   They are a rough bunch of cusses, but very likeable.   It was a cold morning and the forecast did not call for it to 

warm up much.  They missed it by a margin and it was not quite as cold as predicted. No one complained.  We were to meet Buck at Cracker Barrel for breakfast before the ride so all we needed to do to be ready was dress, get a quick cup of coffee and out the door we went.  

  Somebody has been cutting ruts in the shoulder of the road and the bank.  Was like this when we arrived.

Kenny, CD, Keith and Michael. up on the ridge.

   
 I usually doze in the truck on the way, but I was too excited for that. I had not been to Tackett 

Creek in several years. I had a feeling this was going to be a fun day.    Buck had beaten us to Cracker Barrel by a few minutes.  We had a nice breakfast and then continued up the road to meet the rest of the gang.    It was a group of riders just the right size to be fun, but not too many to keep up with.   It was great to see the old friends again and meet two new ones!  We continued up the road to the pull off for Carr Gap access to Tackett.   A few minutes later we were under way to start our day's adventures.  

       Dan Koener lead the ride. I like his style.  He is very considerate of who has seen and hasn't seen what interesting things along the way.  They have all found some new trails to add to the Carr Gap area. We both loved the new trail we started on. It avoided the rough, rocky mess on the main road of Carr Gap.   Instead we were climbing winding all through a forest coated in rime ice.  It was beautiful.  Rocky outcrops were here and there.  Knife edge ridges to follow.   Areas that were like a roller coaster up and down.   A great start to the day!

Frosty forest early in the day.


   

 This is the scene at the first overlook today.  Pretty!

    Not much view down into the valley though.

         We stopped at the overlook which did not have much of a view, but the rime ice made the forest beautiful.  Dan K said he hoped it would last and it did for the majority of the day!
Next we headed toward the Sand Cave and the falls.   Keith was not sure if he had seen it or not.
Michael for sure had not seen it.   It is always pretty. Today the falls was running real well. We parked the machines and anyone who wanted to view it walked up the rest of the way.

Sand Cave Waterfall

      We looped back around to the machines after a quick stop at Sand Cave to see the falls. They were running pretty good.    We then continued to the next phase........... down the roller coaster steep trail into No Business Holler.  I don't have any photos of what that was like. It was too scary to get the camera out. I love it, but it is not the place to be messing around with camera gear.  I am including a photo of one of the waterfalls at the bottom. I am also including a short video clip of part of the ride.

           
           Waterfall beside the trail in No Business Holler.

         

          We stopped just on the other side of No Business Holler and ate lunch.  The stream is beautiful. Stream and Trail become one down near the bottom.  The waterfall pictured above fills the trail and there is another stream coming in from the opposite side which also floods it.  Below is a 30 second video of the beauty of the area.




Shows it better than the photo did how the area looks.  Lots of water today!

This overlook is where we went next.    It is pretty.  We did not stay long here.   Below this is a small box canyon where I have always been able to hear water flowing.  I would love to have the chance to go down in there to explore. I think there may be a waterfall.

Pretty cascade near the trail.  We next headed toward Hangover Rock.  We went under that and kept going past the hemlock forest deep and dark.  There was more water coming down that holler than I had ever seen before.  Nice ribbons of satin white and lots of cascades. The next place we went was sketchy.  We continued past all these pretty rock formations and big cliffs. Suddenly the awareness came over me of where we were heading and what was about to happen.  Hell's Canyon.  We were going UP it.   I had been down it once, but never up it.  I was still trying to come to terms with that when we heard a loud crash.   We stopped and CD made the sign for flipped over.   We were on a hill so Kenny stayed with the machine while I jumped out to go see what had happened. It was Jody.  He slid of a rock and rolled over.  It looked bad initially, but then the motor was running and then Jody appeared so I knew all was ok.  We'd get him out of that fix.   They set up a snatch block and got his RZR righted.   Some of them went on up but Kenny decided he was not going to even try it on that slick, wet rock.   I knew he would not want me to be in the machine with him.  I walked up to the top of the hill to wait on him.   I snapped a few photos as I walked up.

         

 Michael and , Jody helping and Kenny in the RZR winching up.

 CD, Michael and Jody, Kenny in the RZR

The bluff at Hell's Canyon.

 View from the next overlook.   Rime ice still remains on the top of the mountain in the distance.

 Buck in his bad machine!  It was sure good to spend some time with him today.  I had  not heard him call me Lil Gal in a spell.  ;^D

View from the overlook we visited after the Hell's Canyon debacle. 

  Today the sun finally did come out.  At times we were getting snowed on. Other times it was sleet pellets.  Sometimes later in the day the rime was melting and falling on us.   It was a weird weather day. It warmed up to about 40 degrees, but it remained cold and my coat felt good.  I was also glad to have worn my long handles.  The clouds lifted enough to get a view of Norris Lake in the distance at last.   See the image below. 

We hit up Woodson Arch next.  It was neat as always.  Michael in his machine. He had not been here before and seemed to like it.  

     We pushed on toward closing the loop of our ride today.  Back up over V rock.   Buck found an alternate route up it on the side.  It was fun.   Jody and Dan trying to get up over it with CD looking on.   It was damp and that made it harder.

Above is a clip of Dan making it up V Rock

    We continued out the narrow ridge once everyone was up the rock and back together.
It was a pretty point in the day with partial views down off the mountain.

 

 Waterfall near the end of the ride at Tackett Creek.  We did this loop backwards today.

I did something I had not tried before. I climbed down into the area around the falls to get some different vantage points and photos. It has rock shelters on either side of it.  They were fixing flat tires so I had plenty of time for what I like to do.

Finally we parted company down at the rail grade.   I misunderstood and thought that Jody, Buck, Michael and Keith wanted to go do some more riding.   Dan, and CD had damage to tires and wanted to get out as quickly as possible before they had anymore trouble.    We went with them along the rail grade and back up Carr Gap which is a monstrously rocky sumbitch.   What I had not been clear on? Buck, Jody, Keith and Michael were not going to keep riding.. they just wanted to go back the way we came in since it avoided the really rocky Carr Gap Trail.   I wished later we had gone that way.

It was prettier, funner and a lot less rocky.   A few teeth jarring miles later we were back at the trucks.   We said our good byes and looked forward to the next time!  Dan says we need to hit up the upper end and go toward Middlesboro for more scenery and less rockiness!  I'm down with that!

What a great day. The next morning I was stove up head to toe.