Four Wheeling With Gabe -- Tellico Plains

 

Scaly Blazing Star close up from along the road today

Four Wheeling With Gabe -- Tellico Plains

Dana & Gabe Koogler

Tues. Sept. 22, 2020

Pictures are here start with this frame and click right arrow to advance

   I wanted to spend some quality time with Gabe this week on a day when he did not have preschool.    I talked to him and we decided we'd go take a drive in the mountains.   Michael had told me I needed to bring Gabe down to Tellico Plains to see the pretty loop drive we'd done this past Spring.  I figured today would be a good day for it.   He spends the night at our house about once a week so I went to pick him up and brought him over to help me get ready.  He was excited to be able to go brrrrrmm out with Nanny and spend the night.  

       We packed up all kinds of stuff to play with and a picnic.   We hit the road and he did real well traveling to Tellico Plains with me.   He was hungry when we got to Madisonville so I pulled into Sonic and got him some tater tots as requested.

Once he was done eating we headed on down to Tellico Plains.   The day was warming up and sunny.  It was 70 degrees for a high today with a mild breeze.

 I promised him once we got to Witt Road I'd pull over and put his booster seat up front to let him ride shotgun.   He was thrilled.   I explained that we could only get by with this while we were way back in the woods where the law wouldn't get us.  It was because we would be creeping along and see little or no traffic that we could try this.   I told him once we got round to the Epperson church I'd have to put him back in his regular car seat.   He was good with all that.

Above: Gabe sits on a big rock by Conasauga Creek

           He liked riding up front with me like a big boy.  His favorite part of the experience was driving through the creek five times.  We had to turn around and do it again on some of the fords because it was such fun.   He also loved throwing rocks.  He tried putting his feet in the creek, but it had turned too cool for that.

He rapidly changed his mind and wanted me to help him get his shoes back on.

Swimming weather is over around these parts.  This time last year we were still swimming up through the second week of October!  Not this year.  

 

Above: cascade on Conasauga Creek

        The roads were lined with tons of goldenrod, purple asters, joe pye weed, purple disc sunflowers, downy lobelia, a little bit of cardinal flower now and then. 

Some white crownbeard, wingstem, white asters and boneset.   A few places we saw red velvet points of staghorn sumac.   The woods had that smell of Autumn. There is a sound too of crickets chirping and the insect world letting you know the weather has changed. They are wrapping up their business for the season.  

Above: low water levels on beautiful Conasauga Creek. Lots of good throwing rocks. 

    We had to fix a lunch on the backpacking stove.  Gabe always loves that.

I could tell when he started urging me along that despite what he was saying.... he was growing tired.   It was a big day of adventure for my little man.  He got to Epperson church and I pulled over to put him back in his car seat.   He did not argue about it.   He got comfortable with his blanket and a sip of some milk and was conked out before I ever got to the end of Hotwater Road.   Nanny wore him out.   He slept most of the way home.   I think he woke up about Greenback.  

Above: the reknowned rock thrower. Someone has dammed up the creek.  Twernt us.   

    It was a fun day.  I enjoy this little fellow so much.   Michael came over this evening with Papaw for supper with me and Gabe.  My 11 year old grandson love his heart.   He told me he came over to play and visit because he was a little sad. His girlfriend broke up with him today.   He grinned and said Oh well... it's middle school. It's going to happen."  I know he was a little hurt over it.   I'm glad that at age eleven he still seeks comfort from us.   It makes me feel needed.  It gives me hope that we can remain close.  I hope to always remain close with my grandchildren. All of them.   

White asters

Cardinal flower

Creek ford #1

Above: Gabe throwing more rocks at ford #4

Ford #4  is very pretty where Fleming Creek comes in to the road.

Purple asters.

Above; an unexpected find... scaly blazing star!

and last but not least my favorites.. purple disc sunflowers!  

Here are directions for this trip 

    I'll see y'all and write up a storm when I get back from vacation.  

 

New York Ironweed closeup 

Grotto Falls  2020

Kenny & Dana Koogler 

Saturday September 19, 2020

Hike distance 3.25 miles round trip

Pictures are here

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Grotto Falls on Tennessee Landforms 

  The first time we ever hiked to Grotto Falls was March 1997.   It was the first hike ever in the Smokies.   Back in those days if you came to the Sugarlands Visitor Center there were huge wall panels up that had photos of the various area waterfalls on them.  Grotto Falls looked intriguing and a check of the guidebook  and map showed that it should be a moderate 3 mile round trip hike.  We hiked here and enjoyed it very much.   I remember I was wearing bib overalls a short sleeve shirt and work boots.  We have hiked to it half dozen times since then. 

We have hiked it from the trailhead up to the falls, up the Roaring Fork above Grotto Falls off trail to Twin Falls, Dome Falls and across the summit of Mt. LeConte and down Alum Cave Trail.   

         The most recent hike to Grotto Falls for me was six and a half years ago when we took the grandkids here.  I was carrying Tessa on my back half the trip. Crystal carried her the rest of the time.   It was crowded, but we had fun.  

       The changes we've noticed are the numbers of people hiking.   The trail is now an interstate highway sized compared to the single wide track that used to exist.  It is now far more eroded and galled out from many years of over use.   We moved to the area in December 2001.   We have grown less and less fond of hiking in the Smokies just because of the traffic and the sheer volume of visitors.   We spend an increasing amount of time in other areas.   Today we decided to take a chance on a hike in the park.   We reckoned without one thing.  It was rod runs in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.   It was also done on a Saturday which was foolish.  

          We got up and left early enough to get a parking place.   We arrived around 9:45 a.m. to find the parking lot already full.   We had to drive down the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail at least an extra 0.20 miles before we found a spot to pull over that was safely out of the road.    We gathered out gear and set out as quickly as we could.  We wanted to get up to the falls to try to get photos and see it before it got nerve wrackingly crowded.   The trail has been improved upon making it easier to use, but ugly.   The hike up and the drive around the motor nature trail were pretty in that goldenrod, white and lavender asters, pale jewelweed, and great blue lobelia lined the trail and the road.  Now and then we saw pink turtlehead flowers.    The forest was pretty.  There are still some huge trees in the woods.

      The people on the trail were for the most part friendly and pleasant.   

Our plan was to hike up to the main falls then continue on to Upper Grotto Falls. It is only 0.25 miles further, but it is off trail.   Slow going.  It occurred to me this morning laying in bed that I wondered if we'd even be able to make that part of the trip?   The former off trail routes have become hindered and much more difficult owing to the large numbers of downed hemlock trees.   We'd find out soon enough.

          We arrived at the falls after the trudge up the hill.  At least the hike is merciful in that it has some level spots for you to not have to work so hard at steady uphill the whole way.    The lower falls came into view.   It was very pretty.

We pressed onward toward the main falls because that was crowded and it would get worse as the day wore on.    The falls was gushing mightily.  You can walk behind the falls as the trail continues behind it and on up the mountain to the summit of LeConte.   Roaring Fork is the stream this lies on.   It is one of the steepest streams in the park. I cannot remember now if Porters Creek or Roaring Fork is number one steepest, but they are both steep, flash flood streams. Porters Creek has more reputation for flash floods than Roaring Fork.  It washed the big bridge out this year from that very thing.  

           

        Below is Grotto Falls from the near side in profile.

 

A picture with no people in it. You have to be quick!

Above: view from behind the falls 

Above: silky water shot of Grotto Falls. I only got two photos today of the falls with no people in them.

         We enjoyed the falls as best we could.  We went on up above the falls to try to reach Upper Grotto Falls.    The way up to it is worse than it used to be. It is packed down, slick as snot, and right from the start you begin to see downed massive tree trunks.   We crawled under two right at the start of the off trail portion.     

   Once up top we had perhaps fifty feet of not too bad on stream left.  

We were then forced to begin fording the creek back and forth.  It was quickly getting worse.   We came to a point where the terrain forces you into the stream.  

We looked and looked and could not see any reasonable way to proceed short of just getting in the stream and climbing the cascades.   Today it was 59 ° when we got up.  It was jacket weather, but of course I did not want one.  The downed hemlocks and increased amounts of rhododendron have made this even harder than it used to be.    The creek rocks were slick and dangerous.  Kenny was discouraged and so was I.  Despite our discouragement we both knew we'd feel a whole lot worse if one of us got hurt in the attempt.  We are not spring chickens anymore.

    I took out the GPS device and turned it on and tuned it to Upper Grotto Falls.

I had plugged the waypoint in this morning just before we left.  I wasn't concerned about finding it, but I just had this feeling we might need it. Kenny asked me how far we were from the upper falls?  I told him I believed we were 0.15 miles from it.  Once the device got its bearings and picked up the satellites I did a distance measure.   We were indeed 0.15 miles from the upper falls.  I was right on the money!     Finally we agreed we'd turn back.   If we ever attempt this again we need to go when it is hot and just get in the stream and wade and climb.   It is just too brushy on the banks now.  

     We worked our way back down toward the main trail and Grotto Falls.

Kenny helped me because I was nervous about falling.   By the time we got back down there I was sweating bullets from nerves.   A couple nice young men asked us where'd y'all go?  I answered them "not far."  and left it at that.   I was disgusted with the people at this point.   Now the throng of hikers was even larger.  We turned and headed back down the trail.     I won't say I'll not come back, but if I do it will be on a week day and very very early.   Bobby Shaw, do you hear me? ;^D

       I managed to get almost as muddy, wet and dirty as I did the very first time I hiked to Upper Grotto Falls.   I was so dirty then Kenny would not let me back in the truck.  I stripped in the parking lot and wore one of his shirts home.  Just a shirt and big streaks of mud on my face and leaves in my wig.   Down through Gatlinburg we went that day....... tay hay in da win  hin!  

        We had thought we'd go round the rest of the nature trail and take pictures and explore.  We thought we'd go get something to eat in Gatlinburg.  Oh how wrong we were on all counts.   By now neither one of us gave a flip about any of it. We wanted out of here and home. It hit Kenny that Rod Runs was going on.  We managed to take some backroads in Gatlinburg and cut off some of the sitting in traffic, but it still took us a long time to extricate ourselves from that mess.

We got home and had warm ups for lunch.  It was great to be home and quiet and away from the snarl of cars and people.   It was kinda a buzz kill to tell the truth. Better than last weekend, but still fubar'd.  

Above: Gary Clendenon id'd this as Carolina Moonberry.. they are highly poisonous! Good thing I didn't eat them. ;^D

Great blue lobelia 

Thistle bloom

Spotted jewelweed 

A pretty patch of flowers in Wears Valley blue lobelia and jewelweed

Below is a photo of the point where we stopped above Grotto Falls. It was very pretty.  We may try again one day, but if not I am not worried about it.   As jaded as I have grown with the crowds in the Smokies ... It just doesn't worry me anymore to do these over so much.  I'd do it for a friend.  

 Below is a video of Grotto Falls and the cascade above them where we stopped.

Woo Hoo Holler Get Away Week 2019

Blue Lobelia in bloom on Skinner Mountain

Woo Hoo Holler Get Away Week 2019

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Sharon McGee

Thursday Sept. 19 thru Wed. Sept.  25, 2019

Directions to Skinner Mountain's Bredesen Overlook 

Pictures are here:

Starting with frame 70

Skinner Mountain Pix starting with frame 533

Woo Hoo Holler Pix starting with frame 437

Fire Tower Pix starting with frame 151

   Our friends John and Sharon asked us back months ago if we could house sit for a long weekend Thursday Sept. 19th and stay through til at least Sunday evening.   They were planning a surprise 90th birthday party for John's mom in Florida.    We agreed to do it, and

the bonus was that the Cumberland Homesteads Apple Festival coincided with that weekend.

Once in awhile things we plan work out just right.      

     We were eager to get over there to enjoy the day, but  we did did not get the early start we'd hoped.   We were  two o'clock or better getting over there.   By the time we packed, made sure our house was buttoned up, did our grocery shopping, grabbed lunch we were far later.  

 We arrived a little frazzled.   Kenny has been working some funky hours.  He just wrapped up trip #2 to Miami on Tuesday.   He had to bring the crane home from that Hell Hole.  

We were both ready for some quiet.    

     We took time Thursday afternoon to ride up Skinner Mountain.   We had not visited the overlooks in a long time.    We went first to the Bredesen Overlook.  It is the official one on the south side of the mountain.   It was beautiful on the mountain top today.  Temperatures were cooler.  It was about seventy degrees and a nice breeze blowing.   Autumn colors were just starting to tint the leaves on the trees up here.  A few orange, yellow and fiery red leaves were around the overlook.      The area is very dry since we'd not had rain in twenty one days.

The view down into the valley was spectacular as always.   The rock here at this overlook is real knobby.   I made myself walk out onto it a little further to get a better view.    From here you can look out and see a rocky bluff and the river far in the distance.   You can see a road winding along atop that bluff.    We'd later find ourselves first at the base of that bluff and then riding the road across the top of it! 

   

 Above: The three photos above are the fiery Autumn colors appearing near the overlook

 Above: View from the Bredesen Overlook

 Sourwood leaves of red frame the view from the overlook

 Above:  An example of how rugged the stone is at the main overlook

Above: Kenny walks ahead of me down the path to the overlook

Click the link here for a short video of the view from Skinner Mountain Overlook

   I had wanted to visit the Stand Alone Overlook, but we did not bring a rope.   It is still a snaky time of year and I would prefer to grapple my way up that when the snakes go to bed.

We did ride round to the Mill Creek Overlook and take in the view from that side of the mountain as well.  

 Above and below.. views from the Mill Creek Overlook

Click the link here for a short video of the view from Mill Creek Overlook 

   Once we had checked out the overlooks we headed back out the mountain and tried a side path we'd seen on the way in.    We thought it might connect to another trail down in Lost Cane, but it didn't.  It was a Ricky Roysden dirt bike trail.   Very soon it played out and became so narrow we weren't going anywhere.    We went out toward the Woodland pond.  It is a small forest pond that has standing black water all the time.  I've never seen it dry completely up, but the water level was down a lot . 
Below:  a hazy evening view of the blackwater pond.

    We had a nice evening ride and headed back to the house.  I fed the animals and tended to them.  Once I had them settled I fixed spaghetti for supper at Kenny's request.   

           Friday morning we woke and decided to head east to hunt up an assortment of places.

We went first to try to find an abandoned railroad tunnel in Robbins, Tn.      

Last Fall we visited Tunnels 13 and 14.  Today we were hoping to see Tunnel 15.  We found where it is supposed to be, but it is down in a hole at one end.  You have to walk to it from the south end and that turned out to be more than we wanted to tackle.  While it is a very short distance it is head high weeds and briars.  You can't see anything through that mess. We will go back when it is cold and see it.  Houses lie in front of it and your approach options are limited.

       Seeing how that fell through we went next to the Grassy Knob Lookout Tower.   

We found it without any trouble.   It sits up with a beautiful view across the plateau.    It is in excellent condition and appears to still be manned.  It has communications cable running to it.   All outbuildings and structures are ship shape.     Cab was locked, but we went far up as we could and enjoyed the breeze and the view.  Off in the distance I saw a fellow at a house come outside.  He was in one of those motorized wheelchairs and just zipping along.  His dog was running after him barking like mad. It was a funny scene.    

 Above: Grassy Knob Tower under blue skies

 Above and below: rusty roofs and moss roofs are both things I like!

 Above: Far view from the lookout tower and below.. view through the cross supports of the tower at the view in the opposite direction.

   We headed toward Burnt Mill Bridge next.   I had read in a column by Ben Garrett in the Oneida paper that the streams on this end of the Big South Fork tend to run year round moreso than the ones on the other end.    I wanted to see Skull Creek Falls, Burnt Mill Falls and possibly Blacks Creek Falls.    We had a picnic at Burnt Mill Bridge trailhead.  They have vault toilets, several picnic tables, plenty of parking, and bear proof trash cans.   Clear Fork flows by and they have even re-decked the old Burnt Mill Bridge for pedestrian use.   From here Burnt Mill Loop takes off.   We ate our lunch and were treated to a concert by a young lady  who was with her boyfriend lounging by Clear Fork.   Her first song was Amazing Grace which was very pretty, but the next number was something country that was not as pleasing.  

We grinned at the singing.   They soon left.     We had the place to ourselves again.  We hiked the short distance out Burnt Mill Loop to look across Clear Fork to see if the streams were even flowing.  Had they been we'd have swam the creek or waded and gotten to see the falls.  As it turned out both were bone dry!   We will come back with the canoe and paddle the river when it is up and then we can take out and see all the falls.  It will be a fun day trip for the future.    

 above: new auto bridge at Burnt Mill

 Above: Clear Fork upstream of the old bridge

Above: beautifully redecked original Burnt Mill Bridge

   We did not know what we'd get into next.  Waterfalls simply were not flowing during this dry time.   Everything was dusty and it is hard to figure what will still be worth doing when it is like this.   We did stop by Rugby and the R.M. Brooks General Store on the way home.   It was nice.    

 Above: R.M. Brooks General Store in Rugby

Above: old abandoned house across from the R.M. Brooks Store

    Once we wrapped up our visit here we headed back to Woo Hoo.   I laid down on the couch and got comfy and took a short nap.  Once we got up and stirring again we headed out for a ride along the River Trail.   We tried our best to get Otey the dog to ride with us on my lap. He was NOT having it.     Finally we gave up.    We went up to the Tinker Dave Beatty cemetery.  

Then we went to the Choate Cemetery which is directly across the road from it.   Next we went to the River Trail. Instead of going toward Swift Ford as we usually do, we turned and went downstream toward Guy Choate's place.     We hoped we could go all the way through to Alex Stephens Road and make a loop back to the house.   We were not disappointed.  Though the area is dry this portion of the East Fork Obey river flows year round.  It is not undercut by caves like its upper reaches are.   Plus it is below the Big Spring so it is more constant. 

    The river was like an emerald ribbon winding through the forest.  The woods were quiet and deep green.  A faint tint of yellow and crunchy brown was coming to the forest.  September is the dying of the leaves and coming of Autumn colors.  The trail down in this area was incredibly pretty.   We soon came to a spot where the trail fords back across the river.  It doesn't have a name, but it is one of my favorite places along here.      The water was aquamarine and emerald and reflected the mirror image of the trees and gray rocks.   Far to one side the East Fork River was channeled tightly and curving along the bank.  

 Above: my favorite spot along this stretch of the river

 Above and below;  a little further downstream we saw these scenes of the beautiful green river

 Above: The trail comes down to the river which is now very narrow

above: The East Fork Obey River is cast in the gloom here in this spot

      The trail fords back and forth a couple times.  One of the last fords we came from creek left to creek right.  This time of evening the sun is sinking into the gorge illuminating everything and casting a pretty golden glow over the scenery.   Seeing the river turned to gold and the shimmer on the trees was really something magical.   

Golden evening light cast on the trees and the river

   Finally we were riding along the base of a rocky bluff.  The trail began to climb until we were up in the evening light and riding along atop the same bluff!  This is what we could see from Skinner mountain yesterday.   It would not have been as neat if we hadn't seen it from that vantage point first.  

   We rambled along past rural scenes of farms, crumbling shacks and fields ablaze with both evening light and golden rod intermingled with wands of deep purple.   The breeze was cool and we passed cattle and a few people on the back roads of West Fentress.   Neither men nor beasts seemed like they had any intention to hurry about life there in those humble corners of one of the poorest counties in Tennessee.   Jay Clark has written a lot of beautiful songs, but I could suddenly hear him singing my favorite one in my head.    West Obey perfectly captures the heart and soul of the area.    We are over on the East side today, but the feeling permeates the whole area.    We passed an abandoned old homestead by Alex Stephens Road.   Scenes like this can be found all over the Cumberland Plateau.   The agrarian lifestyle is unattractive to most as well as unprofitable.   People turn away from these areas in favor of towns and modern conveniences.    We made our way out to Glenobey and back Hwy 52 to the house.   

  

 Above and below: an abandoned house sits by Alex Stephens Road crumbling.  I love old houses like this.

Above:  Roadside fields full of goldenrod scepters and deep purple stalks of New York Ironweed.   <3 

  

        Saturday rolled around and we went to the Cumberland Homesteads Apple Festival as we planned.    I am going to write up a separate blog piece about that.   All our Saturday doings deserve their own stand alone blog.    Saturday was Apple Festival, Clarktown Springs, and the Stringtown Lookout Tower.   We also visited Rural King which has newly opened in Crossville.

We love us some Rural King.  Do not ever take photos in Rural King as it is verboten!  

   Sunday morning  we got up and I cooked us a very leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, cantaloupe, and toast.     We lingered over coffee and at last set out to see what mischief we could dream up for today.    I had been wanting to re-visit Garrett Mill to check out the late Summer wildflowers.   We headed there first.  It has been sold since I was there last.  I got the phone number of the new owner.   I made a quick inventory of the flowers which were even prettier than this time last year!  Water still flowed from the cave, but it was not much.     Large leaf grass of parnassus bloomed in big clumps all over the place.  Turtleheads of rosy pink and white were clustered in the seeps along with blue lobelia.   Tiny dots of deep orange from spotted jewelweed dangled like earrings along the road.     

 Garrett Mill cave

 Above: pink and white turtleheads

 Large leaf grass of parnassus above and below a close up of the bloom

 Pink tipped turtleheads

Spotted jewelweed dangling from tiny stems

   Once we finished here we continued driving Garrett Mill Road down toward Big Eagle Creek to where you have to drive through it.   It was pretty down there.  

Above: Big Eagle Creek littered with yellow and brown leaves.. the canopy still green.

    We continued just driving around enjoying the scenery.  We passed more abandoned houses and farms.   I saw what must have been an old store on a corner.  It had bars on the windows.

We passed the former Wascon factory.  It is back in the country by Old Eagle Road if memory serves.   We  later passed the new Wascon facility in Livingston.  They did not close up shop.. they just moved to bigger and better spot.   We saw lots of natural gas and oil rigs out in the countryside of Overton County.     I think that is what Wascon does.. the energy industry.

 Above: tank from what may be natural gas well

 Above: Abandoned house on a backroad near Big Eagle Creek.  This house had buzzards roosting on it last time through here!

This building must have been a store at this location and with the barred windows.   

I'd love to know what the name of it was if anyone knows??

    We wandered round "lost" until we finally came out on Hwy 111 again.   We headed toward Livingston.   We thought we'd have lunch at The Steel Coop.   The businesses I thought I'd like to visit in town were not open for another hour or more.   We noticed Fred's Pharmacy was closed up! I shopped there this past Spring.  Now it is gone.   One of my favorite shirts is from there.  It is my Bless Your Heart t shirt.    We stopped by the Steel Coop only to realize it is closed on Sundays.   We were fresh out of ideas.   I suggested to Kenny that we just keep going and head to Cookeville.  He agreed.    We stopped for lunch at Rib City. They have delicious barbecue.     Will definitely go back.  Friendly service.  Great food. Decent prices.   Good family atmosphere..   Cookeville is an odd mixture of conservatives and liberals.  I heard some conversations around me that were astonishing in a good way and funny.   I was astonished at the conversations coming out of mouths that I would never have expected to espouse their various political views!  Just goes to show you can't pigeon hole people.    

    We went by the Goodwill store next.  We came away with some great finds.  A new Rubbermaid tea pitcher for $2.99.   A tripod to replace the one I lost ... like new for $3. 99

A remote control car for Gabe for $5.   Got that thing home and chased the dog with it.  Too funny.  He started off chasing it then it turned around on him!   We visited Serenity Thrift and it is very nice. Will go back, but we did not find anything we were interested in today.    We passed Hwy 111 Flea Market on the way there.   Kenny wanted to stop there on the way home so we did.   We were not exactly blown away, but we did like it and we came away from there with a gorgeous area rug for our downstairs tv room.   8' x 10' Mohawk carpet for  $135 and we love it.    Will certainly go back if we need rugs or crafts.  Lots of antiques.

            

    We were both tired.  Kenny had to head home at some point this evening though he did not want to.    We figured we'd best go back toward the house.    On the drive home he looked out into a field in the Alpine area.   He spotted a pair of chimneys in the field and wanted to stop to see them.  I walked out into the field to photograph the interesting old chimneys at the former home site.    They stand facing one other I am guessing they must have been at opposite ends of the dwelling?   Some large, pretty and very old dogwood trees still grew in what was left of the yard.  It is now a cow pasture.    Virginia pines were scattered in the field.     One chimney was clear but the other was a sight to see.  The entire top of the chimney was engulfed in strangler fig!     I took my photos and headed back toward the car.   I could hear a tractor and hear Kenny talking to someone.       I hoped we weren't getting fussed at for stopping to take pictures.     It was not the case at all.  A nice man was driving the tractor and got out to visit with us a little bit.   He was Kelly Paul who owns the place. He was stopping to warn us because he saw me in the field.  He has seen lots and lots of copperheads in there this Summer.  He didn't want me getting snake bit. Just said to be on the look out.   I never saw the first snake and that is good.   He shared the history with us.  He is a kindred spirit in many regards.  He is a farmer and a country boy.  He is a young married person with a family.  He recently moved back to live in his folks place the old Dugan Smith house.    The property included this field.    He said it was a good thing I stopped and got photos of the chimneys if I wanted them as he plans to tear them down during cold weather.  He is going to use the stones to put on his porch.  It will then match the stone foundation!    He shared with us all kinds of interesting tidbits of  history.    He asked me if I knew of Josephine's Journal?  I sure did.   He said she had written about the place in her columns!   

      

 Chimney #1 old Smith homestead

 Chimney #2 old Smith homestead covered in its top half with strangler fig

    Bottom left corner old dogwood tree of a very large size!  Behind it a huge Virginia Pine.  

  We finally made it home and Kenny stuck around until 8 pm.   I hated to see him go, but I was fine alone.   Sharon got home the next day.  I slept like a baby and used the first half of Monday to get some chores done.

            Sharon got home around one pm on Monday.   Neither of us was real ambitious.  We spent time catching up on each other's doings.      We took a drive out through the country.  

She took me back toward Alpine.   We visited the Dugan Smith house and I got some photos of that as well as a couple Civil War grave markers.  According to Kelly, they are not buried at the spots the markers are placed. They do not know exactly where the graves were.  He said he believes he knows where the men were buried and thinks it was in his yard.   He said he had been working and found two massive limestone rocks placed in the earth around his house.   He said there was no other obvious explanation for why those would have been put there.    He is probably right.   When the Sons of Union Veterans came and wanted to put the markers

with the graves he said leave them where the were.  

The graves  are those of one G.W. Threet and another Jesse Threet who were killed while serving in the Union Army. The markers say G.A. R. Veteran which stands for Grand Army of the Republic. I never knew that is what the Union Army called themselves. 

 Kelly Paul now lives with his family in the old Dugan Smith Place.  It was built in 1842 by slaves.  They made brick from the red clay soil right there in the yard.  You can still see the place in the yard where they harvested the clay.    It is one of the oldest homes in Overton County. Only the Officer Farmstead is older having been built in 1835 near Monterey.
Kelly told us the walls of the house are three bricks thick!  The house Kenny grew up in was from the same time period and its walls are FOUR bricks thick!   Sharon pointed out that in Virginia old houses of this kind are a "dime a dozen" which is true!  You see fewer of this type in Tennessee.   If you look at this and enlarge it you can see that the foundation stone is the same type used in the chimneys down the road.  Kelly will salvage those and repurpose them to go over the front porch. I would love to see it when it is finished.


 To Read Josephine's Journal entry on the Dugan Smith home click here 

 Union Veteran Graves left to right.  Jesse Threet and G.W. Threet

       Once we got done at the Dugan Smith house we doubled back to the cemetery of the same name.   It was right beside those chimneys I'd previously photographed.    The graves here are typical very old comb graves and some tabernacle graves like one finds on the Cumberland Plateau.      Some of the more interesting ones I saw were one that had a Masonic symbol on it and another had the Daughters of the American Revolution emblem on it.

Comb graves in the Dugan Smith Cemetery

 Autumn flowers at a comb grave above and below

 Hardware used to secure the ends of the comb graves.  A metal bar ran between the two ends.

 Tabernacle type graves.

 Masonic symbol on a headstone

Daughters of the American Revolution marker on headstone

**Directions to see the Dugan Smith House, chimneys and cemetery***

Hwy 52 outside Alpine, TN.. turn onto Bolestown Road.   The chimneys are visible from Hwy 52 easily.   The cemetery is immediately beyond the chimneys in the same field.  You can see it from Hwy 52 also.   The Dugan Smith house is on the right hand side of Bolestown Road about a mile from Hwy 52.   The Civil War Union Graves are on the left of the road directly across from the house.  Here is the waypoint 36.418705, -85.153846

     Once we finished visiting the cemetery we headed back toward the house.   Sharon stopped for me to get some photos of an old house we had passed. It is abandoned and rotting down.  It is one of those asphalt siding houses like my folks come from.   Uncle James and Aunt Virginia, Grandaddy Brooks, and Aunt Marie and Aunt Ethel were the last ones in the family living in that type house during my lifetime.      

Above:  Photo taken of the asphalt siding house from the back corner.  The front was so overgrown with weeds and small shrubs it was impossible to get a photo of it.   Hard to even get a decent view of the front which included some log structure.   

       Next Sharon took me down Riverton Road to show me  many of the crazy things she'd been telling me about for a couple years.    Riverton Road runs from Hwy 52 all the way out to Dale Hollow Lake.    All the years I've been coming out here I have not ever been to Dale Hollow Lake or driven this road.    It was worth the price of admission.   It is a crazy little road. 

Dale Hollow Lake was pitiful today.  It should be one of the cleanest, prettiest lakes, but today the dry weather and letting the water levels down for the season had it looking less attractive.

   

 Above: Riverton Road has numerous abandoned houses.. this one has a pair of mooses on the porch. Mooses is that a real word?  I think plural of moose is simply moose. I dunno.

 Above: Another quaint asphalt siding house abandoned with a pretty rose bush in bloom and a ground hog darting under the porch!

Above:  I don't know if this is a real grave marker or a joke.  It reads R.I.P. Zeke Hardy 1887-1928.  It will certainly get your attention regardless of being a gag or a real grave marker!  

 Above: Reminds me of my great grandfather's house.    Brown asphalt siding.

 Front view of another house sitting abandoned and decaying in rural America.

 Above: pretty view out across the plateau from Riverton Road

 Above and below:  an assortment of oddities assembled by a lady who lives along Riverton Road.   She cleans up trash and beautifies the world.  She had been putting doll heads and all kinds of funky stuff on her fence which is shown below.  Today for some reason all of it is gone!    We asked the mailman who said he did not know what prompted the change.  He suggested she might be getting ready to redo it.

       Finally we wrapped up our day and headed back to the house.   I fixed us chicken alfredo and steamed green beans for dinner.  Sharon whipped up the most yummy tossed salad.  

Dinner was great and so was the company.    

        We sat and talked into the evening.     We discussed plans for the next day.  We wanted to take the kayaks and go float the Calfkiller River and do some poking round Sparta.   We weren't sure that was going to work out since we'd have to have a way to haul the kayaks.  

     The next morning  she got the notion to hunt to see if John had taken both sets of his truck keys with him to Clearwater??   She came down with a set and tried them and finally got them to work.  She called him and he agreed to let us use the truck.  We two gals managed to load the kayaks up and tie them down securely.  No incidents whatsoever!   

     Tuesday we went and paddled downstream from Church Street to near Hwy 70.  

The Calfkiller River is a pastoral stream.  Fortunately for us it still has plenty of water to make it a decent float trip.    The current was barely perceptible.    The water was green and cool.  Fish and turtles and water birds were seen.  Rural scenery was what lay along the river banks for the most part.   It was very pretty and I enjoyed it.    We saw a few other folks out on the water today.   Couple guys fishing.    It was very serene.   Paddling back upstream was easy also.    We were growing hungry for lunch.  We loaded up the kayaks and set out to the Fragrant Mushroom next to do some shopping.     I got me a coffee mug they made right there at the store.  I also got a craft paper book for a bargain price.  I am hoping to do some mixed media art projects.   I liked the store a lot and will definitely go back.  

     Next we had lunch at Jack's Barbecue. It was delicious.  It is a Christian establishment.  The jukebox has only praise and worship music!  That was a first for me.   I like that type music a lot but I am a fan of honky tonk tunes on the jukebox.   I just bought a shirt that reads 

Support Your Local Honky Tonk!  

Below are a few photos of the Calfkiller River

    Once we got done with these activities we headed down toward Lost Creek so Sharon could see the falls.  She had never been.  I was in disbelief at how little water was coming over the falls.  I had never seen them this low.     They are still pretty and now she knows how to get there.   We'll have to go back.   

 Lost Creek Falls at VERY low flow

 Dodson Cave across from Lost Creek Falls.
Merry Branch Falls had no water at all on it.

Rock overhang above Dodson Cave. The road runs right over the top of this

Above: The bluff to one side of Dodson Cave.  A gray curve flanked by green forest!


   We were growing tired and had a drive home yet.   We had talked about going to Dog Cove, but by now I had lost all interest.    I had been dealing with a sinus headache all day that had never let up.  We made it home and I took something to get my head opened up.  Sharon went to visit Russ and Robin up the road.   I rested and the dog lay down next to me to keep me company.      I finally felt better and got a shower which improved my outlook even more.
Sharon returned from the Brown's home with an original Robin Brown painting for me!  I was amazed and just loved it.    I will post a picture of it soon in its spot at my home.   I have the perfect place for it.    I met Robin and Russ several years back.  She was a talented painter back then, but her skill is grown exponentially.  I think she is experiencing what artists call "un-bottling".  She has a bonafide studio now I must go see.  She has a style I call folk art and I love it.    Her sense of color and composition are very pleasing to my eyes. 

Below is a collection of Robin's paintings in Sharon and John's home.  They are beautiful!

 John, Sharon and Otey along the East Fork River in Autumn

 Cabin at Woo Hoo Holler

 The fire circle with John sitting out there poking the fire.  Lightning bugs fill the air.

Above: The Evans Homeplace across the road from Woo Hoo..  the bank is a blaze of orange daylilies!  

     I was growing a little homesick for my own bed, Kenny, my grandkids.  I figured I'd get up Wednesday morning and head home after breakfast.  We had a few things to do first. 

I made us breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs with swiss cheese,  and slices of cantaloupe.  

  Then we we to the New Hope Cemetery on Little Crab road to put flowers on Ed Choate's grave plot.   It was Ed who brought Sharon and John into my life.   We lost him too soon.  

We went and dropped off a live trap at Lisa's house nearby.   We went by Russ and Robin's house to visit. I wanted to thank her for the painting.     They seldom go anywhere, but you might know I'd come by on the day they had gone out.   Oh well.. just one more reason to get back over there.     

     Thanks Sharon for a great time.   I am blessed to have you as a friend.   You are a generous soul and I love you.  I love John too.. and Otey and Coon.  

        On the way home I mailed a package at the post office in Jamestown.  

I also went by this old house I saw on Facebook market place.  It is Copperhead Crossing.. a former stop on the Great Stage Road.   It is at 4325 Chestnut Hill Road and its for sale.  

It was fascinating.  I am digging for history on it and coming up empty.   

It was a long drive home and I was glad to get back to Kenny and my own bed. I got Gabe the next day and kept him overnight.  Now I just need to see my other kids and grandkids.  

   

 Copperhead Crossing above and below.  If you know any history on it I wish you'd email me dkoogler@gmail.com

Below I leave you with a short video of the Grassy Knob Lookout Tower