August, the Dog Days of Summer...well what better way to enjoy them than at Cedars of Lebanon for the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club meeting, last weekend. This wasn't my first visit to this Tennessee State Park, that was at my last Chapter meeting back in January.
I must say that the weather, this summer, was better than the 2017 Summer Chapter Meeting at Nathan Bedford State Park. A year ago it hovered around 100 degrees. It also differed from my previous visit to Cedars of Lebanon as it was green, warmer and more crowded than winter. Friday is about socializing because there is only a small group.
Saturday is what I call my day and it started out with a short hike in the morning around the Cedar Glades. While I did this one back in January, it was raining, so the weather was better. Also, I had heard about the Tennessee Coneflower, a species believed extinct at one time, but on this hike, I got to see some. Oh, and there was plenty of fossils.
After this hike and a quick bite, it was off to do some spelunking. For those who don't know that is caving, which is something I don't have very much experience in doing. The first was led by Park Ranger Cody into the smaller Hermit Cave. It had some nice formations inside of it.
Later State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath (he also led the morning hike) led a hike into the longer and larger Jackson Cave. It is a quarter-mile of mud and muck to reach an underground pond. But hiking in both caves was a whole lot of fun.
I also got to see a feeding of the park's snakes, including an albino Corn snake named Butters. The evening was fun with a great meal provided by the Watauga Group. I even found time for a fire.
As always, Sunday was about the Executive Committee Meeting, it was again a good three days at Cedars of Lebanon.
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