Back In The Day Hiking & Hanging At The Sierra Club Chapter Meeting

This might have been a month back (that is why it is now a Back in the Day blog), but it is still worth looking back to the last weekend of January which was the quarterly annual meeting of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The winter edition of the meeting was at Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Middle Tennessee. Hosted by the Cherokee Group it is three days of food, hiking, and environmental work. On Friday and the way was a stop at Burgess Falls State Park with three waterfalls (Falling Waters Cascade, Little & Middle Falls) before coming to the massive 136-foot cascade, Burgess Falls. 

While I couldn't go to the base (the steps had been washed out by a flood), but the view from the overlook was spectacular and there was a beautiful waterfall rainbow. Oh, once I got to Cedar of Lebanon I had to build a fire that evening at the Group Lodge.

On Saturday it was a day of hiking, but first I had to help with making breakfast. Then it was on to the trail. First was the morning hike led by Tennessee State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath on some trails in the state park. We hiked a loop on the Cedar Run Trail. It was a nice two-mile through the Cedar Glades. 

In the afternoon it was across the street to a farm that the state recently bought. We first toured the old home and farm buildings. After, we took a loop hike around the property on old farm roads about three miles. After dinner, our speaker was Marge Davis who gave a talk on the merits of TennCan. 

On Sunday, I had to stay for the Executive Committee (Ex-Com) meeting while the lucky ones got to hike the Cedar Forest Trail with Randy. However, during the meeting, the Wood Booger was reappointment Sergeant at Arms. Overall, it was another excellent Chapter meeting protecting Tennessee.

Back On The AT To The Reborn Rich Mountain Fire Tower

Today, I hit the trail up to Rich Mountain and the refurbished fire tower. I am going to write more about it, but let me just say it is beautiful! The hike was just over five miles for my first Appalachian Trail hike since October. The weather was unseasonably warm for February and a far cry for a hike on the AT to Levelland Mountain I had on this very date five years ago. It was just a great day on the trail and I ended it with stops at Laurel Run Store and the Nolichucky Dam.

Wildlife: Birds of February

This is a feature I have wanted to do for a while, a wildlife blog. I think the reason I haven't is that I had these grand plans for it and it was just going to take too much time. Instead, I am doing a simple style one...less writing and more pictures. I am probably going to do the same thing with my wildflowers (more on that later). Anyway, these pictures came from the Cabin in Southwest Virginia and at the house in St. Clair. If you want to know what bird is what message or look them up it is fun. With that said,,, enjoy!