Hiking Thread

#127
#127
Are you looking for day hiking trails or long-term backpacking routes? If you are an adventurous soul, the Wonderland Trail forms a massive 93-mile loop around Mount Rainier (see The Wonderland Trail - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)). With respect to Olympic National Park, "Hurricane Ridge is the most easily accessed mountain area within Olympic National Park. . . . Hurricane Ridge has a number of hiking trails, from ridgetop traverses to steep trails that descend to subalpine lakes and valleys. Obstruction Point Road (weather and snow permitting, open from July 4 through October 15), branches off right before the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, and provides access to a variety of trails as well" (Visiting Hurricane Ridge - Olympic National Park (U.S. National Park Service)). Olympic is the one national park in which you can go from temperate rain forest to snowcapped, heavily glaciated peaks in a comparatively short distance (see Getting Around - Olympic National Park (U.S. National Park Service)).

As for the Smokies and Appalachians in general, give them their due. Erosion has taken a heavy toll over the course of more than 200 million years but some geologists believe that they rivaled the Andes in their heyday. How do we know this? The following data pertain specifically to West Virginia:

"In the absence of volcanic action or geology-deforming tectonism, coals buried in a normal geothermal gradient will achieve bituminous rank at burial depths ranging between 8,500 and 20,000 feet. As coal beds are buried deeper the volatile matter and moisture gets cooked away, leaving behind the fixed carbon. Very deep burial, and/or volcanic/tectonic activity, produce anthracite coals. Low-vol bituminous coals result when burial depths approach 15,000- 20,000 feet. These coals are valuable as coking coals used in steel-making. High-vol bituminous coals are formed at shallower depths-- 8,500 to 15,000 feet. These are used mostly for producing steam for electrical generation, as are the sub-bituminous and lignite coals which are found in other regions of the U.S.

. . . . The generally flat-lying bituminous coal beds which are layer-caked throughout the West Virginia coalfields were each in their turn deposited near sea level, depressed thousands of feet by accumulating sediments, and today rest at elevations ranging from 0 to 3,000 feet. By virtue of the "coal-rank thermometer" we know this region was elevated 15,000 to 23,000 feet by the end of the Alleghenian Orogeny. Erosion was contemporaneous, though the precise rates are uncertain, resulting in probable maximum actual elevations of between 10,000 and 18,000 feet. This physiographic Tibet known as the Allegheny Plateau was upthrust 250 million years ago from the great wedge of deltaic sediments deposited during the earlier Devonian and Carboniferous geologic periods" (Appalachian origins revealed through the "coal-rank thermometer").
 
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#130
#130
flyfishinvol said:
About the vertical mid-line and an inch off the left side of this picture you can see the spire atop Seeger Chapel at Milligan College. I spent many days looking up at these rocks from the baseball field there. A lot of deep dugout philosophical musings arose from daydreaming with Buffalo Mountain in the background.
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I look at Buffalo all the time. I actually use it for weather, as my weather comes from that area. If I can't see it in the summer it is getting ready to pour.
 
#131
#131
Rocky-Top 10EC said:
I look at Buffalo all the time. I actually use it for weather, as my weather comes from that area. If I can't see it in the summer it is getting ready to pour.
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I can relate to that, it was wild to see the entire mountain disappear when a storm was rolling in. It meant we had to race the front end of the storm to roll the tarp out on the field.
 
#132
#132
I went to Lower Higgins Falls & Martin Creek Falls yesterday. Great hikes but I am seriously out of shape...
 
#133
#133
smashmouth98 said:
I went to Lower Higgins Falls & Martin Creek Falls yesterday. Great hikes but I am seriously out of shape...
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Lower Higgins area is my one of my favorites. Many great hikes start there. There are a few other falls above lower Higgins falls off you continue up the trail. There is a smaller falls below Higgins of you walk to the base of Higgins, cross, and hike down the creek a short distance. You can also access the rocky fork area from Higgins which is by far my favorite hiking in the region.
 
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#136
#136
flyfishinvol said:
Lower Higgins area is my one of my favorites. Many great hikes start there. There are a few other falls above lower Higgins falls off you continue up the trail. There is a smaller falls below Higgins of you walk to the base of Higgins, cross, and hike down the creek a short distance. You can also access the rocky fork area from Higgins which is by far my favorite hiking in the region.
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How far is it from Knoxville to this area? I'm having trouble finding info online. Is there another name for the trail(s)?
 
#138
#138
kiddiedoc said:
How far is it from Knoxville to this area? I'm having trouble finding info online. Is there another name for the trail(s)?
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Its about 2 hours from Knox. Its close to Erwin TN. exit 40 off I-26. couple miles off interstate.


thanks AR


going to Margreet falls this week. close to Greenville TN.
 
#140
#140
kiddiedoc said:
How far is it from Knoxville to this area? I'm having trouble finding info online. Is there another name for the trail(s)?
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Many of the trails through this area are old logging roads without names or at least without formal names. A USGS TOPO of the area (flag pond quandrangle I think) shows Higgins creek and the rocky fork area. Many seldom traveled logging rioters and footpaths run though rocky fork. The entire 10,000 acres have been dedicated as a state park recently but little has been done yet to market the area.
 
#141
#141
smashmouth98 said:
Its about 2 hours from Knox. Its close to Erwin TN. exit 40 off I-26. couple miles off interstate.


thanks AR


going to Margreet falls this week. close to Greenville TN.
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Great pics! If you go to Margarette falls, consider going on past to Baileys falls upstream. You can Google for good directions there.
 
#142
#142
flyfishinvol said:
Great pics! If you go to Margarette falls, consider going on past to Baileys falls upstream. You can Google for good directions there.
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Thanks. Bailey's looks awesome, hopefully the rest of the group wants to check it out. It says only .3 mile past Margreete.
 
#143
#143
smashmouth98 said:
Thanks. Bailey's looks awesome, hopefully the rest of the group wants to check it out. It says only .3 mile past Margreete.
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It's not very far, but I'm not sure what shape the trail will be in. Its been a bushwack in the past but may be different now.
 
#144
#144
Well we did Laurel Falls instead of Margreet. It was a gorgeous day. No clouds made for a difficult time shooting the falls. There were a lot of people on the trail. The hike back up was tougher than I remembered!!

Laurel Falls Little Jessie (8 of 16).jpg
 
#145
#145
smashmouth98 said:
Well we did Laurel Falls instead of Margreet. It was a gorgeous day. No clouds made for a difficult time shooting the falls. There were a lot of people on the trail. The hike back up was tougher than I remembered!!
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Great picture. Did you come in from downstream or above the falls?
 
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