A Little Hike
October 13th, 2008 by Larry D. Burton
This was suppose to be an outdoors weekend with my oldest son and my dog. The plan was that I would drive up to Chattanooga on Friday morning and he and I would get someone to drop us off on Jones Gap Rd. where the Cumberland Trail crosses Hwy 111 and we would then hike to a campsite below Perkin’s Point spend the night there and hike on through to Retro-Hughes Rd.
He had to work Friday and a meeting was scheduled for Friday after lunch that I really needed to be involved in so we went to plan B. I found out about a dirt road that would take me in real close to the Cumberland Trail at a section I was particularly interested in from Retro-Hughes Rd. I would drive up Saturday morning and we would park my truck out on this road, hike in to the waterfall I wanted to see and photograph and then hike back down to the campsite below Perkins Point. The next morning we would just hike back to the truck and go home.
He not only had to work his day off, he had an extra long day. He works second shift and he didn’t get into bed until 4:00am Saturday morning. He bailed out of our hike.
Actually, that was okay too. My dog, Sammie, and I just decided to hike to the falls. It’s called Imodium Falls and from what I understand it was named that by some kayakers. Little Possum Creek is usually navigable by white water kayakers during the spring and some of those thrill seekers were the only ones to see this waterfall until the CT was opened.
Sammie and I had a blast on the trail. This was the first time I had been able to take her with me on a hike and she did great. She stayed right with me the whole trip never getting more than 100 yards ahead of me or behind me and staying within twenty feet of the trail.
Since it was just the two of us we didn’t stay overnight. After leaving to go back we stopped back at my son’s house and then I went over to my dad’s house. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with my father in a while so I ended up sleeping over at his house. Both Dad and my step-mother fell in love with my dog. My dad must have walked her five times while I was there. All in all this was a very good trip back home.
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Beautiful pictures, Larry. I like the one of Sammie, the Intrepid Trail Dog the best.
I miss being able to hike in the wilderness, or even rough trails. My knees have aged much faster than the rest of me. The Riverwalk is more my speed nowadays.
Thanks, Felix. Sammie had a blast and I’m looking forward to the next opportunity we have to get back out in the woods.
I completely understand about the knees. I was very concerned whether I could manage this hike with my knees but I managed much better than I could have hoped for. The shortcut I took to intersect the trail caused me much more concern than the trail itself.
The trail is in very good condition. Yes, it is uneven and nothing like walking on the river walk but it might surprise you how easy it is to walk. Why don’t you and Barbara take Lucy up to Signal Point and give the Cumberland Trail a try? Starting from there should be easy enough to head back if the trail is too rough.