Tioga: Tivoed

What a wet month April turned out to be! Usually the wetness of the quarter month brings flowers with due process, but this year a deluge. Flooding, property damage, homes lost, lives changed. I saw Nolin Lake State Park submerged and several other state parks threatened. Forget the hiking stick. Where are my oars?

I’ve been busy leading and taking hikes over the past month since the end of the Unbridled Adventure Tour. I found the Bluffs Campsite waterfall at Mammoth Cave National Park. Finally. I showed off a Warren County wilderness to some folks from SKYe Magazine. I dropped and destroyed my camera in a cripple creek. Still haven’t recovered from mourning. Celebrated my nephew’s first birthday and hung out with my mom on her day last week. So much activity that a blog got neglected. Hey, hike before write, right?

Thus, a Tivoed hike. I took a trip to Tioga Falls a couple of months ago that I never got around to mentioning. Western Kentucky, bless its heart, bats zero for waterfalls, and north central Kentucky is not far behind. Except for Tioga. On the Fort Knox Military Reservation near West Point is a faded obscure sign that reads “Bridges To The Past.” Drive to the nearby parking lot and see railroad trestles high above you. Venture into the woods and you’re in for a surprise.

I had made the trip from Bowling Green via 101 and 259 north to Leitchfield, then east on the Wendell Ford Parkway to Elizabethtown. Seeing that 31W was listed as a “bypass” I took it and unknowingly landed square in the commercial strip of E-Town. Ten million stoplights later I looked over at a pawn shop sign that read “Gold City.” “Gold City? Why’s it called that?” I wondered. I remembered a half mile north. There, in the distance, sat the key building in an old James Bond movie. The United States Gold Bullion Depository. Impressive enough to do a rubberneck on the highway.

Not much further north and I was parked and trail-hiking. Vegetation had still yet to show itself in the trees. The sky was a perfect rendition of blue. Winds cooperatively calm. I meandered for a mile, crossed a railroad track and meandered some more. I saw some folks standing near a creek and asked “How much further to the falls?” They pointed directly to my left. Whoa.

Tioga was in early spring runoff mode. Prime time to chase any waterfall. A double barrel shot of water blew out of the hillside and generously cascaded several earthen stairs before finding the creek I was standing beside. I took multiple pictures from different angles and caught myself staring more than once. The style of waterfall and character of it is unique to any I’ve seen in Kentucky. Truly a hike to put on your to do list this summer, though maximum flow will soon be reduced if you don’t go soon.

I thought so much of that waterfall that I drove to another nearby. Brandenburg boasted a waterfall they call Buttermilk. I had to see it. From West Point I took 1638 to a very old Main Street holding back an already swollen Ohio River. Several cars were parked at the trailhead. I started to walk a paved trail back to the falls and a lady’s little Chihuahua began to voice marked displeasure at my presence. Now, I believe that all dogs go to heaven. But there is a very special place reserved for Chihuahuas. For five seconds I ceased to be an Adventure Rep. I gave the woman a sharp look for such bad usage of a good leash and continued to the falls. Not as big as Tioga, but then, not much else in Kentucky is now that I think of it.

Back to real-time and another blog soon. Till next trip…



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