Archive for July, 2012
Blue:
The color of a bridge at Ashland that takes one eastbound over the river into Ohio.
Green:
The color of a different bridge that brings one from Ohio westbound back into the Bluegrass.
Black:
The color of coal, critical to the eastern Kentucky economy.
Brown:
The color of signage leading to Greenbo Lake State Park.
Red:
The color of my face after a couple hours on the water.
On Greenbo Lake
From Ashland and west on Interstate 64, a pull off at Grayson and up a curvy secluded road labeled highway one. A road wrought with covered bridges in places along side roads leading to Greenbo Lake State Resort Park. Jesse Stuart’s stomping grounds. I had included this park on the tour last year, and hiked the Tygart Trail when the weather was a little nicer. This day, the air had retained its hardheadedness with temperature readings near 100. No hiking today.
Instead, mom and I plopped down in a canoe and paddled about on the lake for a couple hours, admiring the view of the surrounding hillsides, deer grazing on the shore, and several blue heron keeping post for a possible fish dinner.
Thank you America, Kentucky, Parks.
Me: “It’s hot out here! I don’t even know why I do this stuff. I need to wait till October…”
Terry: “Ah, but don’t you just like being under the canopy of the trees and one with nature and all the beauty?”
Me: “Yeah, that sounds good on a Hallmark Card. Till you get out here in this heat!”
But all in good fun. I’m an Outdoorsman rain or shine. Just wish it would rain more.
Greenbo has some big plans up their sleeves that include an eventual zip line course linked by canopy walk in the trees, and scuba diving in the lake. Combine that with the fishing, boating, and hiking offered here already, and you can see why it has gotten a visit in two straight years of the tour. A great way to end what has been a busy week on the road and in the parks.
A tally of the whole thing in a day or two once I return to Bowling Green. Till then…
On the road again...
It would be a short drive to make up for the longer one of two days ago that took us from Pineville to the edge of Virginia. This time, we’d see a “Welcome to Kentucky” sign as we rounded a two lane road back into Pike County and a tree-lined Elkhorn City. After a few curves on highway 80 north, we would link up with fabled US 23, the Country Music Highway, busiest in this part of the state. Six lanes in places! Think of it as an interstate with stop lights. But a welcome sight after spending so long on the narrow roads of the past couple days.
Downtown Pikeville
We spent some time walking the downtown and visiting the gravesites of the McCoy family of the famed Hatfield and McCoy feud. Another feature we partook from an overlook high above was the Cut-Through, an engineering marvel that moved a mountain and a river to allow for expansion and flood control. City saved, city admired.
Wanting to move from Bowling Green to Pikeville right then and there, I knew I first had to go on with the visitation of the parks. To Prestonsburg. Dewey Lake State Park was created some 50 years ago and renamed in honor of Jenny Wiley, who was taken captive by Indians during the early days of settlement here in Kentucky. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park is a surprising paradise nestled in the mountains. It has every look and feel of a summer camp. I kept waiting for a whistling Hayley Mills to romp up a stairway looking for her twin a la Parent Trap. Seems every day is an activity day here, from star gazing to tie-dieing shirts to pontoon tours of the lake. Never an empty moment. The way a day at a resort park should be.
Dewey Lake
After the red on the radar succumbed to green and then bare, I set out on the Lake Trail for a quick two mile hike. A light rain still fell, but the smell is amongst my favorite after a downpour in the forest. A better hiking option would be the historically charged Jenny Wiley Trail which uses the same route she took to escape captivity, but on this day the 4.5 miler would wait for another trip as rain continued to threaten.
One unique feature of the park is the Jenny Wiley Theater located on the property, which has been putting on full outdoor musical productions for nearly 50 years! Mom and I were able to watch a very excellent presentation of Grease, live orchestra and all!
I am waiting to see if there will be a bugle call in the morning. Hoping to see some elk out and about.
Greenbo Lake is the final stop on the tour tomorrow. Till then…
Wait till October...
Day four of the Unbridled Adventure Tour, and a hike down to the river and back on the agenda. Believe it or not, I’m still looking at Pine Mountain. The same Pine Mountain that overlooks Pineville 110 miles west of here! It’s the Russell Fork that has carved a “break” at this point, creating the largest canyon east of the Mississippi.
This would be no easy hike to the bottom. It never is when you have to deal with a 1900 foot elevation change. It looked easy on paper, save for the squiggly line on the map that I knew would be a switchback. That meant an upcoming drop. And oh baby what a drop.
Signage at the trailhead warned of a four hour allowance for the four miles of upcoming trail. The experienced hiker that I am expected the four miles to instead take just over one hour, as most hikes that length do. I would be wrong.
Mom and I set out on the Prospector Trail to later junction with the River Trail, covered in rhododendron, ferns, and sheer rock cliffs. Trail blazes painted on rocks in places where a tree wouldn‘t do. Trail on the same rocks for several yards here and there. Lots of rocks, especially when staying alert for snakes! Honest to goodness, there were spots in the trail where I would cock my head to one side and think “really?“ And still looking at the ground to cover till the bottom. This is a national park caliber trail in a state park. Little wonder the original plan for the area sixty years ago was to make it a National Park. It has the overlooks, it has the whitewater, and by-golly, it has the hiking!
But instead of holding court as National Park, it can reign as big dog among state parks. In my six years of slogging, this series of trails has got to be one of the more challenging. All along the switchback down to the river from up top I wondered how in the world one could get back up the mountain. The map showed not another squiggly. It showed a straight line. Not good. Believe me. Not good.
Stateline Overlook
Once back up top near the Stateline Overlook staring back towards Pike County, we had the option of hiking the way back to the lodge via the Overlook Trail, but settled for a road walk instead, the last 1.2 miles on the certainty of asphalt. The water back at the room couldn’t have tasted any better. Four hours indeed.
America is Beautiful, and on this Fourth of July, I am glad to have seen portions of it by way of woodland trail. Happy Independence Day to you and yours. Back on the road tomorrow to elk country.
Till then…
Daniel Boone’s compass pointed westward for discovery. Mine points eastward. Day three of the tour and embarking on uncharted territory as far as past travels have gone. In 2010 I had made it as far east as Kingdom Come in Cumberland but no further. This day the agenda would take us all the way across the Virginia border. I was ready.
After a breakfast of pancakes at the Pine Mountain State Resort Park and a talk with fellow adventurer Dean Henson, mom and I got on US 119 and headed for Jenkins. Here’s a route that takes you right in the middle of coal country. We met several coal trucks rounding the two lane corners, and drove under the coal conveyors at several places, eastern Kentucky heritage everywhere you look. Seems every license plate read “Friends of Coal.” It’s real here, and a way of life for generations of families.
Black Mountain
There is a State Park for the Pine Mountain Hiking Trail that also runs the length of the mountain, and we stopped there too. The still developing Pine Mountain Trail State Park has a parking area near one of the best overlooks in Kentucky that I’ve ever seen. Just west, um north, of Ermine on US 119 is a viewpoint so vast it gets pull off points for picture taking. That’s a first for Kentucky. I could have sworn I was in Idaho for a moment. Mom exclaimed “Who knew Kentucky had such views!” Indeed.
U.S. 119
Tower Overlook at Breaks
This place was such a haul to get to that I’ve made it the only two day stop on the tour this year. I’ll be hiking the trails on the 4th and enjoying the freedoms that the outdoors provide. Happy Independence Day to you and yours, and I’ll let you know if I ever make it back into Kentucky!
To Pikeville, then Jenny Wiley State Park in the morning. Till then…
Don't ask.
Day two of the 2012 Unbridled Adventure Tour and already logging several out of the way miles between parks. On map, the route from Cumberland Falls to Pine Mountain is supposed to be a quick jaunt from near Corbin to US 25E on down to Pineville and then up the mountain. On this day though, I would trek north at Corbin on Interstate 75, hitting one of my favorite drives in the Commonwealth. Chicago has the Dan Ryan. Louisville the Gene Snyder. Eastern Kentucky has the Hal Rogers Parkway. I was introduced to this drive on last year’s tour when I visited Hazard and Buckhorn Lake. I love the way it zigs and zags though a portion of the Daniel Boone National Forest that looks like it’s on loan from West Virginia. Honestly, worth the money in gas and the time off the clock to take that drive to Justified country.
Once back near London, mom and I headed down US 25 for a quick stop at Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park. Located right in the middle of town, it’s hard to believe at one time this was some of the wildest land in all of the United States. The settled country was smaller then. The park includes a trail blazed by Daniel Boone himself, and the great Wilderness Road used by Dr. Walker and the early surveyors of Kentucky. That road would eventually lead us down to the Cumberland Gap, but first a stop to see a fellow Kentucky Colonel.
Lickin' Fingers
Cumberland Gap Overlook
Hasn't fallen yet...
An Adventure Representative could spend a lifetime at Pine Mountain amongst the waterfalls, bears, and hemlock trees. One does just that. Dean Henson is my fellow rep for the eastern end of the state, and is the naturalist for the Pine Mountain State Park. His writings are some of my favorites, and each month he’ll tell you more about what’s going on here than I could in just one short blog. I will say that if you’ve never had a weekend at Pine Mountain, you’ve missed a Kentucky treasure. Summit views. Charming towns. History abounding. Paradise found.
And Bacon. On the road to Breaks Interstate Park near Elkhorn City. More soon. Road Trip in progress…
“When you’re Hot, you’re Hot…” -Jerry Reed
Cumberland Falls
A week ago we had been blessed with 75 degrees and a light wind from a cold front. Now a high pressure system decided to stall out over the east coast, churning triple digit temperatures and an interesting twist to the week ahead for this Outdoorsman. At least seven parks on the docket, plus a couple of side trips here and there that will promise to be a hot time indeed. And I’m bringing Mom along for the tour this year, so I can’t even swear to mock the heat for the entire seven days (It’s hotter than heck out here!).
General Burnside Island
Natural Arch
After a brief stop in Stearns at the Big South Fork Railway Museum, we trekked back up 27 and onward to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Catfish and hushpuppies in the dining room overlooking the Cumberland, and then a short hike on trail number 6 from the lodge to the base of the hillside, partaking in the usual awe-inspiring views the Cumberland Falls always promises. Mom’s first time at the falls. My seventh trip. Lucky Seven. And when you’re hot, you’re hot.
Ale-8!
Back in the room and sweat soaked, worn out not from the hike but from the heat, I took a look out of my window, which ironically featured a view of the Dupont Lodge air conditioning unit.
I thanked my God. More from the tour tomorrow. We’re just gettin’ started…
Home / Site Map / Sponsorship / Privacy Policy / Disclaimer / Accessibility
THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF TRAVEL
Capital Plaza Tower 22nd Floor, 500 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40601
1-800-225-8747
© 2010, Kentucky Department of Travel. All rights reserved.
Web Design & Search Engine Optimization by Aristotle ®
