Red River Gorge, Spring '11

We had a good group of people for the annual spring hike at the Red River Gorge. Like many of the spring hikes, it poured Friday night. I enjoyed testing out getting into my hammock with the my sleeping bag and sleeping bag cover. Managed to do that trick without getting wet. I love to listen to the rain and whip-poor-wills. The waterfall is near camp on the Rough Trail.

The streams were quite swollen from the previous nights rain. Usually, we can hop on rocks across this creek. Instead, a couple of us had a fun challenge of crossing by hanging under the tree. I crossed fine, but did not realize my car key fell out of my pocket. However, the Lord blessed me by helping me find it in the bottom of the creek, over eight hours later! Here you can see Mark demonstrating the crossing technique.

I rarely think to try to take panoramic pictures, but this overlook was impossible to capture in one picture. There are three levels, several waterfalls, incredible vertical interest, and lush vegetation that makes it appear surreal.

This waterfall was behind Gray's Arch. The colors of the rocks were striking. Each waterfall, cliff, cove, cave, arch, and stream makes you want to show someone the amazing thing you have found, but then you come to another place just as amazing. Each hike at the Red River Gorge feels like a discovery.

Gray's Arch

The destination for our hike at the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. There are some downsides to camping in a downpour and to hiking on undeveloped trails right after a downpour, but the plus side is that there are many waterfalls. Here is the rockshelter and cove at Gray's Arch.

View of the arch and waterfall from under the rockshelter. I still do not have any concept of how to take pictures of landscapes that vary from very low light to very bright light.

The waterfall coming down over the cliff. The Tuliptree growing near the base of the waterfall was impressive, itself, with its height and straightness.

Mark and Brandon sitting under the arch, enjoying the view.

View of the arch from the backside

The view of the waterfall and the cove

Gray's Arch is very impressive, but the waterfall was equally spectacular. It was only about a half mile hike from the arch to the parking lot where we were getting picked up.

Galearis spectabilis

I was very excited to find Showy Orchid blooming alongside the trail while hiking in the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. I had not seen this orchid in bloom previously. While not focusing on flowers, we saw a nice number of orchids, although not in bloom. The wildflowers were great.



White-hair Goldenrod (Solidago albopilosa) is a Federally Threatened flower that is found only in Kentucky. It was growing fairly profusely in the rock shelters. USFWS Page

Red River Gorge, Fall '10

This weekend was our annual fall hike and camping trip in the Red River Gorge. The weather was a little cool (it even snowed a little Saturday morning), but it is nice to get outside.Daniel and I looking are down at the rest of the group underneath an arch. We took the trail towards Eagles Nest. Unfortunately, the cave along the trail was closed to protect the bats from White-nose Syndrome. I am glad I have been through them in the past.

View from the middle of the Red River.

View from a ledge on the ascent to Eagles Nest. Andrew and Daniel make their way out onto a smaller ledge. The walkie-talkie fell out of Andrew's pocket on the way back. Very surprisingly, it survived the fall. We ate lunch here, because it was sunny and warm and out of the wind. It was fun to watch leaves falling up as the wind swept up over the ridge.

Daniel looking out from the top. Eagles Nest is the promontory on left side of the photo. The fall colors were past their peak, but there was still color for the oaks.

Sycamores lining the Red River near the trail head to Eagles Nest.

Pink Lady's Slipper - Cypripedium acaule

One of the floral highlights of hiking through the Red River Gorge this weekend was finding a patch of Pink Lady's Slipper or Pink Moccasin Flower in bloom. The specific epithet refers to the lack of a stem, with the flower coming right out of the basal leaves. This flower is interesting because it is a bog flower in northern Indiana, but in Kentucky it grows in dry, acidic woods. We saw several patches of basal leaves in open areas on ridge tops, but not blooming. This patch was sheltered and warmed by a rock face near the ridge top, most likely giving them a head start.

Red River Gorge, Fall '09

Last weekend was the annual fall trip to the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. It was maybe a week past prime foliage colors, but the oaks still had leaves and the weather more than atoned for the loss. The sky was perfectly clear all weekend (the stars were so bright and I could even see the Milky Way) and it was dry and temperate.
Andrew, Ben, and I ran out to Chimney Rock and Princess Arch in the morning. We timed our run so that we could see the sunrise. I have been wanting to play with photostitch and panoramic pictures. I don't like the line through the sky, but they are not that bad.

View from the overlook near Princess Arch.

Two-hundred and seventy degrees from the promontory where we eat lunch. You can see Pinch'em Tight Gap on the left side of the picture. All of the kids are out on the very point.

View of Pinch'em Tight Gap from Chimney Rock before sunrise.

View up the valley towards camp. Half-moon Dome is in the left foreground.

Kay Craig crossing the slippery log (aka Micah's bane). Most of the kids tried it and no one fell in. The rope swing was another matter. Quite a few got wet crossing the creek that way.

Leslie descending to the gap. I wanted those who had never seen it to get a chance.

Katie Romoser down in the crack.

Paul Romoser preparing to be pinched tight.

The hike on Saturday went well and we got back to camp just before sunset. There was no fire ban, so Gordon had a fire waiting for us. One of my favorite parts of camping is sleeping under the stars in my hammock. That has to be the most comfortable and peaceful way to sleep.

Red River Gorge - Spring '09

This weekend was the annual spring hike with BRCC. The spring hikes usually have less kids, which can be nice. The weather was incredible, not raining until Sunday morning. So many times has it just poured on us all weekend. We did the old route to Pinch'em Tight Gap and the jump-off rock, but most of the kids hadn't been there before. I did not take too many pictures. Mark Taylor was the semi-official photographer, so check out his pictures on facebook. Here you can see Eli crossing the creek on the slippery log. This log will forever remind me of Micah, who managed to fall off into the creek, even though he was sitting down at the time.

One of the fun, new additions to the hike was a rope swing across the tributary to the Red River Gorge. We spent some time on the way out and the way back swinging across the creek. If you did it right, you could swing across and not get wet. If you didn't grab up high enough on the rope, you would drag in the middle. It was hilarious to see someone dragging their butt in the creek. Here is Leah successfully crossing the creek.
Mark crossing the creek. On the way back, we spent more time swinging. It was fun to climb up on the rock on the left side of the picture and swing way out. A couple people managed to swing from the big rock on the left side of the picture to the rock on the right side of the picture on the other side of the creek.
Daniel crossing the creek on a rotting log. Only Mark, Daniel, and I crossed here. You had to walk out on one log and then turn and get on the next log. This is on the way to the jump-off rock. It was plenty warm, and we were all ready to cool off.

Red River Gorge - Sunday

Fall Colors

Fall Colors

Regan and Chica near Whistling Arch

Fall Colors

Ilex opaca along the ridge-tops

Sunday morning Regan and I took Chica for a walk to Whistling Arch. The wind wasn't making the arch whistle, but the fall colors sure were vivid.

Red River Gorge - Fall Hike '08

Gordon eating lunch on top of Eagles Roost

Clarissa eating lunch

Clara and Hannah enjoying the view from Eagles Roost

Regan and Chica from Eagles Roost

Regan, Chica, and Dustin on top of Eagles Roost

Regan and Chica on a narrow cliff ledge

View from Chimney Rock before sunrise

This weekend was the fall hike for BRCC. We had good turnout, good weather, and good timing with the fall colors. We took everyone through the cave, played on some boulders, then climbed to the top of Eagles Roost. We ate lunch there, then we explored along the ridge-line and made our way down the cove to the Red River.

Friday at the Red River Gorge

Rock Bridge

The waterfall above Rock Bridge

Sassafras leaves

Regan and Chica near Chimney Rock

Fall colors through the swirling clouds from Chimney Rock

Regan and I went down to the Red River Gorge on Friday. It was a rainy day, but it was still beautiful. We hiked out to Chimney Rock. The rain was whipping and the clouds were swirling. Then we hiked to Rock Bridge, the only arch that spans a creek.