Charlestown State Park

Just over a month ago (4/19), Jon and I headed back to Charlestown State Park.  This time, we were joined by Kurt and Johanna.  I have been slammed with school, work, and internship duties and have not been able to post about the day until now.

Our plans for the day were simple.  Get in a bit of hiking and then settle down with a nice picnic lunch.  We hiked trails 4 & 6.  This was Jon and I’s second time hiking trail 4 and our first time hiking trail 6.  Trail 6 was really enjoyable.  It offered some really great views of the Ohio River.

Near the start of Trail 6

Ohio River as seen from one point on Trail 6

Johanna & I above a little waterfall.

Trail 6

Bernheim Forest

Even though I have only been there twice, Bernheim Forest holds a special place in my heart.  I love the lakes, the flowering trees, the various gardens, the prairie and the Canopy Treewalk.  Its a very peaceful and relaxing place to spend an afternoon.

Jon and I headed there with hiking on our minds.  Bernheim has several hiking trails, but most are very short in distance.  Then, there is the Millennium Trail which is 13.3 miles in length.  We were not up to that one on this day, so we decided to go with the 2.0 Jackson-Yoe Loop.

Trail head.

Right near the beginning of the trail, out of nowhere we encountered two clearly spooked dear.  They were charging straight at us at full force.  Jon started snapping his fingers loudly and just as the one deer was about two feet in front of us, it quickly steered to the right falling down in the process.  We both stood there kind of in shock.  You see deer on trails all the time, but this was intense.  The deer had been in a section where the trail was on three sides of them.  They must have heard other people and jetted in a different direction which just happened to be where we were on the trail.

The rest of the trail was not nearly as exciting.  I’m sure this trail is beautiful when all the trees and grass are green, but right now, everything is still a dull brown.  This trail is listed on the trail guide as being one of the more strenuous trails in the Forest.  There were a few inclines that were difficult, but nothing major for most people.

The entire trail is clearly marked.  Bernheim has gone to great lengths to make sure no one is going to get lost on this trail.  At some points, it seemed like nearly every tree along the trail had been marked with a white piece of paper with a nail through it.

After finishing the hike and enjoying a quick lunch in the picnic area of the park, we headed over to the Garden Pavilion and surrounding area to enjoy the flowering trees that appear to be in full bloom.

Jefferson Memorial Forest – Red Trail

Another weekend, another hike.  This time Jon and I headed back to Jefferson Memorial Forest as we were already out and about in that part of Louisville.  I didn’t bring our trail maps with us, so we stopped by the Welcome Center to decide on our itinerary for the afternoon. We decided to give the Red Trail in the Horine section of the park a whirl. After obtaining our permit for the Horine section from a very nice volunteer worker, we got back in our vehicle and took the short drive to the parking lot for the hike.

The map for this area lists the Red Trail as being strenuous and I would definitely agree with this rating.  The first half of the hike is on rather flat ground and easy to traverse.  Jon and I even commented to each other about how easy and frankly boring the trail had been up to this point.  Then, the portion of the trail that deserves the strenuous rating kicked in full force.  There are two main sections where you are going up hill for a good distance.  The first one may or may not give you some issues.  The second section is rough.  Standing at the bottom of this section, the trail appears to go straight up.  In comparison to the longer and also strenuous listed Siltstone Trail at Jefferson Memorial Forest, I found this trail to be much more challenging for me.  Yes, it was a shorter distance.  However, the inclines seemed to be a bit more dramatic and made me push harder.

After hiking the second incline, you have the choice of continuing the trail back towards the parking lot or taking a brief detour to see the Horine family cemetery.  From this point on, the trail is mostly flat and easy to complete.  The hike took us a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete from beginning to end.

Charlestown State Park

1st Day of Spring

The weather in Louisville last weekend was, for the most part, absolutely beautiful.   A welcome beginning to the start of Spring.  Jon and I, of course, had to take advantage of the good weather while it was here.  After a brief discussion of where to go, we headed out to Charlestown State Park this past Saturday.  Neither of us had been there before and were excited to explore somewhere new to us.

Charlestown State Park is located in…you guessed it, Charlestown, Indiana.  Less than 30 minutes outside of Louisville, its close to home.  If you are one of those Louisvillians who hate crossing the bridge into Indiana, get over it.  The park is worth the trip.

The park is on the grounds of what used to be part of an ammunition plant.  There are several buildings still on the property to remind you of this history.  There are at least six hiking trails.  Trail #6 starts right at the bank of the Ohio River.

After driving around the park and spending some time riverfront, Jon and I decided to hike trails 3 & 4.  Both of these trails start at the same parking area, so it made it easy for us to get five miles in without having to get back in the car.  Both of the trails are listed as being “rugged” on the park’s trail map.  I’m not quite sure rugged is a good term for them.  Jon and I both found the trails to be easy to follow and okay for even beginner hikers. Both trails offer views of Fourteen Mile Creek.  Trail #3 features some limited views of the Ohio River.

Start of Trail 4

Start of Trail 3

Old foundation found along Trail #3.

Shawn over at the Louisville Outside blog also recently made a trip to Charlestown State Park.  Check out his post found here to see a bit more information about the park.

Happy New Year!

I’m looking forward to the new year. The past year consisted of a lot of ups and downs for me.  It was definitely a year that saw a lot of changes in my life.  I’m a stronger person for it.  I’m happy to say that 2009 ended on a positive note.  I have never felt so excited about life and what it holds for me.

To celebrate the start of a new year, some friends and I rented a cabin in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky.  We left Louisville late Thursday afternoon and stayed at the cabin until Sunday.  This was my second time visiting Red River Gorge.  The first trip was back in May.

The cabin this time was a bit bigger as we had seven adults and four dogs in our group.  To our surprise, the cabin was a lot more posh.  Stainless steel kitchen appliances, beautiful floor to ceiling windows, a pool table, and even a Christmas tree!

On Friday, New Years Day, Jon and I headed out to Natural Bridge State Park for a bit of hiking.  Being my first trip to the park, it was exciting for me to see the natural bridge in person.  However, not exciting was the fact that it freezing cold outside.  I had worn gloves, thermals with a another layer of clothes over them, and a jacket but was still cold.  My fingertips constantly felt numb from the cold.  It was definitely worth the small hike though.  We took the short Original Trail on our way up to the Natural  Bridge.

For our descent back down the mountain towards the parking lot, we chose to take the Devil’s Gulch trail which then meets back up with the Original Trail.  Probably not the wisest decision.  Devil’s Gulch consists of stairs and A LOT of them.  Stone stairs.  Wooden stairs.  Both types were iced over.  It made for an interesting hike.  I’m not the best on ice, but I only fell once.  I consider this a success.

On Saturday, Jon, Johanna, Beth and I took a drive around Red River Gorge taking in all of the sites that do not require much hiking.  Mostly scenic overlooks.

Johanna, Me, and Beth at one of many scenic overlooks. Windy! Immediately after this shot, we ran back to the truck.

Jon and I at yet another scenic overlook. One of my favorite pictures ever. Thanks to Johanna for taking it!

We came back to the cabin and watched the snow fall for the remainder of the day.  Part of me wanted for us to get snowed in and not be able to head back to Louisville the next day.  The smart part of me knew that would be bad as we would have had to pay for an extra night at the cabin.  Still, I wasn’t ready to leave.  It was a great extended weekend trip!  I’m already looking forward to returning to the area at some point this summer.  There are several trails in the Gorge that I would love to try out next time.

Siltstone Trail

Found along the Siltstone Trail

This past Saturday, Jon and I hiked the Siltstone Trail at Jefferson Memorial Forest with a group of friends.  The trail is 6.2 miles one way.  It is rated as being strenuous.  It is not a loop trail unless you are up to hiking 12.4 miles.  We had been wanting to hike this trail for a bit as it is one of the longer trails in the Louisville area.

As we are in November now, the leaves have started to fall from the trees.  The trail was still easy to follow, but the leaves could be slick when going downhill and also covered up rocks and branches that were on the trail.  There are several areas of elevation change on this trail.  Up and down, up and down, repeat.  We started our hike from the Scott’s Gap parking lot.  The first climb had all of us catching our breaths.  The good thing about this trail is that just when you think you can’t climb any further, the trail flattens out for a stretch.  Our group kept up a good pace throughout the hike and we finished it in roughly four hours.  On a personal note, I had really thought this trail was going to give me some difficulties.  At the end of the trail, the back of my legs were burning a slight bit.  However, I still felt like I could hike at least another mile or two.  I would really like to go back and attempt to make this hike a loop.

Scott’s Gap Red Trail

Jon and I decided to take advantage of the comfortable weather yesterday by taking a trip out to Jefferson Memorial Forest.  We looked at the trail maps ahead of time and made the decision to hike the Red Trail in the Scott’s Gap section of the forest.  The Red Trail is a 3.0 mile loop that also has a 1.25 mile shortcut loop available.

Trail Head

This was both Jon and I’s first time hiking this particular trail.   The trail was very easy to follow and the red blazes along the trail were highly visible.  The trail map lists this trail as being of moderate difficulty and I would say that assessment is accurate.  There are a few up hill sections that may give some hikers a difficult time.   We could hear what appeared to sound like rounds being fired at Knob Creek.

Just past the halfway point of the 3.0 mile loop, we came across a peculiar site.  An old, rusted out car was right off the side of the trail.

Jon and I are planning on returning to Jefferson Memorial soon, weather permitting, to hike the 6.2 (one way) Siltstone Trail.

Deam Lake

Deam Lake

Jon and I took a little day trip to Deam Lake for a bit of hiking and swimming.  Deam Lake is a 194 acre man-made lake located in Clark County, Indiana near the town of Borden.

Jon and I started off our day by trying to locate Trail 4 (Lake Vista).  It was not clearly marked.  The beginning of the trail was clear and we encountered a variety of mushrooms along the way.  The trail progressively became more and more difficult to follow.  The Kentuckiana area experienced two major storms within the last year.  It was obvious the trails had not been cleared since those storms.  There were down trees all around us and on the trail itself.  There were several instances where the path of the trail was not clear at all.  Jon would have to go ahead to see where the trail met up again.  We had to climb over several large trees at one point.  This trail also has several areas of “bottom lands” along the way.  These areas of the trail were completely submerged in water.  This is when I discovered that my new Merrell shoes were not waterproof.

The trail is an estimated two and half miles long.  It took us nearly four hours to make our way through it.  After completing the trail, we headed to the lake for a much deserved swim.

Mushroom found along Trail 4

New friend found along Trail 4

Red River Gorge

I spent the weekend of May 15th-17th at Red River Gorge with a group of friends, new and old.  Needless to say, with this being my first trip to Red River Gorge, I was pretty stoked.  Most of Red River Gorge is actually located within the Daniel Boone National Forest in east-central Kentucky.

We had initially planned this as a tent camping excursion but decided in the days leading up that we had enough people going to be able to rent a cabin.  This would turn out to be an excellent decision as it rained for much of Saturday.   We stayed in the Mountain Lake Chalet that was nestled a few miles down a private gravel road.  Two bedrooms, two baths, huge kitchen, and a hot tub.  This cabin was fully loaded which was much more than I had expected.

Since it was a short weekend trip and the fact that we were in a large group, a lot of our sight-seeing was done by car.  We drove to several different areas of the park and then got out to explore.  We hiked to an area that housed a decent sized swimming hole and suspension bridge.

Stopped at the famed Miguel’s Pizza for lunch on Saturday.  This place lives up to all the hype.  You can order pizza by the slice, if you prefer.  Just be prepared to spend a few minutes mulling over the topping choices.  Pretty much any topping you can think of, even some you wouldn’t even imagine, are available for consumption.

All in all it was a great weekend spent with a good group of friends.  I can’t wait to get back to Red River Gorge to do some more in depth exploring.  The plan is try to get back there before the end of the year.