August 25--Hiking the Falls

Saturday was spent hiking the area near the falls. It is still very hot here, but hopefully the weather will cool tomorrow. We started the morning hiking to the falls in search of a geocache. As we approached the area, Bob realized he forgot to download the coordinates. We had written clues to point us in the right direction, but we did not find the cache.

After spending time at the falls, we hiked up to the lodge and then continued on the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) trail. This was the same route we took yesterday. From the CCC trail we connected with the trail that took us back to our campsite. After lunch and a rest, we decided to try the 1.5 mile Eagle Falls Trail on the opposite side of the river. This trail is a little harder than the route we have been hiking. Well, let us tell you, this was not just a little harder, it was much harder. We walked the entire trail in two and one half hours! We were beat! It was worth it for the view, but there were a lot of steps and staircases to traverse up and down. Here are some of our pictures from the trail.


One of the first sights we saw was this tree that had a growth near its base.
This is a view of Cumberland Falls from the opposite side of the river.

We enjoyed walking under the rock outcroppings--we were glad none of them fell.

This is a view of a small portion of the steps that led up and down sections of the trail.

We made it to Eagle Falls. Several groups of young people took the easy way and walked on the rocks from the other side of the Cumberland River. At this point, we are less than halfway through our hike.

Notice there are no pictures of the return hike--we were too tired.

After returning to the rv, we rested, showered and rested some more.

About 9:30 p.m. we decided that we hadn't had enough for the day and we drove back to the falls. The moon was not quite full, but we tried some pictures anyway. Here is one of Bob and I under a light.

We are going to return tomorrow night to see if we can get a picture of the falls when the moon is high in the sky.