Hiking with Clarksville Chapter TTA

Tennessee Trails Association is a state wide hiking club with chapters in various location across the state.  Gene and I belong to the Nashville chapter, but enjoy hiking with other chapters.  Today the Clarksville chapter had a hike scheduled at Meriwether Lewis.  We called to register with the hike leader and met the group this morning at the trailhead parking lot.

The group was spread out along the trail like a week's worth of wash.

Counting us there were thirteen in the group.  We got started about 9:30 on the 4-mile loop trail which begins behind the Grinder House.  The trail is much like Devil’s Backbone which we did yesterday in that it starts on the ridge and drops down to the creek.  At the creek we passed through a large picnic area with picnic tables and a restroom.  It was the perfect place for our lunch break.

After food and lots of socializing we continued on our walk.  Again, like yesterday’s hike we climbed away from the creek back to the ridge top, but unlike yesterday’s hike we dropped back down again and had to come back up.  Those hill climbs provided a good workout and I think the entire group was glad to see the ridge top following the final ascent.

The trail is well maintained and well marked, but there were several blow downs during the storms last week that haven’t been cleared.  There was nothing we couldn’t get over easily.

It's never a good sign when a group gathers to consult the map.
That's my man in the orange cap, and Paul, our leader, in the red shirt.

We enjoyed hiking with the group.  We know several people in the Clarksville chapter and now we know a few more.  The hike was led by Paul, the Clarksville chapter chair, and he did an excellent job.  We were never lost, although there was lots of map consulting, and all hikers were accounted for at the end of the hike.  It’s always a plus when the leader gets back to the car with as many as he left with.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing.  Tomorrow, we head back to Nashville and will be staying at the campground in Joelton.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.