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.

Meriwether Lewis, Again

First time we've been hitched up since September

We made the move today from Millersville, just north of Nashville, to Meriwether Lewis, near Columbia southwest of Nashville, on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  The rains of the past two days are gone and we had a beautiful drive with bright blue skies.  It’s cold out there, though.  Also gone are our warm temperatures.

Crossed the Cumberland River as we made our way out of Nashville

Natchez Trace Parkway bridge over Highway 96

Not much traffic on the Parkway today.

We were very surprised upon arrival at Meriwether Lewis.  We were here for a few days last fall and since that time all roads in the entire park, including the campground, are new; so new they almost don’t look like they’ve been driven on.  In the campground, the interior roads as well as the parking pads have all been repaved.  The Natchez Trace is a unit of the National Park Service and the campgrounds along the Parkway are free.  However, there is no electricity and no dump stations, at least at Meriwether Lewis.  There are central water spigots and these have also been replaced.  Each site has a picnic table (ours looks fairly new) and a fire ring.  The campground is located along the ridge top so we have a nice view down into the valley.

Settled in for a few days

These campgrounds along the Natchez Trace are popular in the fall, especially with snowbirds from Canada.  I was concerned we might not get a site, but I shouldn’t have worried.  There are 30 or so sites here and only about 8 are occupied.  However, our nearest neighbor is from Ontario.

New trail signs to go along with the new roads

With the rains the past couple days we haven’t gotten much exercise.  Once we got set up (and there’s not much setting up to do when there are no utilities to hook up) we went out for a little leg stretcher.  There are several miles of trail here, but we didn’t have a lot of time for a real hike, so we just walked up the road to the Old Trace and cut across to the area were Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died.

And new split rail fences

There are several areas along the Parkway in which you can clearly see the historic old trace.  The Old Trace is part of the established trail system within Meriwether Lewis.  In October, 1809 Lewis came to this point on the Trace to spend the night at the Grinder Stand.  During the wee hours of the night he took his own life.  Some believe he may have been murdered, but most scholars lean toward suicide.  Anyway, Meriwether Lewis is buried here near where the Grinder House once stood.

Replica of the Grinder House

All that remains of the original Grinder house where Lewis died

Today, a replica of the Grinder House serves as a small park office on one side of the house with a small display about Meriwether Lewis and other historical sites along the Natchez Trace.

Lewis is buried beneath this monument.

Around the Lewis grave are the graves of several pioneers who lived in the area.

Our plan is to be here until Sunday.  Tomorrow, we want to do a little hiking just north of here at Devil’s Backbone and Saturday, the Clarksville chapter of Tennessee Trails will be hiking here.  We hope to join them for that hike.

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