Busy, Busy

I’m not sure I have adjusted to being back in Nashville.  With family and friends, we have something going on all the time.  It is like this every year; I guess I forget between visits.  I think we tried to do to much this week.

Yesterday, we did another hike.  We went over to Warner Park again and were virtually the only ones on the trail.  It was a cold, dreary day and anybody with any sense was inside.  We are desperate to get back in shape and have set a goal of hiking 3 times a week.  We got behind for this week and tried to make it up by hiking both Thursday and Friday.  In retrospect, that was a mistake because I have been too rushed today.  However, as far as the hike is concerned, we really felt good about it.  We trudged through the mud for 9 miles, and though we were pretty tired when we finally got back to the car, we were not totally exhausted.  Our exercise program is obviously working.

Perhaps I should explain why we are trying to hike so much.  We have a tentative plan to hike a little more of the Appalachian Trail this spring.  We get all excited about this trail and it has been (or will be by spring) a couple years since we have been out there.  We got down the maps and guidebooks one night last week just to see how often the trail crossed a road.  It turned out to be very often.  Then we got to wondering how many of those roads were open to the public (not forest service roads) and had room to park the truck.  To our surprise, we actually found a website that listed all the parking areas along the AT.  Gene printed off the pages for the section we are thinking about doing then we compared that with the maps and guidebooks.  We discovered for the 280 or so miles we want to do, there are parking areas at least every 16 miles and usually about 11 or 12 miles.  This was great news because it will enable us to day hike instead of backpack.  However, hiking 12 to 16 miles a day is not something we want to jump into cold so we plan to hike often this winter to get in shape for those high-milage days.

Along the old Natchez Trace

By the way, Warner Park is a real jewel in the Nashville community.  Yesterday, I had planned to write a little description of Warner Park for this journal.  By the time we got home, I got a shower, fed the cat, fixed our dinner, ate, and cleaned up the mess, I had no more energy to do the research and write the story.  So, that will have to wait for another day.  It really is a story worth telling.

Today, we got out early to the grocery.  I didn’t want to be there with the Saturday crowds and we successfully avoided that.  Along with the regular shopping, I got ingredients to made deviled eggs and chocolate chip cookies to take to Jack and Ansley’s annual bonfire tonight.  This will be the first time we have been in town for this event and are looking forward to the festivities.  I suspect us old folks will leave before the real party gets underway.  Our bedtime is much earlier than when we were 30 something.

After lunch, we drove over to my aunt and uncles’ home.  They are proud new great-grandparents and wanted to show off a few photos of their new great-granddaughter.  I had received via e-mail a few photos also.  Over coffee and muffins, my uncle regaled us with stories of his younger days when he went to work for the railroad in Anchorage, Alaska during the late 40s.  This was somewhat of a surprise to me since I have thought for the past 50 years or so that he was in Alaska during his time in the Navy.  We had a great visit and I have several stories to include and some revisions to make in my family history project.

Now I must get ready for the bonfire.

The Return of the Weekend

I cannot remember when we have had a weekend experience like we had today.  There were no interruptions, no phone calls, and no trailer repairs.  It was reminiscent of the years when we worked the week and went hiking on Saturday.

A beautiful fall trail.

Acorns of Black or Bur Oak, I don't know which.

The day started out clear and cool after yesterday’s rain.  We donned hiking clothing, unearthed our packs from basement storage, and struck out for our local city park.  I wish I had kept track of the number of times I have hiked Mossy Ridge at Warner Park.  It must be in the hundreds. The Warner Parks in southwest Nashville are really two parks—Edwin Warner and Percy Warner.  They sit side by side with Old Hickory Blvd as a boundary between them.  For the real hiking enthusiast, a twelve mile figure 8 can be created by using the connector trial between the parks and doing one loop in Edwin Warner and 2 loops in Percy Warner.  This 12 mile trek has been our standard training hike for high Sierra and Appalachian Trail expeditions.  For real training efforts, we have been known to be out here 3 or 4 times a week.  Today we did the 4.5 mile Mossy Ridge loop in Percy Warner.  In peak condition we can do this loop carrying 30 pounds in an hour and 45 minutes.  Today, we strolled along making the trip in just under 4 hours.  We stopped often to take pictures, we had a short banana eating break, and a leisurely lunch (including making coffee).  We ran into fellow hiking club members and spent several minutes visiting with them.  It was wonderful.  I don’t think I’ve ever noticed so much along this trail.  We even stopped to investigate the Vaughn’s Gap Cemetery.

A new cemetery sign

A simple grave marked by an old field stone and an orange tassle

This old cemetery is located just inside the park boundary very close to Hwy 100.  In the early part of the 1900s the railroad was being built into Nashville.  Many of the men working on the rail line were stricken by a fatal disease—yellow fever, scarlet fever, small pox.  I’m not sure which, but deadly, no matter what.  Those men are buried here just across the road from the rail track they were laying.  The graves are marked only by field stones and now the park has added a plastic orange tassel to indicate each grave site.  The remnants of a stone wall can be seen which probably marked the entrance to this place of rest.  In the winter, with a light dusting of snow, you can actually see the indentations of the grave sites from the trail and in spring there are a few scattered tulips which bloom each year.  As we were making our way back to the trail, a train passed, blowing its whistle at the cross street; a mournful tribute to the men who died laying the track into Nashville a hundred years ago.

An old stone wall.

Hearts a burstin'.

This was the first hike we have done since we were in the Adirondacks and we enjoyed being outside, in the woods, and on the trail again.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another pretty fall day.  I’m sure we will find something to do outside.