Lumber Ridge Trail

We had another beautiful day and another wonderful hike.

Lumber Ridge Trail starts at the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont.  The Institute offers environmental educational programs for groups of all ages.  There is also a small gift shop in the building, but the only thing I was interested in this morning was the restroom facilities.  I did stop long enough to admire the redbud blooming out front.

The trail starts with a 1000 foot climb over the first couple miles, then drops down about 500 feet before it levels off for the last mile and a half.  We saw several patches of wildflowers today--more bloodroot, yellow violets, long-spurred violets, and rue anemone.  We also saw what we think were buckeye trees in bloom.

Our trail ended after 4.1 miles at the junction with Meigs Creek Trail in Buckhorn Gap.  We had our lunch there before our return trip to the car.   We were very pleased with our 5 hours total elapsed time for this 8.2 miles plus the 1000 foot climb.  Our goal is to do 8+ miles on all our hikes this week.  That ought to have my leg muscles screaming.

That’s all for today.  We’ll be hiking again tomorrow.