Loose Leaf Notes

People used to live in the Rock Castle Gorge when communities were self- sufficient, before the industrial revolution and before the blight of the chestnut tree that provided chestnuts to feed the hogs and a commodity to trade.

The Gorge was named Rock Castle because it was once filled with quartz crystals, which popped out of the ground looking like little castles. We saw several chimneys still standing and rock structures that included plenty of quartz.

I can’t explain what it’s like to walk along trails lined with 100’s of trillium. Pictures can never do it justice.

We walked a spur trail off the Gorge loop along the Rock Castle Gorge Creek. We never saw another hiker for the nearly 3-mile trail until the spur hooked up with the loop. We did see wildflowers galore, like these wild geraniums, and some impressive waterfalls.

The native dwarf irises were in bloom near Rocky Knob but were passed their peak further down in the gorge.

We saw more Showy Orchis orchards but are still waiting to see Grass Pink orchids, like the one in our Wildflower book.

Our Parkway wildflower book says this is Bellwort.

We read that Jack in the Pulpit can be irritating to the skin after Joe touched some. At least we didn’t get stung by any nettles this time, but we saw them. The may apple blossoms made us happy

We’ve recently had some heavy rain. Sometimes we had to take our shoes off to cross the creek or jump from rock to rock through mud filled with spring water. My childhood days of jumping along the seawall at Stony Beach came in handy.

We named this waterfall after my brother-in-law Nelson who loves waterfalls.  Last year when he and my sister came to visit, they fell in love with the Cascades. This one continued on the other side of the bridge.

Joe did some of his signature creek yoga.

We crossed 4 or 5 bridges. On the last one, I stretched out and Joe gave me a foot rub. It was our 4th or 5th pandemic hike on trails only half-dozen miles from our house. “We’re making up for all the years we didn’t come here at all,” Joe said.

After 2 ½ miles or more, we went another 2 ½ miles, ending at the Gorge’s primitive campground where the CCC’s had their camp in the ‘40s.  All in all, it was a long hike that I was glad we did but I doubt I’ll be doing again anytime soon.

Let’s see what next weekend brings.

________________Our World Tuesday