Weekly Hike: Cravens House to Point Park

This was one of those days that felt like all the things were working against us. As we left our house, a friend messaged to say the road down the mountain was at a standstill and I should find another way. We have lived on our mountain for seven years now and it turns out I still get lost in neighborhoods. I spent five extra minutes trying to pick my way through a neighborhood to get to the W road. It was exasperating and made us a good 15 minutes late for our hike.

When we got close to the trailhead (a new one for me), I came up to a detour less than a quarter of a mile from where we needed to park. So another five minutes down the drain as I navigated around the detour. I was almost to the trailhead from the other side of the detour when I found myself stuck behind an excavator. I frantically called my friends to ask how they made it to the parking lot. They assured me that I just had to keep driving. We all had a good laugh as we finally pulled kids from cars and explained our mishaps before heading up the trail.

Life is just like that sometimes. Filled with obstacles and detours and wrong turns, exasperating us and making us frustrated. Thank goodness for good friends to encourage us along the way.

We finally started up the trail and everyone was in good spirits. The recent rains make everything exceptionally green right now in the mountains of the Tennessee Valley where we live. We hurried along the trail, stopping to talk about different plants as we walked.

 

One of the moms in our group recently introduced us to an app called SEEK and we love to pull it out and learn about different species of things as we walk. There was a particular fungi growing on the side of a rock that we stopped to check out. The underside was black and velvety and the top just looked like a leaf. The app said it was Smooth Rock Tripe. It was a cool discovery and we were all amazed that the app was able to identify it.

We pressed on to the top of a set of stairs that led to Point Park and enjoyed the amazing views of the Tennessee River and the city of Chattanooga. We watched hawks sore and occasionally dive out of the sky in search of food. I could sit here all afternoon.

But Wednesdays are busy days, so we snapped our pictures and turned back. Half of the group went back the way we came because we thought it was a shorter route, while half of us continued on to finish the loop. Had we had more time we could have gone on to Sunset Rock. We will save that for another hike when we aren't short on time.

 

We came across a bird that none of us had observed before. It had a white breast with brown and black. We checked our app and learned that it was an Eastern Towhee. I will be on the look for them in our yard now that I know what they are.

 

 

It was a perfect afternoon for a hike. Sunny but not too hot. And a nice breeze when we were at the top. These weekly hikes are such a blessing to our family. We just continue to be grateful for this time spent in nature with our friends each week. 

This was our 36th hike for 2021 (36/52). We knocked out 3 miles bringing us to 111.5 miles hiked this year.   

 

 

Thirty-Seven

Daniel and I both turned 37 this year. Thirty-seven feels a little anticlimactic. Just a little closer to 40, which is hard to fathom... my brain still feels college-aged but almost two decades of experience as an adult reminds me that I am well past those college years.

We didn't do a whole lot for Daniel's birthday – it was on a Wednesday and he was in the middle of long days and deadlines at work. But one of the perks of homeschool is being able to take the kids to pick up donuts and drop by Daniel's work to surprise him in the middle of the day.

For my birthday, Daniel and I were in need of a night out, so I texted our babysitter and cheekily said that we were due for our "quarterly date." Thankfully she was available on my birthday. Shortly after we made plans to have a sitter come, a college friend invited us to a chili supper at her house. So we decided to drop by as part of our evening away from the kids.

Our date started with being a little too early for the friend party, so we drove up Raccoon Mountain and took in the views of the Tennessee Valley from that side of Chattanooga. The leaves were slightly past their peak, but it was still beautiful.

We arrived at our friend's house in time for chili and visiting. Our friend found a cupcake and "?" candle and had everyone sing to me, which was nice. I honestly can't remember the last time I was sung to by a group for my birthday (my parents and siblings typically call and sing to me on the phone). After my cupcake, we enjoyed a little time around the campfire before continuing our date.

For our third stop, I asked if we could drive up Lookout Mountain to Sunset Rock for a different view of the city. It was a pretty drive up mountain #2, but the Sunset Rock parking lot closed at sunset and we didn't want to get a ticket, so we settled for driving down Ochs Hwy for a beautiful view of downtown Chattanooga. It was dark and the lights of the city were twinkling and the moon was full and stunning over the city.

We drove downtown to get hot chocolate and dessert #2 at The Hot Chocolatier. Thankfully it wasn't too busy and we were able to sip our decadent drinks in one of the booths in the back. When we left the Hot Chocolatier, I requested we make one final stop before heading home to our boys.

So we drove up Signal Mountain (duh), but stopped at one of the parking areas on the Brow to look at downtown Chattanooga and the Valley from yet a third perspective. Three mountains, three views of Chattanooga for my birthday. We live in a special place and feel incredibly blessed to call this area home.

Rock City, 2017

I know I am probably not alone in this, but the more time that slips by, the harder it is to stay in touch with old friends.

Technically I am "in touch" with many old friends via social media, but actually getting to visit (in person or on the phone) doesn't happen very often.

We are all busy with life. Marriage. Kids. Extended family. Jobs. New friends we've collected over the years. It's a lot to keep up with.

But every few years or so, the stars align and an impromptu visit happens where we get the opportunity to catch up for real.

A few weeks ago, such an opportunity occurred. Julie, one of my roommates from college, was in Nashville and she messaged asking if we could meet up. She was hoping to do some Chattanooga-specific activities with her kids as they traveled home to Virginia.

Of course, I said "Yes!"

Julie wanted to go to Rock City on Lookout Mountain. In the four years we have lived here, it's one of the places we haven't visited. It's about a 25-minute drive from where we live and a bit touristy (so we had heard).

Truth-be-told, I like to visit trails that are a bit more (ahem) wild, but I agreed to meet my old friend and her kiddos for a middle of the week visit to the attraction.

In the end, due to some time constraints and commitments (Jack had taekwondo practice that we had already missed that week), we ended up meeting for a vary abbreviated tour (for us, Julie and her kids stayed longer and actually went to Ruby Falls as well).

At this stage in life, I'll take what I can get.

Rock City was actually pretty cool. It is a bit expensive, so I think we might consider a family pass if we go back with Daniel. We have heard that it is a pretty sweet place to visit at Christmas, and I know my brother, and my sister and her family, would be like to check it out some time.

I'll be honest and say that my preconceived idea about Rock City was that it was very fairyland oriented and maybe a little hokie. I'm glad I didn't let that stop us from making the visit to catch up with my friend and see the waterfall at Lover's Leap (I've been wanting a closer look than the view from the Ochs Highway going up Lookout Mountain).

I ended up really liking Rock City (we did skip the Fairy tunnels at the end due to time), but the quiet, meandering trail through various cracks in rock is totally the type of thing I like.

There was a miniature Mushroom Rock (Jack noticed it first, we have a huge, natural Mushroom Rock on our mountain), and also a miniature barn that said "See Rock City." You see these barns advertising Rock City all over the valley.

The kids were enamored with the maps that told us where were going. They also enjoyed finding all of the little garden gnomes hidden along the trail, and searching for wild deer in a natural habitat built along the trail.

Another favorite for the kids was the crack we walked through called "Fat Man Squeeze." This was exciting for me since I was carrying Isaac on my back. Normally you can turn sideways to fit through a crack (most of us are wider in the shoulders), but the backpack carrier made me equally wide from side-to-side and front-to-back. Hah! Thankfully we squeezed through with Isaac intact.

The view from Lover's Leap was breathtaking.

To get to Lover's Leap, you walk out on a swinging bridge (there is a stone bridge for those who are more timid),

and there is a patio with a panoramic view of the valley, along with seven flags that represent the states you can see on a clear day.

If you are looking for a fun thing to do in Chattanooga, I would recommend Rock City, though it is expensive. If we end up getting an annual pass, I think I will persuade Daniel to go on a date night there – Cafe 7 is located on top of Lover's Leap.

Pricing is as follows:
General Admission: $19.95 │ Annual Adult Pass: $39
General Admission (ages 3-12): $11.95 │ Annual Child Pass (ages 3-12): $23
Kids 2 and under are Free
Other ways to save: Bundle your tickets and visit another attraction the same day, or consider buying a Hamilton County School Coupon book that has one free child's pass with an adult purchase.

I don't know what Rock City is normally like, but the middle of the week was perfect for us. I didn't feel overwhelmed by people at all!  
 

 

Julie and I didn't get to visit much at Rock City, but the next day we met up for a little fun at Coolidge Park, including walking across the Walnut Street walking bridge and eating lunch at Good Dog. Sometimes it is fun to do the touristy stuff, especially if it's with an old friend!