On Saturday May 16, my friend Rhonda and I decided to head over to the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park for some much needed trail therapy. The weeks long shut down of our National and State Parks along with the AT put my hiking therapy on hold. I am lucky to have an essential job that kept me gainfully employed through the crisis and taking care of my parents and the home front kept me busy. My thoughts and experiences through this crisis have left me Covid fatigued. Ready to put the constant chatter and speculations behind and head into the forest to reconnect with my inner peace, I studied on potential hikes that would give us a challenge and a payoff and leave us feeling like we accomplished something.
I studied heading to the Smokies and decided the restrictions and the beautiful weather would concentrate folks on the available roads and trailheads and crowds of any kind were not on my agenda. Looking at the 80+ miles of available trail at the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and expecting less crowding there we headed over the state Line into Kentucky. The Park’s Visitor Center was closed along with all restroom, causing us to have to run into Middlesboro, KY to find an open restroom. Once business was attended to, we drove up Pinnacle Road to the Thomas Walker Parking area to access the trailhead. Pinnacle Road was closed past this point.
We disembarked from the Jeep and put on our packs and headed towards the Saddle of the Gap along the Object Lesson Road Trail. Built on an old road bed, the trail is wide and well marked, we did photo ops at the Gap then headed up to the Gazebo marking the Trip State Peak, there is a geological marker where one can stand and be in 3 states, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. We saw several folks on this short trail and spoke to a couple who advised us to climb on up to the Pinnacle Overlook and go out Ridge line Trail to get our proposed 10+/- miles in for the day. We were the only ones with packs on on this leg of our hike, most folks had only bottled water. The day was warm, in the middle 80’s but the humidity wasn’t too bad and there was a nice cool breeze that blew up every now and again adding to our comfort as we hiked along.
We decided to go on up to the Pinnacle Overlook as Rhonda had never been to the park before and the views from the overlook are stunning. The day was clear and beautiful. We left the Tri State Peak and retraced our steps back to the Wilderness Road Trail and made a left, went a short distance and headed up Harlan Road Trail. The Climb was a challenge exactly what we were looking for as the trail crossed and recrossed the winding Pinnacle Road. The absence of cars reminded us of the Park’s restrictions on visitation. We took a side trip to check out the Cannon at Fort McCook then left Harlan Road Trail and climbed towards the Pinnacle on the Fort McCook trail.
I could feel my heart rate rise as we climbed, and climbed. the short distance of 0.8 miles was pretty much straight up. I appreciated the shade and the breeze when it rustled by as I climbed. We ran into more folks here but not many. Again most had only light loads in comparison to our backpacks. When we arrived at the Pinnacle Parking area we had the overlook to ourselves. It was impressive!
From here we hiked a couple miles out the Ridge Line trail to where it intersected with Sugar Run Trail. We left the heights of the Overlook to get to the intersection. Along the way there were a couple of really nice views from off trail just a little ways. At one we sat on a rock and watched raptors ride the air currents below us. The birds were coasting in great circles below us and I watched enthralled by their beauty and grace. The hike retracing our steps to the Pinnacle then back to the Thomas Walker Parking area saw us pass other groups of folks heading up to the Pinnacle. We passed one family with the Father carrying 2 young children on the arduous climb. I was impressed.
It felt good to be out on the trails again, it felt normal after so much chaos. The handling of the Virus and its consequences will be with us and the future might very well look a lot different from the recent past, but the world will go on. Mother Nature does not bow to the whims of man. She just endures and we shall as well. Being able to step out into the embrace of nature leaving behind the craziness in whatever guise it wears is a blessing I will never take for granted.
Until next hike!!
MrsSmithsLifeUnexpected 