Oh are we going to
have fun today! It’s a beautiful sun shiny day in Greenbrier. And it’s a good
thing because we are going to need all the sunshine energy for a hike on the
Ramsey Cascades Trail. Oh, but today we will need our alter egos to help us. So
first let’s introduce the players. Introducing our fearless leader: a Jedi for
all seasons, the master of the bushwhack, the terror of the gully and all
around fun guy – Tasmanian Maples
Next up we have the
rhododendron thrasher, master of the Laurel
thickets, king of the rock cairns and also all
around fun guy – Yosemite Ben
And finally, yours
truly: the master of the creek crossing, the doctor of the dirt, the prince of
the dog hobble and all around lunatic – Mike the Cat stairs Cat
You will soon see why
we need the kitty power with us on this hike. For as I stated, we set off on
the Ramsey Cascades trail – for about 5 minutes. Faster than the speed of sound
the Tasman took a sharp left and up we went. Check it out:
After following an
old roadbed for a short bit, we took a right and followed the spine of the
ridge up toward Devils Den. After a bit of climbing we had some beautiful
views.
And also saw some
interesting rock formations
As Tasmanian Maples
spun up the ridge, Yosemite Ben was shooting
up the hillside through the rhodo.
Eventually we made it
up to the top of Devils Den. Hey cool cat how you liking the hike so far?
We went right from
Devils Den on a flat bench to check out some rock formations and the original
plan was to go back the other way up and over some ridges to the Barnes place.
But being the crazy guys we are we decided to go up to the Lookout tower
instead. Look closely to the right on the map and you will see the Jeep trail
that goes up to the tower. But we decided to make our own trail – straight up!
But it was just a
walk in the park for the master of the laurel thickets!
And here’s our
version of “Where’s Waldo” – it’s called “can you spot the Maples in this
picture?”
We did reach the Jeep
trail and soon found ourselves soaring to the tower.
Of course the tower
has been torn down and here’s the Jedi inspecting the remnants
A few more items for
your viewing pleasure.
As we made our way
back down the Jeep trail we paused for a moment of ceremony and celebration. Let’s
have a big gosmokies round of hoot n hollers for the newly appointed Mountain
Jedi – Ben Bacot.
And to celebrate the
new title, Ben had the honor of leading us down the Cat stairs! (Told you the
kitty power was going to be needed)
And did we mention
the views?
And away we go
(down)!!!
Our leader was cool,
calm and collected as he led us down.
Are we having fun
yet?
For those who think
going down is always easy – try the Cat stairs!
We made our way down
the ridge and overshot the Barnes place a little so we backtracked and did a
bit of the ol’ bushwhack and soon came out at the Barnes place.
And soon followed by
the Barnes Cemetery
A small cemetery with
only three graves – sadly all children.
As we made our way
back toward the road we came across a couple more home sites. The Harriett
Whaley place had a lot of cool stuff. Check it out!
As we walked the road
back to the cat mobile we returned our alter egos to their rightful places to
await another day and another Jedi hike.
