Normandy Lake Paddle

There were 5 kayakers who spent several hours paddling Normandy Lake in Manchester. We headed left from the boat ramp, paddled under the Mountain Road bridge and explored the northern section of the lake. We enjoyed a nice take out for lunch at a picnic table. Kayakers were Jim Barritt, Judith Fries, Joan Hartvigsen, Lacee Lanier, and Sara Pollard. 

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Chilhowee Camping, Hiking, and Kayaking

 

Joan Hartvigsen of the Highland Rim chapter reserved 4 campsites in the Chilhowee Campground located in the Cherokee National Forest. The campsites were located in Loop A and were close together. We had 4 tent campers and Brian and Ruth Wofford stayed in their RV next to our campsites. We enjoyed a meal together the first evening. Brian grilled brats and hot dogs, and side items were shared. We had three copperhead snakes to pass through our campsite after finishing our dinner. Tuesday, we kayaked from the Parksville Lake boat ramp and explored the boy scout camp. Then we hiked to Benton Falls from our campsite. Wednesday morning, we put in at the Kings Slough Boat Ramp and kayaked Baker's Creek and Indian Creek. We spotted a bear on the shoreline taking a drink from the lake.  After the 8-mile kayak trip, we decided to break up camp and head home since a storm was coming in. We had nice weather and saw lots of wildflowers around the lake and on the hike. Campers were Cathy Conley, Joan Hartvigsen, Sara Pollard, Lynn Rosser, Brian and Ruth Wofford.

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Barfield Park

Lynn Rosser led 6 hikers on the Marshall Loop trail at Barfield Crescent Park. Two of the hikers had recently moved here and one has been living in Murfreesboro for less than a year. We started behind the Wilderness Station, and we followed the West Fork Stones River along the trail and stopped for a break before heading back on the paved section. There was very little water in the river and Tammy was able to identify some wildflowers for us. Hikers were Karen Bailey, Jay Brain, Tammy Gross, Guizho Hollandsworth, Connie Matthles, Sara Pollard and Lynn Rosser. 

Tims Ford Lake Camping and Kayaking

We had 6 campers to kayak for camping on Little Island at Tims Ford Park Lake. This joint adventure with the Highland Rim chapter started out Friday evening. After dinner we paddled around the neighboring Big Island twice at sunset. Friday night there was a storm with lightning, thunder and heavy rain. Saturday morning, we had to wait until the afternoon to paddle because of the constant rain. We had dinner at the Twin Creeks Marina and enjoyed the nighttime paddle back to our campsite and were able to have a campfire.  Sunday morning three of us paddled to the Tims Ford State Park Marina and enjoyed eating ice cream. Campers/kayakers were Jim Barritt, Jean Breuer, Wendy Fish, Sara Pollard, Georganne Ross and Amy Sutton. 

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Woods Reservoir Paddle

We had 15 kayakers and one person on a sailboat at Woods Reservoir located at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) near Tullahoma. This was a joint event with the Highland Rim chapter, and we had members from the Scenic City and Sumner Trails chapters as well.  It was a beautiful day, and we put in on Brumlow Creek and paddled the shoreline of Elder Island.  We enjoyed lunch under a nice picnic, and also passed the UT Space Institute, officers' club and beach area.  Kayakers were Jim Barritt, Cathy Conley, Chuck Deen, Patty Deen, Wayne Drown, Ron Dunn, Joan Hartvigsen, Scott Jordan, Sarah Lovett, Sara Pollard, Julie Roberts, Georganne Ross, Lynn Rosser, Todd Stanley, Suzanne Thigpen, and Michel Travers on his sailboat.

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Walls of Jericho

We had a small group of hikers today but we enjoyed the 8 mile round trip to the Walls of Jericho. We started on the Tennessee side, hiked to the "walls",  had lunch and returned on the shorter trail to the Alabama trailhead. We encountered several downed trees over the trail but managed to get over and under them. Water levels were low and only one of us (Jim) went to the second waterfall which he said was dry. This trail was designed by the late Jim Schroeder of our chapter. Hikers were Jim Barritt, John Earthman, Sara Pollard, and Cynthia Skidmore.

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Flat Rock Cedar Glades SNA

We had 20 hikers on this joint hike with the Columbia/Franklin chapter. Chris Hoffman organized the hike and made lunch reservations at Jefferson's on Main Street in Murfreesboro. Sara Pollard was co leader. We had hikers from several areas of Tennessee. We saw lots of beautiful wildflowers and passed a massive sinkhole. Directional signs were lacking and there were several side trails that could be confusing. Hikers were Jessica Andrews, John Beckman, Anna Lina Buckley, Maureen Byrd, Joe Campbell, Cindy Charest, Marlene Cobos, Debra Dodd, Katy Ginanni, John Gizelar, Anne Harper, Chris Hoffman, Karen Jones, Sandy Lewis, Gary Patterson, Sara Pollard, Carol Rolfes, Sean Spidle, Vera Spidle, and Brian Tormey. 

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