The other day I needed to be in Hixson, TN. for a morning appointment. When I was done, it was still before noon, so I pulled up the AllTrails app on my phone to see what might be close by for a quick day hike and photo recon for potential paintings.
Just a few miles away up near Soddy Daisy I sought to see what the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge might have for me. It was a picture perfect, blue sky day and temps in the mid 50's.
I grabbed a bottle of water and a Clif Bar and set out along the creek to hike about 4 miles total and 800ft of elevation to see some waterfalls that were on some side creeks that fed in the gorge. This trail is actually part of the longer Cumberland Trail that traverses the Cumberland Plateau for nearly 300 miles.
The falls where I decided to make my backtrack from is called Strip Mine Falls. I had passed some remnants of concrete piers that must have been part of a coal tipple or conveyor system. The trail actually follows and old roadbed for much of it's length, but there are some place where it's a scramble up some switchbacks to make it interesting and a workout.
I couldn't decide, as I'm no geologist, whether the heavy orange, red, and yellow tints were sulphur or iron deposits. I couldn't smell any sulphur, like I could around the coal fields where I grew up in Southern Indiana. You never forget that smell. So, perhaps it's iron. Whatever it is, it sure makes a colorful scene with the clear blue waters of the larger creek. It's not an exaggeration to say it is fully saturated with color and it's a sight to behold.
With the winter having bared all but the evergreen trees, the gorge had wonderful views and along the hike I couldn't get over how much it was reminding me of my hikes along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River in Wyoming. It made me happy. It will be a much different scene in the summer.
This one will definitely be on "places to return" list.
I painted this one this evening from one of my photos.
It's a 6"x8" gouache on 140lb. Arches watercolor paper
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