This Month:
aka Huntnlady
The Red River Gorge is located within Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest, in the foothills of Appalachia. The Gorge is protected from any type of development and is truly a wonderful and wild place. It is a place for hiking, camping, backpacking, rock climbing, and Geocaching. Over 60 miles of trails are located in the Gorge. Trails range from short, easy hikes to overlooks, all the way to arduous, multi-day trips in the backcountry. (Overnight use of the Red River Gorge requires a recreation pass that has a small fee.)
The Red River Gorge is known as the Land of the Arches. Over 100 natural arches can be found in the RRG and many hiking trails take you to the best and biggest of these beautiful formations. Its many rock formations and cliff lines are Corbin Sandstone, a pocketed conglomerate of sand, iron ore, and pebbles.
Exercise caution along the cliff lines. Each year, people are severely injured or killed by falls from the ridges that are up to 200 feet high.
The land is generally rugged and characterized by steep slopes, narrow valleys, and cliffs. Top attractions of this forest are cliffs, sandstone arches, and canyon-like hollows and valleys. The area reminds many of southwest canyon country — with enough rainfall, however, to sustain a mixed hardwood forest.
While the Geocacher is seeking hidden ammo boxes, they can observe a wide variety of plant and animal life. The trees are deciduous hardwoods and various types of pine. Redbuds and Dogwoods make spring as beautiful a color show as fall, and Rhododendrons are the main undergrowth. Expect to see squirrels, raccoons, and the occasional white tailed deer in the RRG, and be wary of bees and wasps along the cliffs. Snakes are not a primary concern, but copperheads and rattlesnakes are spotted from time to time.
Recommended for the trip is a topographical map of the entire Gorge area that has all the trails and landmarks on it--available from several sources including by mail from the ranger station in Stanton.
If there is a group of Geocachers going with more than one vehicle, the group could start at the Pinch ‘em Tight trailhead on Tunnel Ridge Rd. About halfway along it is the Pinch ‘em Tight cache (owned by Weedhopper). Where the Buck Trail branches off, take it to the Buck Trail Geocache (also owned by Weedhopper). Continuing down Buck Trail, take the Koomer Ridge Trail northward where it intersects with Buck Trail. At Chimney Creek, the Boomer Ridge Trail meets the Rough Trail- head east. Rough Trail passes Chimney Top Road, and runs right by Back Packer's Rough Trail Cache(owned by sjs102), after crossing Parched Corn Creek. From here Rough Trail goes to Sky Bridge Road. This would be a good place to have a car waiting.
It takes an estimated 3 hours hiking time from Koomer Ridge campground to Tunnel Ridge Road. For the lone Geocacher, it might be more convenient to leave a car at Koomer Ridge, and walk back there from Tunnel Ridge Road (about 60-75 minutes walk), then drive down to the parking place on the road just north of Angel Windows parking area and walk down to the Rough trail cache and back. This would work best for those who don't have extra bodies to shuttle cars around.
Comment from chai_pa about Buck Trail: “It was a great hike and we loved every minute of it. We saw some great wildlife along the way. We even saw a Pileated Woodpecker.” FromRWillieK: “Everything was in good shape, except us.” J
Comments from smcd for the Back Packer's Rough Trail Cache include: “ Wow! What a beautiful section of the Rough trail! It was cold and it was drizzling a bit, but it was hardly noticeable with the stunning scenery.” The GPSr readings will be bouncing around the cliffs there, so Weedhopper’s entry in the log has an encrypted clue that will be helpful.
Weedhopper relates this experience in the Red River Gorge: “Back on a Friday in March '87 I hiked the Koomer Ridge/Rough trail loop with a full pack. I heard a woodpecker about 1/4 of a mile away. It was clear as a bell--no other sound. Later I was ascending the Gorge from the creek at the bottom, and discovered that sometimes it is so quiet down there that there are no sounds unless you make them--the squeaking of my pack was all—sometimes silence and solitude can be an exhilarating experience. I read about a year ago that there are few woodpeckers left in the Gorge, so I immediately thought back on that experience and thought how lucky I was to have experienced it when I did.”
Weedhopper is planning on placing another cache in the Gorge in May, which promises to be one of the most difficult caches to reach in the entire Southeast, but also one of the most rewarding.