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Courtesy of the University of North Florida
and Jack Woodward
Here we are up to Thursday. The forecast was for heavy overcast in the morning and possible thundershowers in the afternoon. We had pre-purchased all-in-one passes for Ruby Falls, Rock City and the incline. Ruby Falls was done and with just Thursday and Friday morning to go we decided to try to go for Rock City and the incline. We went by way of Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway which skirts the cliff edge on the western side of the mountain. Remarkably the clouds overhead were well above the mountain. We had this bit of a surprise when we came to this spot. The ramp with the Lookout Mtn. sign is a take-off ramp for hang gliders. I told Dot I would like to try that one day so we stopped in to check out the prices and all. There is a pretty lengthy and somewhat expensive training process involved. However we found I could go up on a tandem flight with an instructor. We would be towed by an ultralight up to 2,000 feet and let loose to glide back to earth. The price for that was only $139. Pretty reasonable. There was also a mention of a 4,000 foot flight but no mention of price. If I'm going to do it, I'd go for the 4,000 footer. So Dot is insisting that the next time we come up here, weather permitting, I'm going to go for a hang glider ride. Cool ! I've been skydiving already, having made 15 jumps which included 7 freefalls. So I am ready for hang gliding for sure. Dot says she'll stay on the ground and take my picture.
This is a panoramic 180 degree view of the valley below. As you can see the valley is cloaked in fog. And let me tell you, under all that fog it is raining.
Some software came with my Canon camera that allows one to take a series of panoramic photos like the above pictures and 'stitch' them all together . . like this. Pretty neat huh? Of course there wasn't a curve, that is just an effect of putting all the pictures together into one picture.
Dot pointed out the safety net at the bottom of the ramp to me later, as I had missed seeing it. I have to wonder how many idiots it has saved who dared to see how far out on the ramp they could go.
This is at the beginning of the Rock City tour. It is a self guided footpath through the huge boulders. As you can see it is pretty foggy. We really dickered back and forth about maybe putting this off until our next visit. But we decided that since we were already here, we would go for it. Even with the fog, it was a worthwhile visit.
Looking down the path ahead.
This is one thing they do at all the major attractions. They did it here, they did it at Ruby Falls and they did it at the Tennessee Aquarium. They take a photo of you, then at the end of the tour, they show you the photo and hope you will buy it in a small package. $20 for a small photo package may be a good buy if you can't do it yourself. But obviously, Dot and I have no problem taking our own pictures when we want to. So just for grins, as the girl was photographing another couple, I called out , "Cheese", and snapped her picture. It made her laugh.
Venturing into the gardens.
The story goes that of the couple who first developed Rock City, the wife laid out a path using a string which she trailed behind her. Then they developed the infrastructure. Over the years, the couple has garnered a few awards for the various plants they used in the landscaping. It really is well laid out and a pleasant walk. We were lucky because of the time of year and the fall leaves which added a lot to the scenery.
This was one of the tight places to get through.
Beautiful isn't it?
See, we take our own portraits.
You can buy these bird houses for pretty cheap, $20 bucks. But there is more to the story. The couple who developed the place paid some guy to go around and paint barns and barn roofs with this sign. SEE ROCK CITY Supposedly the guy painted over 900 barns in the surrounding states. Dot, who is from Arkansas originally, said she remembers seeing those barns.
Makes ya want to go here doesn't it?
Looking down the mountainside. I use the word mountain, but the reality is, these are just big hills. I've been to the Rockies and to the Tetons. Now THOSE are mountains. But as far as the Appalachians are concerned, these pass for mountains. By the way, Lookout Mountain is on the southern tip of the Appalachians.
This is lover's leap. The story goes like this. An Indian maiden was in love with a man from another tribe. Sadly, the tribes, hers and his were at odds with one another. Her lover was caught by the men of her tribe and they threw him off the cliff. Very distraught, she leapt over the cliff to join her lover. Regardless, this is one drop not to be taken lightly. From the viewpoint where the person is, on a clear day once can see seven states. Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky. Quite obviously, we were lucky to see one state.
This is the waterfall.
Looking back toward a part of Rock City we hadn't been to yet. Scary looking overlook down there isn't it?
Yup, the fall leaves added a lot to the beauty.
It was nice of them to 'date' our visit.
The little sign says Fat Man's Squeeze. They weren't kidding. I had to take off my hat and turn sideways to get through.
More of the countryside.
That's Dot out there in the red.
That's Dot and I. I asked this young couple if they would snap the shutter on my camera which was on a tripod to take our picture. I returned the favor and used their camera to take their picture, where we are. If you kinda squint, you can see the waterfall on the right, near the right edge of the platform we were on.
A better view of the waterfall from the overlook we were on.
The path was interesting to follow.
This is a section made for the children. Some of it was very well done.
This is one of the children's views. These were painted in fluorescent paint and were under a black light . . that's why the colors are so dense. I didn't use a flash on these, just the light from the scene. They had at least 30 or 40 of these scenes. Most of them were based on childhood fairy tales.
This is how it looked when we were leaving Rock City.
In the parking area were these gorgeous red maples.
This is the incline I mentioned earlier. This incline has the distinction of being the world's steepest incline with a vertical pitch of 72.7 degrees near the top. Motion is supplied by a cable and pulley system from the top of the mountain. The ride covers a mile in distance and takes about 10 minutes.
Part way down and the clouds (and rain) moved in.
This is at the bottom looking up. As a side note, the two cables you see between the tracks are what is used to pull the coaches. The pair of cables have a combined strength of holding 142 tons. One of the cars weighs 12 tons.
Back in Cloudland Canyon park. As you can see the colors intensified by the day.
We took another side road to one of the shelters and walked back to a field. Dot saw these first and at first sight, she thought they were deer from a distance. I had the telephoto on the camera, expecting deer, and we were both surprised to see this flock of wild turkeys.
Some of them were REALLY big, standing almost 4 feet high. Of course, as we approached they flew off into the woods.
Then we looked to the left, and saw these four deer. 'Twas a good day for animal sightings. The rain started to move in so we went back to the cabin, started a nice fire, had some dinner and watched a movie. One day left.
Enjoy !
P.S.
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Email to Jack Woodward mailto: jackwoodward66@hotmail.com
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