Links to My Pictures are Here: http://www.soundsofthedesert.org/cumberlandgap2007.htm
Link to Tim's Pictures are Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/tacristy/407CUGA
This has been a trip I've been waiting for for a couple of months now. I couldn't wait to get out with good folks I haven't packed with in quite sometime. 7even (Bill) I've known since my first backpacking trip 2 years ago this Memorial Day weekend. Gigger (Cathy), I've know since Dolly Sods, Oct 2005. Shorty (Jim), since Red River Gorge, June 2006. Pig Pen (Gary) and Tim (still working on a trail name for him) since our Wild Cat Hollow trip in January of this year. All great folks.
Our destination was Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on the state lines of VA, TN, and KY. The area is so rich in history that it's hard to not become enamored with it. "In 1775 Daniel Boone and a crew of 30 armed axemen blazed the Wilderness Road, long used as a trail by Native Americans, pioneer explorers, and buffalo. This trail became a major road in the late 18th century. Between 1780 and 1810, nearly 300,000 people used the road heading west from the eastern settlements into the Kentucky frontier."
Friday, April 27: We would begin our drive to KY, TN, and VA (the trail humps all 3 states). Gary and Tim would drive down together and 7even, Shorty, Gigger and myself all rode in Gigger's car. We got a later start, about 0830 and got down to the park area at around noon, had lunch, stopped at the visitor center to pick up permits and get lectured for not taking cell phones with us. However, Gigger noticed the guy giving out permits had his name tag on. His name was Tim Hensley. Tim is a distant cousin of the original settlers that lived on top of that thar mountain. Another ranger informed us of an increase in bear sightings (biologists have tagged 14 bears in the park). Humans have really become a problem in the area. 
In an effort to help the bears out, the park service installed new bear cables just a month ago.
Finally, we were off to the trail head. After shuttling the car to the other end of the trail, it was probably 1430 before we started up the Ewing Trail on the east side of the park. This trail starts its climb at 1,600' to about 3,250' in 3 miles. It's a gentle climb, really. Plus, we were very fortunate in that it had rained a lot the day before, so the mountain runoffs were really flowing. Even though the breeze was cool, the sun came out and started beating down on us. It felt great to cool off in those little cascades.
The last .4 miles of the trail was open to foot traffic only. It was the steepest part of the ascent. We knew we were close, when suddenly the trail opened up in all directions. Straight took us down to the White Rocks Campsite. Left would take us to the Pinnacle (not to be confused with that of the Pinnacle in PA) and right would take us to White Rocks overlook. We decided to head down to the campsite, hang our packs and head up to White Rocks to take in the views before the sun set. As we got closer to the overlook, the Rhodedendruns really started to get thick. The the rock started squeezing together. 7even noted that last year this was the Hobbit Hole. But, this year it would be called Mr. Tumnus' home, from the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It fit perfectly. The place definitley had a fantasy/magical feel to it. I thought for sure Mr Tumnus would jump out of one of the Rhody tunnels at any point.
We climbed up a slot and found several trails leading off to the overlook. We found ourselves nice little pieces of rock and sat down with the wind whipping around us and the sun dancing among the clouds. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had a great time exploring the rocks and overlook that extended out quite some distance.
After about an hour and a half, we decided to get back to camp before it started to get dark, set up camp and eat dinner. 7even shared something rather interesting with me on our trek up the mountain. Don't even remember how it came up, but he informed me that he was wearing a rather bothersome pair of underwear and said he usually doesn't wear them backpacking. He proclaimed he'd be doing a ceremony around the campfire that night and burning them. We decided henceforth, any new Group members joining us on our outtings would follow in 7even's footsteps and burn their underwear. A sort of innitiation, if you will. 
So, yes, we enjoyed a small campfire and it got to be about 2100. We decided to head back up to White Rocks and, even though it was cloudy, enjoy the lights below in the valley. It was a windy night and the temps had dropped significantly. Tonight, we watched the moon light dance in the clouds. Even caught a moonbow around the moon. Sure sign of rain in the forecast. But tonight, none of that mattered. All that mattered was the stillness of the world around us. After about an hour, we decided to head back to camp and hit the sack. We had an early morning ahead of us with about a 13 mile day.
Saturday, April 28: It's about 7am and there is commotion in the area. Everyone is starting to stir, but I try to take advantage of a few more minutes of rest/sleep. No go. I'm up now. I pull myself out of my cacoon and join the others around the campfire. 3 of us (Gigger, 7even and myself) all had the same idea for breakfast. Granola with blueberries and dried milk. It hit the spot this morning. We were all packed up and ready to go for the day by 0830.
We hit the trail, with me in the front. We thought at camp it was going to be another nice sunny day. As we walked, the clouds started to roll in and I started thinking differently. Our first destination was about a mile up trail, a place called Sand Cave. Here we dropped our packs and made a pretty steep decent down about a half mile to the cave. Not soon after we started hiking, we could hear the running stream down below. There were rhodedendruns lining the trail the entire way down. Again, this seemed like a magical place much like "Mr Tumnus' home". 
Once we hit the bottom, we were greeted with a 30' beautiful waterfall. The recent rain made it even better. To the right of the waterfall was Sand Cave. It was absolutely huge! We started hiking up to the back of the cave. It's called Sand Cave for a reason, and that in itself made hiking any part of it a task. You'd take a step up and slide back about two steps. It was great fun!
About an hour past and we decided that we'd head up and out of the gorge. As we headed up and out, we started feel rain drops. I didn't think it was possible to have perfect weather for an entire weekend. Sure enough, after we donned our packs again, it started raining more steadily. At that point we all put on our rain gear and started heading up trail.
Again, I'd take up the lead. The rain made the trail mystical. In areas, the clouds were rolling over the Ridge Trail. It made the morning's hike so peaceful and allowed me to feel completely by myself on the trail. It was a beautiful morning for a hike.
About 6 miles after leaving camp that morning, we reached the Hennsley Settlement. By this time, the sun started coming out and the clouds cleared away. We entered the grassy, open field of the Hennsley Settlement and scouted out where we would have lunch. There was a log cabin at the entrance with a nice porch on it. It provided a pretty good windblock. We hung out raingear from the porch to dry and got our lunches out and made ourselves at home. It had turned into a beautiful afternoon and perfect for napping on this old log cabin porch.
About 45 minutes after hanging out on the porch, some people came along and were touring the old buildings of the Settlement. We were lucky in walking along the settlement and them coming along about the same time and the park ranger allowed us to take a look inside of the old log homes. It was really something to see. The Hennsley Settlement had me wondering, once again, what it would be like to live this life. Completely self-sustained living, relying on no one except for Mother Nature. Such peacefulness on top of that mountain. The landscape was awe-enspiring and my imagination went crazy. It's always been a dream of mine to live a life like this.
After wandering around the Hennsley Settlement, we got back on the trail. Another 6 miles to camp, Gibson Gap. We were hiking along at a pretty good clip again, but we had some decent hills on this section. It felt great to see what my legs could do. We saw no other backpackers until this section. We were heading down a good sized hill and I believe a boy scout troop was heading the opposite direction. Mind you, it was around 1500 or 1530 and they still had about 4 miles to go until they hit the camp in the Hennsley Settlement area. We reached Gibson Gap around 1600 and set up. There were two other guys there when we reached it and about an hour after we made camp, a father and his 3 kids came in.
We ate dinner and made a fire. Sat around a shared stories. Passed Gigger's hooch around, hung our food and headed to bed. We would be attempting to find Devil's Garden on our way out in the morning.
The next morning it was much of the same. Eat breakfast, pack up and head out. Tim had found coordinates for an area called Devil's Garden. We decided to go ahead and try to find it. It's been likened to that of Bryce Canyon with large rock spires jutting up out of the ground. There is also rumored to be 30' and 60' waterfalls there. It sounds like a Garden of Eden to me.
About a mile from camp, we find the old jeep road that leads off trail and start heading down. We reach the stream and at this point, we cut acrosss and start heading back toward the way we came. About an hour (or more) later and only .5 miles, we reach the point that we would abort our search. Tim said we were only 500' from our destination. That 500' was down. Which means we would have to come back up and at about 1200, and the fact we were going home this day, it just wasn't happening. So, we deemed that we would be back another day and reach our destination.
We headed back to the stream and had lunch there, letting our feet soak and cleaning up. About 45 minutes to an hour at the stream, we decided we needed to hit the trail and get going. We packed our things up and started walking up the hill back to the trail. About 100' up, I realized I was short an item. I had left my camera down at the stream. I dropped my pack and ran back to get it. What a waste of needed energy that was. Someone needs to keep a better eye on me.
I was moving really slow today because my ankles and feet had had it with the bushwhack we did. Gigger and I kept pace with each other for the trip out. We finally reached the trail intersection to take the trail 1 mile down. This trail followed a stream with cascading waterfalls. Very pretty area. Saw numerous wildflowers and I managed to cruise right on by a Pink Lady Slipper. 7even yelled at me to come back and I was so excited to see it! It was my first Lady Slipper sighting and it was a perfect end to a beautiful weekend. Unfortunately, the flower was in a shadow, so the picture didn't come out very nice.
