Joie de Linda: Chris' Annual Birthday Hike

Each year Chris selects a hiking destination to celebrate his birthday. This year he invited family members to join him to hike Coyote Point in the Lone Mountain State Forest.

Lone Mountain State Forest is located in Morgan County 7 miles west of Oliver Springs and 4 miles south of Wartburg. Lone Mountain, rising to an elevation of 2530 feet, overlooks the valley dotted with farms. The state forest includes 3624 acres of reclaimed forest formerly owned, logged and abused by the Lone Mountain Land Company which clear-cut and abandoned the mountain. The state acquired the property in 1938 and in 1970, the forest was named Lone Mountain State Forest. Just across the road from the trail parking lot is the forestry headquarters.

Interestingly, the cab of the House Mountain fire tower just outside Knoxville, TN was relocated to this site in order to be preserved.

Our crew: Noel, Jay, Emily, Chris, Jacob and Schaeffer gather for a photo-op before beginning the hike. Our route included starting out on the Smokey Bear Trail which would intersect with the Daily Trail leading to the spur trail to Coyote Point.

The trail for the first 0.3 miles is mostly flat with an occasional dip or climb. Calculations based upon the kiosk information indicated that the hike would be about 7 miles round trip, in-out. However, according to the readings of 3 different GPS devices, the hike actually was closer to 8.3 miles.

With all the rainfall these past few weeks, the mushrooms and other fungi were abundant, varied and colorful.

Tiny orange cups were scattered among the leaf litter.

Some looked alien!

A tiny mushroom parasol balanced on a delicate stem.

Boletes are mushrooms but without the gills underneath the cap.

Boletes come in a variety of colors.

Now from a different angle, look closely at the pattern on this 'shroom! Do you see a facial expression? Perhaps with its crinkled eyes and muttonchops sideburns, you see Mr. Fezziwig, that gentle, generous character in Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol.

For the entire hike we noticed that the trail was quite wide. Later research revealed that the trail is maintained by occasional bulldozing. That may explain why the trail had a few sections that were extremely steep straight up the slope rather than broken by switchbacks. Also we noticed that there were no water bars to prevent erosion. This is probably due in part to the forestry service's policy of a hands-off maintenance of the forest to allow natural growth and recovery.

The woods were full of late summer flowers or fruit that was showier than blossoms.

Spreading False Foxglove graced a steep bank along a section of the trail.

Leafy Elephant's Foot

DYC (aka Darn Yellow Composite) Perhaps Stiff-haired Sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus)

Southern Horse Balm

Whorled Horse Balm

Some interesting features captured our attention. A tree with a bustle!

A mud structure built by some creative creature!

There were actually 2 box turtles on the trail. Growing up, I used to enjoy when my dad would stop to rescue a box turtle in the middle of the road. No need to rescue this fella; he was safe where he was!

Occasionally we stopped to chat or catch our breath after a steep climb.

On the higher slopes of Lone Mountain we began to see Dolls Eyes, the fruit of White Baneberry.

At last after a hard pull up the mountain on Smokey Bear Trail we reached the intersection of Daily Trail and Longest Mile Trail. Here we took a lunch break. From this intersection the trail would go another mile or so to the Coyote spur trail. At this point, Chris determined that his energy level would not be sufficient to enable him to reach Coyote Point. So, he and I returned to the vehicle to wait for the others to complete the hike.

By this point the elevation has gone from 1370 feet at the parking area to nearly 2190 feet at Rankin Spring. However, the trail at this elevation had few climbs and mostly ran along the crest of the mountain.

Looking out over the valley we could see the Crab Orchard Mountains along with Brushy Mountain.

The reward of a strenuous hike is reaching the summit! Our daughter Emily and our grandson Schaeffer eagerly accept offers to join us on hikes and meanderings.