Hike 2011.082 -- North Paved Trail, North-South Trail, and Canal Loop Trail, LBL

Hiked Saturday, November 12. Trying to hit those last few trail segments in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area that I haven't walked, yet. And, because this weekend was the quota deer hunt in Tennessee, I had to walk in the Kentucky part of LBL.

From US68/KY80, I headed north on the Trace. Just a mile and a half or so before reaching the North Welcome Station, I turned left on LBL Road #110 and parked. This is the south terminus of the North Paved Trail, only part of which I had walked previously. If you center on the section around the North Welcome Station, you can find Road #110 on the linked recreation map of the northern section of LBL, The North Paved trail is the dashed line closest to the Trace (Road #100), which is indicated from Road #110, north to Nickell Cemetery. Because it was Veterans Day weekend American flags had been placed on a tree overlooking the cemetery, and near several headstones.

Although the trail line is not apparent on this map, the trail continues north, parallel to the Trace, from Nickell Cemetery all the way to the North Welcome Center.

It took me about 45 minutes to reach the North Welcome Station. A vine with small purple berries was common along this segment, and on later sections of the trail. Fallen leaves practically obscured the pavement. If I were on a bike, I'd have to take some care not to skid out on the leaves, and to watch for sections where roots undermine the pavement, or where the pavement is fractured. Not a problem for a walker, of course.

This trail largely parallels the Trace, except for the southernmost section, which makes a rather roundabout path. Between 1.5 and 2 miles of walking on this section, on to the Welcome Center, then on to the Canal Loop.

I stopped briefly in the Welcome Center to buy some of the "country style" bacon they sell there. I assume this is bacon that doesn't really need preservatives, but has them for legal liability reasons, anyway. The bacon is in small, sealed plastic bags, and stored at room temperature. I'm sure the price is not all that great, but it does taste different from regular bacon, and it's not something I'm going to be able to easily eat after I leave the area.

For the Canal Loop trail, there's a small segment I hadn't walked, yet. It's from trial marker 12, counterclockwise, back down to the North-South Trail. So I took the Canal Loop trail from the Welcome Center to Point "D," then to 12, then back down to the North-South Trail. Once done with that, I was back on the North-South trail, where I had previously walked, on part of my Hike 2011.070. The Canal Loop map is linked here. The North-South trail map is linked here.

I took the North-South Trail only to the crossing of LBL Road #110. That dropped me off less than 200 yards west of where I had started the day. This segment of the North-South trail crosses several roads and several day use and campground areas. It's very unusual in that respect. I covered this ground as part of my hike 2011.

Along the way, there were a couple of nice views into Kentucky Lake. The wind was whipping over the lake, and whitecaps were common. Half-foot waves broke on the shore. Yeah, that's not much, but for a narrow lake like Kentucky, it's pretty impressive.

Near one lake overlook, I saw a fire ring. You're not supposed to build those, or at least you're supposed to obliterate them after you leave. However, I have been seeing a number of them the past month or so (after it got cold--duh!). This one was built with bricks, so I wonder who carried the bricks out here.

Still a few maples holding yellow leaves. The oaks have largely dropped their leaves. That which remains is brown and dead.

With the trees cleared of foliage, I've been seeing more hawks and owls, and I'm still amazed by how silently those large birds of prey can fly.

I also saw what looked like a yearling doe and a smaller fawn, bounding away from me as I approached Moss Creek.

As I passed Road #107 and prepared to entered the Hillman Ferry area, I saw a sign for Brown Spring. This was one of those green signs they have on the North-South Trail, with mileages to various points in each direction. It told me it was 3.2 miles back to the North Welcome Station, and .1 mile to Brown Spring. I took the detour to Brown Spring. It was a very small seep, coming out of concrete piling and through a metal grate. The water looked very unappealing.

From the spring, it was a very short distance to reach the Hillman Ferry boundary, where I soon crossed LBL Road #110. I emerged not 200 yards west of where I started.

Taking into account the 3.2 mile distance indicated back to the North Welcome Station, and the route I took to get here (looping along a portion of the Canal Loop), plus the North Paved Road I took to get to the North Welcome Center, I'll call it 6.4 miles for the day.

Somewhat limited in my picture taking, again. I forgot to buy myself a new SD card to replace the defective one I discovered on my last trip. That one was a SanDisk, by the way. Just thought I'd mention the brand here, and that I sent them an e-mail asking for a replacement. They answered with a request for more information, which I provided last night. I'll post later about how this dispute gets resolved.