I've often said "I don't sweat, I glisten" but today I got my sweat on. Secret the Wonder Pup and I headed to Craven's House on Lookout Mountain this morning a little before 9am on this warm but overcast June 25th day. (Craven's house is located off Lookout Mountain Scenic Hwy- follow the signs to Ruby Falls and you will see a big brown sign labeled "Craven's House to your right- I think that was Craven's Terrace.) The nice thing about parking here is that it is free, whereas if you parked at Point Park you would need to pay the park fees. Secret and I parked and then did a little sightseeing around the house itself- which isn't open to visitors on a regular basis but you can walk around it and look off its wonderful back porch for an amazing view. In fact, if you are just interested in seeing a view and learning a bit about Chattanooga during the Civil War, this is a pretty good stop. State monuments and cannons on flat surfaces await you from about 50 feet from where you park. Easy and worth it. Craven's House was the headquarters for the confederate soldiers when they occupied Lookout Mountain and is currently part of the
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. This stronghold was taken over during the renowned
Battle Above the Clouds and the Confederate soldiers fell back and off the mountain as the "Union soldiers climbed to Point Lookout just above here and planted the U.S. flag" according to the placard at the house.
Secret and I walked around the grounds a bit and then headed for the trails. My plan was to hike to Point Park but we were doing so well I decided to go on to Sunset Rock instead. The trails were well traveled and easily marked. Along the way to Sunset Rock, we saw a couple doing some bouldering but we pretty much had the trail to ourselves otherwise. The trail between Craven's House and the turn up to Point Park wasn't too bad. There were definite times one had to focus on one's foot falls but the incline to that point wasn't too hard. Along the way the lush green vegetation was gorgeous and gave us some wonderful shade for our journey. We saw some blackberries growing, as well as some wild hydrangea growing along the path that gave a bit of white contrast against all the green. We even happened upon some beautiful red blooming mountain laurel, which was a surprise and a treat as we worked our way along the edge of a giant boulder to our left and some fairly ominous drops to our right up the side of the mountain.
Immediately the incline got more intense as we weaved our way around rocks in the path and in some places stepped up some pretty steep nature made stair steps. It was about that time that I realized the gnats were becoming annoying but I feel fairly certain the appearance of gnats was in direct correlation to my stinky sweat at this point! It was also about this time that I'm also quite sure both Secret and myself thought "This hike would be a lot easier if she wasn't along." Secret the Wonder Pup was a lot more sure of her footing than I was at that point and I was slowing her roll.
The hike from Craven's House to Signal Point is labeled as 1 1/2 miles but it's a tricky hike once the incline starts. It had stormed badly the day before in the Chattanooga area so there were some places where Secret got some good drinks of water along the way. I will say, considering how much it had rained, the path wasn't very muddy. As I said before, it is a well used path by hikers and climbers so the dirt is packed down pretty good and because it's literally a one-way footpath during most of the upward climb, the water keeps rolling down the mountain instead of puddling in the trails.
A friend of mine asked if it was kid friendly, I'm going to go with a "no" for little kids. While there was safety "railing" (guide wires) along the path in some places, there were also many places where it would be really easy to lose your footing and tumble
way down to the unknown. I even got nervous for Secret a few times. One of my favorite moments along the way was getting a little peep teaser through the trees of the view we were seeking.
As we got near the top of our destination, getting to Sunset Rock meant walking up some pretty steep rock steps. Along with this came a wonderful breeze that was a needed refreshment in that moment. Climbing that part with Secret the Wonder Pup with the hip issue got a little intense but she was a champ and made it to the top without any problem. Once there, we sat on the rock for ten minutes or so and enjoyed the breeze and the view of the gorgeous Tennessee Valley. Once again I found myself thinking "Wow! Chattanooga the beautiful!" There really is something magical about hiking on Lookout and Signal. The meandering trails in the woods feel so much cooler than down in the valley. It is as if you have left Chattanooga but yet it is right there below with Mocassin Bend waving it's currents at you as you are perched high above the Scenic City!
On our way back to the car we passed just a few more hikers and the boulder climbers were making progress. And then off in the distance I heard a train whistle and I thought, "Yes,
this is Chattanooga!" I imagined being a visitor to our fair city doing that hike this morning and it felt like the sound of the train was the perfect cue to a true Chattanooga experience. Welcome to Choo Choo city!
I will say when we made it back to Craven's House (it probably took us 1 1/2 hours), there wasn't a dry thread on me but it was a good sweat because it was a good hike. Secret made a few friends along the way, we chatted with a few people on the trails and before getting in the car we sat on the porch of Craven's house and cooled down while Secret bobbed for blueberries in her bowl of water. Have I mentioned that I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge I've set of walking the dog and seeing more of #CHAthebeautiful?
This is definitely a meandering path that starts with kudzu right up to the path but quickly opens to a wider trail flanked by boulders along the way. Then you come around a corner and hear water and see a bridge. The coolness was noticeable on this very hot and humid July day. The falls themselves was more of a trickle but the clearness of the shallow pool at the base was very inviting to Secret.
We didn't see anyone at all as we made it to this point. We then when over the bridge and hiked around the ridge of a drop-off for a while before turning around. It was after we turned around that Secret noticed the stairs right before we got back to the bridge. At this point I could hear and see people up above the falls but they couldn't see me. Secret and I took the stairs up to the stone door and as we walked into the "cave" to come out on the upper side of the falls Secret startled a couple that was about to come back through. It wasn't her fault, she wasn't being aggressive or anything the man just wasn't expecting her and he yelled out "Oh law, I thought that waz a barrrr!" As I suppressed my giggle, I apologized and they told me they were from Mississippi and that THIS type of thing was what they wanted to see by coming to Tennessee. I had that swelling in my chest for Chattanooga the beautiful!
The couple went along their way and Secret and I did some more exploring. We then walked back down the stairs and across the bridge and saw a mom with her two toddlers playing at the bottom of the falls. I told her she must be the smartest mom in Chattanooga taking advantage of that beautiful location and cooling off at the same time. I kinda felt sad that I had never done that with my girls when they were little.
