Monday, January 18th
The temps were in the low 30s with very dense fog on this Martin Luther King day. My notes say we got up at 6:20, but I find it hard to believe we slept that late. We checked the weather to see what the day might look like. No rain predicted and fog was supposed to burn off by late morning.
We were both wanting to get out and hike and Bob suggested Percy Warner Park which is just about 15 minutes down the road from his place. So, after our Kashi cereal breakfast we headed out the door.
Click on the photos below for a larger image.
Percy Warner Park is just over 2000 acres of woods which is only 9 miles to the southwest from downtown Nashville. It is adjacent to another track land - Edwin Warner Park, which is 620 acres. To the north west these parks are connected to Belle Meade Park via Bell Meade Blvd. This allows direct access via city streets.
Collectively known as Warner Parks, they were opened in 1927, and are on land donated by Percie Warner Lea and her husband, Luke.
This nice kiosk/shelter and well designed map make easy for even a new come to navigate around the park.
Click to zoom in and read the map.
As you can see there are 8 miles of hiking trails and 18 miles of bridal paths. We decided on the Mossy Ridge Trail which is a 4.5 mile loop.
As you can see the park is well treed and we some very interesting specimens on the hike.
This is the Betsy Ross cabin site. I could find no additional information about this structure.
The chimney had a fireplace on both sides. The one seen here may have been used for cooking as it was only a few feet from the edge of the foundation.
Who know why these steps were built and where they might have gone to.
The rock wall enclosure for the cabin site was covered with moss.
This was a nice surprise! We saw several nice sized specimens of what I took to be Dissected Grape Fern (Botrychium dissectum).
This fern is winter green and will often turn a bronze color as the weather gets cooler.
Here I am holding up the now spent fertile frond which would have borne the spores in round capsules reminiscent of clusters of grapes, thus the common name - Grape Fern.
When ferns have two types of fronds, one bearing spore and one not, they are called dimorphic fronds.
There were several of the substantial and unique looking benches along the trail.
This old log was covered with puffballs.
When you squeeze them they send out a cloud of spores in a big puff.
Wow! An Ent!!
We had never seen anything quite like this before and had fun speculating on how this American Beech ended up with "legs".
The beautiful browns of Winter.
An interesting fungus - similar to Turkey Tail.
The red heart ornaments were all that remained on this woodland Christmas Tree.
Bob and his highly inefficient Rover. Meist!!!
On the way back we stopped for breakfast/lunch at the Sportsman Grill, one of Bob favored hangouts. They are a local business and now have 3 locations in the Nashville area. This one is located at 5405 Harding Road. They also have the Sportman's Lodge which this is not in spite of what the sign says.
Logs used in the construction of Sportsman's Lodge are Engleman Spruce from Northwest Montana. They grow at higher elevations and are harvested from standing dead timber that have been damaged from fire. The log walls are 12" in diameter and are approximately 75 years old. The timbers in the trusses are 15" in diameter and are over 125 years old. The three main timbers in the bar area are over 24" in diameter and are will over 200 years of age. The logs were hand peeled and handcrafted to fit together to form this structure.
Bob had his favorite - the Southwestern Chicken wrap.
I had the Red Beans and Sausage with hoecakes.
This yummy dish took me right back to the Napoleon House in New Orleans!
After lunch we swung by Trader Joes so I could get some provision for the road.
Yes, even the wealthy and influential want sidewalks, not just the workin' jerks of Morgantown, West Virginia!
Shortly after we got home Bob hit the sack. He works the night shift and so is a day sleeper. I worked on my web pages until about 6:30 then had a salad. Bob was up at 8:00 and off to work by 9:00 - my bed time.
Another fun day in the Woods and City.