Cooper: Diane, last night I dreamed I was eating a large, tasteless gumdrop, and awoke to discover I was chewing on one of my foam disposable earplugs. Perhaps I should consider moderating my nighttime coffee consumption.
-- "Twin Peaks"

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Showing posts with label bledsoe creek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bledsoe creek. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Parks across the state

I'm not a lover of the outdoors, but I kind of like the idea of visiting all the state parks -- because, let's face it, that at least seems remotely possible, unlike the people who try to visit all the national parks.  Tennessee has 56 state parks. I don't know how long I'll still live here, but as long as I do, a lot of them can probably be hit as day trips. Most of them have some kind of tent camping and camper/RV sites, but even if I wanted to -- and I don't much care for being outside -- I don't really know how all that is done; even if I just tipped my toe in and became a van-life guy. That sounds better than trying to drive a fifth wheel, but still not cheap. And, again, I don't know how any of that life works.



Back to the state park tour.  I went to my first one, Bledsoe Creek State Park, on Memorial Day. It's got the campsites and the places to load your favorite watercraft into Old Hickory Lake.  And a few different trails. I don't have the proper hiking gear, or even know what proper hiking gear is, but I think most of the trails in the state parks would be considered easy by serious hikers. I circled most of the park in an hour and a half to two hours on the High Ridge Trail and the Shoreline Trail.

It would have been tough to get over this little ditch without a little bridge.

This would be the steepest part of the High Ridge Trail.

And here's a view from the Shoreline Trail of Old Hickory Lake, which is probably also Bledsoe Creek at this point.