EAST END OF THE NORTH BOUNDARY GREENWAY

Wednesday found Neena, Ron, Judy, and me on the trail again. This time we started at the east end of the North Boundary Greenway, which is on the west end of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We ended up doing 4.426 clicks…that’s 2.75 miles round trip!

The fall colors remained another week, and only began to fall today (Friday) after a good soaking rain which lasted most of the day.

After about a mile walk, we left the gravel road and walked along a rough bicycle path into an old rock quarry area where limestone was once blasted out to build roads, concrete pads, footers, and compressor stands for the huge K-25 Plant near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The K-25 site, along with Y-12 and X-10 plants, were once bustling worksites with over 12,000 men and women (my dad included) working on the world’s greatest secret – so secret they didn’t even know what they were building. Only General Groves and a select few knew the full mission.At some point, workmen hit an underground stream and the quarry flooded, probably covering equipment that couldn’t be removed in time.

The water today is beautiful, reflecting the blue sky above and the green cedar trees that line the quarry’s edge. Only a few scraps of iron and a pile of concrete fence footers remain to bare witness to the work that went on there.

Ron decided we needed to circle the quarry and return back by the Gallaher Cemetery, with is marked as #12 on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The Gallaher-Stone Plantation once thrived in the valley where the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant would be located some 113 years later.

This little graveyard contains both the once ornate markers, complete with dates and names of the slave owners, and the simple stone markers, no names or dates, of the slaves. This quite reminder of days gone by and of different ways of life sits quietly beneath colorful trees today. Neither the slaves buried there, nor those standing and contemplating the past, and the events of the day before (Nov. 4th), ever think that a black man would ever be elected President. Our country is finally changing its horrible ways!

Our little band of retired hikers moved on to Ruby Tuesday’s in Harriman for some food and libation - which is mostly the ultimate purpose of our hikes anyway!

At Ruby’s we met Neena’s son Jason, and together we feasted on various items (like the Sanora Chicken Pasta shown) and drank Samuel Adam’s Winter Lager! Now, everything is right with the world.

See you next time…