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…

HEAVENLY SHADES OF NIGHT ARE FALLING

Heavenly shades of night are falling, its twilight time
Out of the mist your voice is calling, its twilight time

When purple-colored curtains mark the end of day
I'll hear you, my dear, at twilight time

Deepening shadows gather splendor as day is done
Fingers of night will soon surrender the setting sun
I count the moments darling till you’re here with me

Together at last at twilight time

[Written by: Alan "Artie" Dunn, Morty Nevins & Buck Ram-1944
Performed by: The Platters -1958
Produced by: Buck Ram
Appears on: Flying Platters-1958]

Couldn’t help but think of that old song this afternoon when I walked down to the lake, which is finally being dropped to its winter level by TVA, to get a fading shot of the setting sun’s light against the distant trees. I actually waited too late, having nodded off during the first 80 laps of the NASCAR race Sunday!

Maybe I’ll catch it a little earlier tomorrow…if not I’ll probably miss my last chance for the fall season. The morning frosts have just about removed all color from the leaves, all though they are somehow clinging fast to the trees. I haven’t even had to mow leaves once this fall! However, I’m sure there will soon come along a cold rain that will start them piling up in the yard.

When Judy and I first moved here, sometime around ’95, we tried to rake leaves, but the yard is just too big and we’re too lazy. So instead, I close the discharge shot opening with the mulching attachment and mow the yard 3 or 4 times up through December and I’m done with it! Actually, it’s good for the yard to return the matter the trees have taken from the soil and return it to the yard.

The added advantage of mulching the yard is that it gives the leaves a nice level path to blow off into the woods or into my neighbor’s yard!

FALL, BEER, AND PIZZA

Ron and I made the Cades Cove, Parson Branch Road, Highway 129, and Foothills Parkway loop Monday. You have to go into Cades Cove, pass the settlement rest stop area, and turn off on the Parson Branch Road to make the trek we made. The road had been closed for a long time, but now looks really good. The park has spent a large amount of money on repairing the washed out sections and the large rock they hauled in might prevent the damage from ever occurring again.

It was about four miles in, or about half way, that we pulled over at the Gregory Bald and Hannah Mountain Trail heads to stretch our legs. This area seems to be the high point of the road trip and the colors there were better than expected. Here are a few shots, but you can see more on my Flickr page.

The eight mile road ends at Highway 129, about halfway down the famous “Tail of the Dragon”, where motorcyclist and sports car enthusiast come to test their skills on 318 curves in a short 11 miles! It has gotten so bad there of late that the Tennessee Highway Patrol has threatened to close it down! Here is just one reason why!

We made a quick stop at the Calderwood Dam overlook, before winding our way down to the Foothills Parkway.

From there, we made our way back through Townsend and on into Maryville, where we stopped at Uno’s Chicago Grill to take on food and beer! Look at this Shroom® Deep Dish with chicken and spinach! And, the Uno Amber Ale®, which is brewed especially for Uno by Samuel Adams, is wonderful!

It was our first outing since Ron returned from a visit with his brother in California and since I had been sick. It was good to get out and stretch my taste buds again!