Here is a trip report from Jay Thomas part of the duo of hiking Bardstown Boater brothers, Jay & John Thomas.

John and I got to Yahoo Falls parking area at the northern end of the Big South Fork around 1 on Saturday and hurried to try and get on the trail in front of a group of 12 boy scouts from Oakridge, TN. We soon came to the overlook to Yahoo Falls, the tallest waterfall in KY, took a glance and then climbed out of the hollow up to Yahoo Arch. The Arch was really cool, one of my favorite arches to date.

We crossed the road we drove in on, Hwy 700, and continued on the Negro Creek trail. The trail started on top of the knob but even as we descended on the trail we stayed well above the Negro Creek. However, multiple sounds of waterfalls and cascades led us on some side trail bush wacking to some great spots. Negro Trail t-bones the Sheltowee Trace at the mouth of the Creek into the Big South Fork. The area has a large flat camping spot equipped with a large rock fire pit. From talking with the boy scouts earlier we knew their plans of camping at the spot (perfect for a large group), and we continued south on the Sheltowee toward Lick Creek. This trail section follows the BSF upstream and is fairly flat and uneventful except for some really cool beaver woodwork. Also it turns into an ATV playground of paths and camping spots.

At Lick Creek we left the Sheltowee to continue on Lick Creek trail and reached Princess Falls, an 15 foot curtain falls down away from the trail. There is a great flat camp spot enough for 4 or 5 tents with a rock fire pit and rock seating. We took advantage of the spot and quickly got a hot fire going. In the morning we backtracked to Negro Creek where the boy scouts had already packed and gone. Continued on the Sheltowee north to Cotton Patch Hollow, Alum Ford Campground, and then back in the Yahoo Falls Scenic Area. After passing some cool waterfalls and good scenery we finaly arrived to the base of Yahoo Falls. Very Cool and a great end to the trip. The pack up the four flights of stairs to the parking was exhausting; i wish they made the handrails wide enough for backpacks. Conclusively it was a very cool trip, one I'm sure we'll be back to.

Also the boy scout group said their trailer full of gear was stolen out of their church parking lot at Christmas time. I saw one of them pick up an old skillet previously left at the Negro Creek campground like it was a Playboy mag, so I don't feel they were bullshittin. After we got back I emailed a couple places and tried looking up their contact info online to pass around, but if anyone has any outdated or extra gear you want to get rid of I can see if I can reach them some how.

Tags: Hiking

By: John Thomas

It was good. The last 2 miles really wore us out. Jay, the worst weatherman in the world, said it was only a 10% chance of rain so he didn't bring any raingear. Well since a Thomas was hiking it rained. Not only did it rain, we witnessed an impressive lightning storm. We got drenched while hiking and it rained all night while we were trying to sleep. The campsite was on a peaceful beach in front of flat water on the river. We watched "gar" fish all day while drying our clothes in our undies. Jays dog performed well on the trail and really enjoyed boulder hopping along the river. It was a good trip. Jay has pics that I am expecting to see sometime soon.

• Pictures
• Rockcastle Info

Tags: Hiking | Rockcastle River

930cfs

This past weekend we camped at O&W at the Big South Fork. On Saturday Patrick, Darrin, his mom and I hiked the Honey Creek Loop. There was spectacular scenery through this hike. You can probably see it best from the pictures. That hike had us pretty tired so we saved all the kayaking for Sunday.

Ben Ballard came down on Saturday night to run the canyon with us. Darrin, Patrick, Ben and I ran it. This was Patrick's first whitewater kayaking experience and he handled it pretty well. He's got the bruised knuckles to prove it.

The weather was absolutely perfect on both days. And the Big South Fork recreational area was as beautiful as ever.

Flickr Pictures - Slideshow

Tags: Hiking | Big South Fork

Back in March of 2004 I spent some time in New Zealand. Our recent Red River Gorge hike got me thinking about some of my New Zealand adventures. Climbing Mt. Taranaki was one of them.Read More...

Tags: New Zealand | Hiking

Jay and I met up with his brothers, Bill and John and the four of us headed out into the gorge to try and hike all the way to the Red River narrows where the hardest rapids of the whitewater run are. We were unsure of any trails that existed past Clifty Creek, but we would try to stick to the river and see how close we could get.Read More...

Tags: Hiking | Red River Gorge

To begin our big memorial day weekend hike of the Sheltowee Trace Justin and I got in some kayaking on the canyon section.  The level was a little higher than I thought it was at the time.  It looked very low and scrapy while running it, which it was but not as low as I had thought. In fact I have run it at a lower level before.  Jake's Ledge Hole looked bad, but it actually had a very easy line through the middle.  The left side pour over was probably good to go as well.Read More...

Tags: Hiking | Big South Fork | Sheltowee Trace

from Jay Thomas:

We are planning a trip this weekend, the beginning of the journey from one end of the Commonweath to the other.  We have the gear, the transportation, and the will.  All we lack is the weather.  The forecast is cold, mid forties for highs, upper twenties for nightime lows.  Also saturday carries a thirty percent chance of rain.  Cold I think that I can handle, but I don't want to get wet.  We will watch the weather and make a determination on Wednesday whether or not to postpone.  I would like to start at the beginning of the trail in Tennessee at the Picket State Park.

Google says that it's little over five hours drive to Picket State Park.  We could try that or we could try something closer and a little more familiar to us, like the Red River Gorge section or the Rockcastle River section.  I ordered a good guide book that should give us a better idea of the sections.  I'm down with any.

Tags: Sheltowee Trace | Hiking

I miss baseball, but I did get to watch the Reds season opener on tv.  At 6am though.
 
Let's see, what have I been doing the past days and weeks?  Since the climb I have been hanging out in bigger cities some of the time and doing some walks in the parks.  I haven't been able to kayak much.  And as of today I probably won't be back on the water.  I sold my kayak today in Christchurch.  But as I write this I am in Picton, the ferry town waiting for Justin to come in.  We now begin the tour of the south island.  It is defiantly getting colder.  Today it rained like a mamma jamma. The weather has been terrible all week.  Hopefully it will get better.

Last weekend I went out to the east coast and checked out a lighthouse.  It was cooler than it sounds.  The small town Castlepoint, far away from normal civilization, was a very nice place.

These guys were fishing off of a rock.

After Castlepoint, Justin and I did a two day hike into the woods.  We brought everything we needed in our packs and set off into the deep forest.  Basically it was 6 hours of walking to eat a bowl of soup.  Well that makes it not sound fun or interesting.  It was though.  It got dark as we hiked and we were not sure if we would find the hut or be able to eat our soup.

We found the hut!

While I was driving to Christchurch I saw this seal on the side of the road on the beach.  There were heaps of them.

And in Chrischurch I saw this Church.  It is the main attraction and at the city center.  It is a very nice place.  New Zealand's 3rd largest city.  300,000 people.

What crazy adventure lies ahead.

Tags: New Zealand | Muller Hut | Hiking

Yesterday will go down as a very memorable day for me.  I climbed a mountain.  A real mountain.  It is Mount Taranaki which is the Maori name for volcano.  It was 2518 meters to the top and the weather can change eraticly, and it did just that as I made the decent from the summit.  Climbing it was one of the hardest things I had ever done.  Also one of the dirtiest.  It wasn't much fun actually doing it, but it felt great when it was all over with.  I was smiling the whole time though.

You begin at a car park with restrooms and information on all the walks around the mountain.  But Justin and I where set on reaching the summit.  From here you can see the top with no problems, as there was nothing but clear skies all around.  It was a warm and beautiful day.  I had begun to think that all the warnings about temperature changes and wind were a little much.

The trail begins very easily with clearly marked by gravel pathways and wooden steps, slowly moving up and around the mountain.  This is a just a trail leading to the starting point.  The Hut.

At the hut you look up in awe and at the stairs before you that lead to the summit.  Here you sign the log book, detailing your plans of travel on the mountain.  I sign in and Justin and I head up.  The weather is still wonderful and warm and sunny, there is a little bit of a cloud coming in around the corner.  Now the experience begins to get hard.  We are not even off of the wooden steps that have been placed for climbers.  Slowly we climb the steps and soon enough we are off of them.  Now we are walking on slippery volcanic rock that gives way with every step.  One step forward is half a step backwards.  And it is very steep and extremely windy.  Dust is blown all over the place.  They should recommend goggles for this climb.  We have to rest at what seems like every two minutes.  I keep looking at my GPS to see the meters slowly climbing towards our goal of 2518.

A cloud has crept around the mountain now, but the amazing thing is that it is below us.  I am standing above the clouds.  It was incredible.  And the view to the east is breath taking.  There would have been an awesome sight of the ocean, but it was covered in clouds.

Okay so we are dirty, grimy, tired, hungry and we still have 400 meters to go straight up.  Justin and I have met up with another climber, Henrick, a Swiss backpacker.  We have a team meeting and Justin decides to leave us at this point and head back down.  He was a little suspicious of the clouds coming in.  I am crazed with the idea of making it to the top, have plenty of food, water and extra layers of clothes with me, so I decide to continue on with Henrick.  So we climb.  Slower and slower as I become more tired, but I am now off of the slippery ashy rocks and am now rock climbing up the steep mountain side.

Snowy patches begin to cover the ground.  We climb on.  We run into some other climbers who are coming down.  They give us encouragement that the summit is only a ten minute climb away.  We climb on and soon we are there.  We have made it.  I have climbed a mountain.  All the way to the summit.  The view has only gotten better.  The whole way the weather has been beautiful.  I shoot some video and eat my lunch.  It has taken me 4 1/2 hours to go from car to the summit.  I felt I had really accomplished something.  It was awesome.

But, wait.  This story is only half done.  We still have to come down.  No problem, you just go down.  Simple enough right?  I thought it would be.  But the weather is changing.  Clouds are rolling in.  No, they have rolled in.  We are in them.  In the clouds.  I have never been in one before.  They look very pretty in the sky.  They can't be that bad inside of them.  No dice.

It is so windy that I can't keep my sunglasses on.  I layer up and hurry to put away my food and camera.  We decide we should get out of here right away.  The wind is knocking us around and misty rain is being blown all over the place.  Our dry sunny day has turned into a wet windy whiteout.  You can only see about 10 meters in front of you.  What was a wonderful view of the landscapes below is now endless white.

Basically what follows are miserable cold conditions with slow descending amongst ducking behind rocks to keep dirt from flying into our eyes for a second.  It truly was miserable coming down.  But I knew that all I had to do was keep moving and get there.  So we kept going.  And the wind kept blowing, hard.  Harder than I ever experienced.  Sometime during all the wind and water I had wished that I turned back with Justin.  That I never even began to climb this thing.  All I wanted was to be at the bottom.  Warm and dry.

Eventually we did make it.  Justin met us at the hut, he was with two other guys he had met.  It took 4 1/2 hours to go up and 3 hours to come down.  It was the best experience ever.  Can't wait to climb another, just as soon as my legs aren't sore.

Tags: New Zealand | Mount Taranaki | Hiking