An Unexpected Pleasure

Saturday afternoon we picked up all our outside stuff because storms were coming through overnight. I expected Sunday to be a rainy, drizzly day. But Sunday morning the rain stopped. Bud asked if I would like him to drop Matey and me off to walk the Cumberland River Trail. I looked that up and found a trailhead that would give us a four mile walk on a paved trail, so we went there and unloaded the stroller and Bud left to go shopping.

This is a rails to trails project and this part was paved, so it was perfect for the stroller. About three-quarters of a mile along we came to this converted trestle.

The bridge crossed Sycamore Creek as it widened near where it flowed into the Cumberland River. By then the clouds had mostly cleared and it was a perfect walking day; sunny, in the low sixties with a mild breeze.

Being a converted railway the trail was mostly level and straight, but it was still pretty as it tunneled through the trees.

The trail hugged the side of the river valley, so there were some pretty rock cliffs here and there.

A second bridge…

gave nice views of a branch of the creek (that tree is a sycamore, one of many in the area).

There were benches along the way, including this lovely stone memorial.

About halfway along this section of the trail was the Turkey Junction Native Gardens and Comfort Station.

This swing was the project of an Eagle Scout,

positioned to take advantage of one of the few openings in the trees lining the trail.

There were some picnic tables,

and signs for trees…

and other perennials.

Bud walked up and joined us for the last half mile or so, which was nice because Matey finally wanted to walk. So I took Matey…

and Bud brought the stroller.

This turned out to be a much nicer day than I expected.