10 May 2017, Wednesday
Thankfully, our pre-departure weather forecast of rain for today was wrong. The morning is cool and fair, with blue sky. We cook up our breakfast shortcake which we eat with jam, and then we depart for the Auxier Ridge – Courthouse Rock Trail. We drive a bit south on Kentucky Rt 15 and then turn onto Tunnel Ridge Road, a gravel Forest Service road. We stop to shift Vincent into four wheel drive, and O steers onto the potholed road. Vincent does fine. G, riding in the back, doesn’t do quite as well. It is a fairly jarring ride. We find the trailhead without difficulty and head off on our five mile loop.
From the top of the narrow ridge we have great views in both directions. We can view Double Arch to the west. An orange vested hiker is barely visible at the top of the arch. To the east are more ridges and ahead is Courthouse Rock. Laurels bloom along the trail and turkey vultures soar overhead. At the end of the ridge is a beautiful panorama. Now we descend a part steel, part wood, approximately 112 step stairway down to the base of Courthouse Rock. We stop to explore the artistry of wind and water on the underside of the rock. We almost lose the trail as we become absorbed in studying the potholes and crevices.
We soon find the path again and are back on our way. The forest is cool after the hot, sunny Auxier Ridge. We pause along the way to photograph a dark colored lizard and another brown backed lizard with a bright blue belly. We pass many large-leafed magnolias along the trail. There are also scarlet catchfly (also known as fire pink) and yellow lady slippers. After following a long trail through the woods, we climb back to the sunny ridge top and return to Vincent. Then back to camp for showers, a leisurely dinner and more journalling.
