Kentucky Ya'll

We left yesterday and drove 8 hours from the Wisconsin-Illinois border to Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, Kentucky.  The park was built in 1895 by the Lexington & Eastern Railroad as a sideline to their freight and passenger business, and was donated to the state in 1926. This was a logging area in the 1800's and the railroad transported logs out of the area which were pulled out by teams of oxen prior to the railroad coming in.

At the 6 hour point we stopped for a lunch break and ended up at the Florence Mall food court which featured a carousel! It made the lines a little more bearable.  We finally made it to our cabin without mishap in the late afternoon and unloaded luggage and groceries for three.

The one bedroom cabin is very basic but a bargain at just over $90 night.  The furniture was old, but functional and it comes with linens and the kitchen is stocked with basic dishes and cooking utensils.


It didn't take me long to throw on a layer of Smartwool and Columbia so I could get a quick preview of their trail system.  I took the first trail I came to which was the Balanced Rock Trail.  Of course it was the one that went .75 mile straight up the mountain! I made it almost all the way up to the Natural Bridge before turning around as dark was quickly falling, but enjoyed my calf-torturing before bed walk.

I was up at 6:00 a.m and eager to tackle the trails again but had to wait until almost 8:00 for enough daylight to get going.  This time I started with the Original Trail, which had a gentler grade to the bottom of the arch with lots of benches to rest along the way.  I especially enjoyed the little bits of green ferns and rhododendron that are still visible this late in the year which sported a light dusting of snow. Best part of early morning weekday walks when it's barely above freezing...I saw not one other hiker in 1.5 hours!

My mom and my daughter are not the outdoor adventurers that I am so I had to rig up my camera for a couple of selfies. I usually find a small rock or twig to support the lens, but today had to fold up my camera strap to level it out.  One of these days I will toss a small beanbag in my backpack...but I never think about things like this except in the moment when it's too late.

When you go underneath to the back of the arch there is a little stairway that goes up to the top of the natural bridge. Fun!

I ignored the "Stay Off" sign and hopped up onto the ledge the get a closer look at the crack that probably aided in forming the bridge.

I traipsed along the top of the bridge, too, which was wide and easy to get across. The other side houses the Skylift which was closed for the season as well as a trail along the ridge to a view of the Natural Bridge.  I found the view uninspiring myself, and even with the bare trees kind of hard to really see.  My opinion is you're better off viewing it from below.

In addition to the Original Trail I backtracked onto a portion of the Balanced Rock Trail that I missed the night before, and then detoured off trail. Tell me...could you resist?

Straight ahead, icy steps...to the right unknown adventures

But the trail got thicker and clogged with more fallen trees and thorny brush

 I eventually became aware of the passing of time and made my way back to join my people for a trip into Lexington to tour Henry Clay's Ashland.  More on that tomorrow!