Kentucky Trip: Cumberland Falls

We recently got home from a three-week trip.  The first leg was through the beautiful state of Kentucky.

Our first stop was the Cumberland Falls State Park, near the small town of Corbin.

Although there are nice cabins available, we chose to stay in the quaint lodge, which showed signs of age, but was clean and certainly adequate for us.

We arrived late afternoon so had time to explore some before dark.

This picture really needs no explanation, but the one below will give you an idea for the reason for the sign.

 The bottomless pit!

We took this really primitive path that introduced the more challenging ones yet to come.

The next morning view from the balcony on the back side of the lodge, overlooking the Cumberland River.

After a quick breakfast, we hit the first trail.  This one was less than 1 mile down to the falls.

We realized we were on the mid range of the depths of the cliffs we had seen the day before.  I loved the shadows created by the sun rays searching for an opening.

We reached the river and I walked out on this flat rock bed above the falls.

We were thrilled that we were there for the perfect timing to see the rainbow.

What a sight!

There was even a faint second bow.

There are several vantage points to see the falls from this side and I never tired of looking at it.

If you look closely in these pictures, you will see a railing along the upper rock wall on the other side of the river. I will refer to it later.

While walking around the falls, we met another couple who were also there for the day.  They are the finest couple and it didn't take us long to find so many things in common.  We all agreed that the other side of the river held interesting possibilities that we needed to explore together.

The following pictures were from that hike. 

This is the ground level and opposite the flat rocks above the falls.

This was not an easy climb but the views were so worth every uneven step.

As we climbed, the sheer rock walls above us were like magnificent, enormous carvings.

Looking below, reminded us why we didn't want to stray off the path.

These are the railings I mentioned earlier as seen from the opposite side of the river.  We made it, and even went higher!

I am using my zoom lens here, but if you look closely, you can see some people out on the flat rocks where I had been earlier.

The views of the falls from this side were even more spectacular.

Our hiking buddies, Lowell and Linda, who are Kentucky natives, made this trip so much fun.  They are such a delightful couple.

Linda is saying, "Are we too old for this?"

Unknown at this point, just around the bend ahead of Linda was another waterfall.

  

This is Eagles Falls and such a beautiful, quiet reward at the end of the trail.

At this point, we are down near the water again away from the Cumberland Falls.

We could have stayed here for a while, because it was so peaceful.  Linda actually had phone service.  She obviously doesn't use AT&T like we do.

But, we knew we had to climb back up and it was beginning to get late.

This is the view from the highest vantage point.  A view to be remembered.

I don't know the exact number of miles we hiked but my FitBit indicated I walked a little over 14,000 steps, climbed 95 stories, and reached a heart rate of 136 at one point.  Not bad for a 73 and 78 year old.

We met our friends for a delicious dinner at the Lodge and then played a game of Mexican Train, before taking our tired and aching bodies to bed.

After meeting for breakfast the next morning, we bid our new, dear friends fair well as we went our separate ways.  But, we do look forward to staying in touch and picking up where we left off in the near future.

God's blessings are new and fresh every morning, and we give Him all the praise and glory not only for his amazing creation but His ordaining our meeting the Ashbys' on a trail in Kentucky.

Tomorrow, I will take you on a tour of Shaker Village.  You won't want to miss this most fascinating historical place.