Friday 3-25 Hiking Robbers Cave Trail & More

 

Entrance sign to the park

We woke up to another brisk 32 degrees. It got up to 65 degrees. It's perfect weather for hiking.

I made pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast we went on an 8 mile hike for four hours. We started our hike in the Old Circle Campground at the Lake trail. It was a half a mile to the lake and main office. From there we hiked the road for 3.5 miles to Robbers Cave day use area. While walking along the we saw a cut metal figure of Sasquatch. There was a path that ran along side much of the road. This was great because even though the road wasn't busy there was some traffic. There was a nice mountain creek that ran along the road. The creek had a couple of dams which made nice waterfalls. We walked by the Equestrian Campground, Redbud Campground and CCC Campground. The Equestrian Campground had small corrals at each site and the sites were very nice. Redbud Campground had a cool cabin that looked like a covered wagon. The CCC Campground was a group site with a big building. It was being used by a large group so we didn't walk through it. We were almost to Robbers Cave when a gentleman jogged by us and we said our hellos. The facility at Robbers Cave was very nice. It had a pavilion, restrooms with running water, parking lot and a huge sign on the history of the cave and the trails. The Robbers Cave trail (orange markings) was .75 mile, it weaved around the mountain. It was challenging because you had to climb over rocks, in between boulders and up a mountain. The sandstone was challenging, at places it was slick because the surface was worn smooth. We saw a few groups of people enjoying the trail. We had to take stone steps, which were built by the CCC. Larry had to help me up the rock at a few places by giving me his hand. It was a beautiful trail and the scenery was gorgeous. It was rumored that Belle Star and Jesse James had hid out in this cave but the sign did say there was no proof of that, however it said it was possible, she did live only 20 miles from here. When we got to the top of the mountain we got on a horse trail and followed it back. In fact we hiked pieces of three different horse trails, they were marked with a yellow disc. The trails were numbered. Parts of the horse trails were challenging because of the rocks and it went through creek beds. We walked by the highway and over a creek via rocks. Before crossing the creek Larry put a rock on top of another rock so we could stay dry. It worked great. He had to help me crossing it. All trails weaved around the forest. Before we left the Minnie Larry had downloaded the maps so occasionally he checked his GPS to see where we should be. A couple of times we were someplace else. About a mile from the campground we met the Coon Ridge Trail (red). A cute Yorkie came running to us. The masters called her back and put her on leash. When they passed by she did have a opportunity to say hi. We hiked part of the Multi-Use trail (orange/blue), horse trails (yellow) and Coon Ridge (red). It was a long hike but we had fun. 

Dam 

 

Sasquatch

 

Cabin for rent

 

Artesian Well

 

Larry at the entrance of Robbers Cave

Part of the trail over the sandstone slabs

 

Some steps built by the CCC

After resting a bit I made a salad for lunch. After lunch I played my computer games. I did the Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Spider and 10 Tri Peaks). It took me 3 hours, 2 minutes and 28 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. I also did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges.

For dinner we had leftovers, which was baked ziti. After dinner I went on an hour walk around the cabin area, Old Circle Campground and Whispering Pines Campground to get my steps. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.