Shuttle Needed: Land Between the Lakes, TN/KY

[The Solemates]

We are planning to hike the 60-mile N-S Trail in the Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area along the western TN/KY line and are in need of a shuttle from the North Welcome Station back southward down the Trace to the South Welcome Station. Preferably for the early morning of Friday, March 11 or perhaps the evening of Thursday, March 10. We have checked with the rangers and they are of no help. The Trace gets little traffic, so we are hesitant to rely alone on hitching it. Anyone that lives in the area and would be willing will be compensated for their efforts.

[Lilred]

We are planning to hike the 60-mile N-S Trail in the Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area along the western TN/KY line and are in need of a shuttle from the North Welcome Station back southward down the Trace to the South Welcome Station. Preferably for the early morning of Friday, March 11 or perhaps the evening of Thursday, March 10. We have checked with the rangers and they are of no help. The Trace gets little traffic, so we are hesitant to rely alone on hitching it. Anyone that lives in the area and would be willing will be compensated for their efforts.


I may be able to help you out. Send me an email or pm. I live roughly an hour to an hour and a half from there.

[The Solemates]

Just did. Thanks!

[JeffG]

Solemates
Make sure you post some pictures of your hike. Fatmatt and I were planning on hiking Land Between the Lakes earlier this year but snow got to be too much of a factor for us. Anyways, I would be really interested in learning how your hike goes.

[The Solemates]

Solemates
Make sure you post some pictures of your hike. Fatmatt and I were planning on hiking Land Between the Lakes earlier this year but snow got to be too much of a factor for us. Anyways, I would be really interested in learning how your hike goes.

Will do....

[TnTom98]

can not be sure if I can...that is quite a ways out, but if needed I may be able to help...if you need my help, email me a week or so in advance
Tn Tom

[The Solemates]

thanks...

if lilredmg doesnt work out, I will let you know, although she has volunteered.

[The Solemates]

As promised, a brief trip report follows, in chronological order:

We started at the South Welcome Station around 0930 Monday morning and planned on 4 days to do the 60-mile N-S trail that traverses the Land Between the Lakes Corridor. We parked a car here and had to buy passes ($5 per person) for backcountry camping. Had we known that this was the case, we would have skipped visiting the Welcome Station and just started hiking, but once youre inside they have you (and your money) in a trap. Ive never been an advocate of paying money to hike trails unless I know it is going back towards the trail. Im sure a portion of my money may, but the establishment suggested otherwise. But I digress.

There is about 20 miles of the trail in TN and 40 miles in KY. The TN side was a huge mess. Their idea of cutting trail is to go get a bulldozer and literally clear the forest down to bare clay mud at a width of about 8 feet. So we were walking in mud the first 15 miles or so. I think they did this recently, and are going to use it as a firestop for some controlled burning they plan on doing. There was evidence of controlled burning in several spots. Why they had to tear up the trail and not put in the firebreak elsewhere is beyond me. I wish I would have taken pictures, but I didnt, which brings me to another point. The trail is not scenic. I had visions of high vistas overlooking both lakes to the East and to the West, but the only lake viewing to be done was towards the end of the trip, when the N-S trail skirted along the Western lakeshore (Kentucky Lake) for a few yards at a time whenever it passed close to its many bays.

I hate to be so cynical, but it just wasnt what I was expecting I guess. We had a great time just being out there. We saw 6 deer and over 50 turkey along the trail. It is a prime hunting area and they manage the deer and turkey by planting crops in open fields soley as a food source for wildlife. No harvesting is done. You pass many of these fields while on the trail, especially on the North end. Personally, I wouldnt hike during the hunting seasons. I get the impression that its way worse than Pisgah NF, NC, which is a little too crowded for my tastes in season. Turkey season opens up in April.

We had great weather with the exception of the first day, when it rained quite a bit in the afternoon on us. Instead of tenting it and getting soaked, we hiked a side trail (which was a lot longer than expected, and during which we had to hop the fence and cross the Bison prairie, with our dog, which was fun) to The Homeplace TH where there was a covered picnic area, which provided shelter for the night.

If you are set on doing the N-S trail, it can be done in 3-4 days easily. In 4 days we averaged 15 mpd and had plenty of time to goof around. It is very flat in many places. We could have done it in 3 days if we would have had prearranged the shuttle for earlier. If you are looking for a challenge, it can be done in 2 days in a weekend trip. Otherwise, if you live in the area and would like to do a weekend trip, I would suggest the northernmost portions of the trail (North of highway 68/80 and the Golden Pond Visitor Center up to the North Welcome Station) over the southern portion, mainly because it is a little more scenic and the trail is in better shape.

There are shelters placed at various points along the trail. They are nothing like AT shelters. We stayed in one of them and it was nice. They are constructed of an arched corrugated metal roof and pebble floor, as shown in my pictures. We just spread our mats on the floor without a groundcloth. They were kept clean and get little use. The shelters were often rather far off the trail (0.5-1.0 miles). The trail is also marked with white metal placards along its entire length and it is virtually impossible to get lost.

We finished the trail at the North Welcome Station around 2pm on day 4 and had 5 hours to wait for WB's own Lilredmg, who shuttled us back to our car. It was dark when we were driving back, and we saw at least 50 deer in the headlights along The Trace. The number of deer was unreal. I thought we were going to hit one, but all we got was a skunk which smelled the van up real nice.

For more information on the Land Between the Lakes, their website is pretty good. They manage a lot of wildlife, and we saw elk and bison prairies along our way. They have maps at the Welcome Stations, which we used as our sole navigation. Maps are also available online. www.lbl.org

I have posted pictures at my photo page under "Land Between the Lakes."
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jcartne/my_photos

[Lilred]

[QUOTE=The Solemates]
We finished the trail at the North Welcome Station around 2pm on day 4 and had 5 hours to wait for WB's own Lilredmg, who shuttled us back to our car. It was dark when we were driving back, and we saw at least 50 deer in the headlights along The Trace. The number of deer was unreal. I thought we were going to hit one, but all we got was a skunk which smelled the van up real nice. [QUOTE]


LOL The next day my husband got in the van and the first thing he said was, 'What'd ya do, hit a skunk?' I'm just glad the thing didn't get stuck under my van. It was great meeting y'all. Next time you're in this area, check out Big South Fork, some great hiking there.