Short Trips around Kentucky

[BirchHill]

Hello, I though I would give it a try and post some of our short local Kentucky trips. I have really not done much in the way of posting trip reports as most places I have been seem rather ordinary and mundane in comparison to the well written and professional photographed trip reports that I read here. But, I tend to believe that my short adventures fill the same place, the longing for adventure and an escape from the safety nets, railings and warning labels that seek to insulate, buffer and protect us from ourselves. I feel just getting out for a few hrs on an unimproved road has the effect of rolling back some of the layers of complacency that this safe and comfortable life lure us in to. This is the world we live in and getting time to do much of anything is a real challenge. For me at this point in our life long term overland trips are logistically difficult, with 5 kids and a busy schedule these short back yard trips will have to fill the niche for now.
A little earlier this winter I was really feeling the need to get out. It had been a very mild winter up to this point, that gray drizzle depressing weather with temps in the 40s most days. I feel if its going to be winter then let it be sub zero and snow. So , I loaded up a couple of the kids and headed out to some local county roads. Nothing a 2wd with clearance couldnt handle but just the same its not paved.



The road starts out in a valley and climbs up along the Licking River bluffs, this is mostly a mix of farm land and public wildlife management land






The pathfinder is the vehicle of choice for the day



The road is muddier and more rutted then the last time I went across, the county usually grades it once a year so the closer you get to that event the worst it is.







The road continues to climb to its highest point overlooking the Licking river basin





The road continues on descending down eventually crossing this wet weather bridge.



Road continues several more miles before re-joining blacktop



It was a refreshing trip, close to home and nothing you couldn't do in an awd sienna but, it provided a bit of needed adventure.

 

[Airmapper]

Cool photos, nice Pathfinder as well.

I do the same thing frequently. I agree it's getting harder to find places to drive with any ruggedness whatsoever. I've been finding many places only miles from home I never would have went if not just looking for somewhere to explore that would not take days to get to, none of them anything a car couldn't do, but interesting scenery.

What part of Kentucky you in, the landscape looks like home. I'm west of Bowling Green.

 

[andysgreenxj]

Where's the like button when you need one? Nice report, always good to get out...even for just the day...

 

[BirchHill]

Thanks for the replys! Im in central about 45 min from lexington. The terrain here is nice in the outer bluegrass and its just a bit farther and your into the mountains.

 

[BirchHill]

A trip back

Late last summer we re-visited a place that I have gone many times. This place holds more then the pull of unpaved roads that draw you in as they require more then mindless motoring. Its a place that was legend in my mind, growing up on epic stories of life and survival in this place. This rugged place is hundreds of acres of land that generations of my family where born on, farmed and died on, going back before Kentucky was even a state. It was a place that for most of my life only took form in my imagination from stories told by my grandfather. He was the last generation of our family to live there until a combination of factors brought it to an end. The perfect storm of the depression followed by severe drought in the mid 30s and the urban migration of the early 40s slowly drained the small communities that supported the farms. The final nail being the aging of the family patriarchs with no subsequent generation willing to take on the difficult agrarian life. Its a place my grandfather never returned to only reliving its memory in story. This place I only discovered for myself after he died. We where going through old boxes of his belongings when I found what might as well have been a treasure map with x marking gold, it was a survey map of the land from the mid 1930s. It did not take me long to overlay the way points and landmarks of the old map to modern topo maps. This began a journey of return and discovery that we would come back to many times.
This summer we returned. To access the area a combination of unpaved and decommissioned county roads are utilized. Numerous creek crossing are made as a good part of the way the creek bed is the road. To start the journey we cross the Kentucky river utilizing the oldest continually operating ferry since the late 1700s.





Once off black top we come to the first of many crossings as the road meanders in and out of the creek. I walked along the bank gauging the depth as every flood rearranges the creek bed, what was once hub deep may now be over the hood. Confident it was not overly deep we proceeded across.



I some what misguaged the depth and angle of the bottom, though solid was tilted out into deeper water. Traction control light lit as the ABS pump whirrs away the tires slowly clawed in the direction I was intending. Crisis averted as water only came up mid door, which if forward movement had been lost would have been bad news being what land rover door seal are. This brought back memory's of my grandfather stories of crossing in the same place in their model T, they would often have to lift up their feet as water flowed deep across the floor boards. Made me wonder how well a Land rover would handle water across the floor.







Continuing on there is a fairly steep climb as the road moves up out of the creek to higher ground




As we climb there are a series of ledges that give me a bit of problems and require a good bit of wheel spin before TC figures out which of the dripping wet brakes to grab.





They are much bigger in real life, you know how pictures are with terrain. No really. It was smooth sailing for a while just bumpy creek rock and a few mud puddles
to be cont..

 

[BirchHill]

On we went..





The road continued on, surrounded on both sides by the land where my ancestors lived and walked, we crossed the creek a few more times





Our goal for the day was to reach an old cemetery where generations of family members where interned. There was once a church there but, even the traces of it are gone due to the ferocity of the water during flash floods. so on we went







The land as rugged today as it was a hundred years ago the road continued to degrade with several off camber gullies to cross. none which showed up on camera. Made me think the condition of the road was probably once though of as a good road and now is looked at as something that should be gated off to keep us safe.






Finally approaching the final shallow crossing to cemetery





At last the cemetery centered on the property line of once was my great grandfathers land to the left and great great grandfathers to the right. Some historical society made a new sign for it.



Its sobering walking through the dense overgrown cemetery, seeing the harshness of life during this time. The short life spans engraved on the stones a reminder of the fleetness of life. Rows of stones lovingly carved with a date and only the words Infant, what they would have given for modern medicine. Each loss they felt as strongly as we feel now. It was the reality of the time. 4th great grandfathers stone carved with his Infantry number though lived in the south he fought for the union.
with the day growing long it was time to head out. Another good day Another adventure logged.

 

[AngryRedBird]

That looks like our kind of trail.. Next time we're in KY.. We'd like to tag along.

 

[rabies]

of all paces i feel at home down there.

 

[Dougnuts]

Fun! When I get my new car, I'm going to be scouting out trips such as these. I assume these "roads" are all OK to drive on? My fear is getting onto someones land and them being pissed about it.

 

[BirchHill]

Fun! When I get my new car, I'm going to be scouting out trips such as these. I assume these "roads" are all OK to drive on? My fear is getting onto someones land and them being pissed about it.

Many of the roads are decommissioned county roads which puts a bit of ambiguity on their legality. Many of these roads have become easements as multiple property owners may use them to access their land, hence the lack of gates. Unfortunately the area is often abused by locals, tearing up fields and drinking and other partying type behavior. I secured permission to access cemetery from its current land owner, but the reality of ending up in the wrong place is a very real possibility.

 

[AngryRedBird]

BirchHill this is so true.. I recall traveling near Stuart VA.. and turning doing one road which ended up in the farmers yard.. the thing was.. you actually had to drive through his yard to get back on the main road.. But he waved just like all the folks down south do.

 

[c_mack9]

This is cool to see. I live in Paducah KY so I'm about 30 mins away from Land Between the Lakes and I do day trips there very often. I have the exact same goals in mind for them as you do so it's nice to see other like minded folks. Keep this thread updated with new pics as often as you get out.

 

[BirchHill]

Spaas Creek Road

I find it funny how one gets attached to objects. Inanimate things that cant reciprocate any of the affection or care that you put into them. Vehicles are probably the worst with this. They take you places, they represent freedom and are often the gateway to new experiences and adventures. They quickly become more then 4 wheeled appliances taking on a personality of their own and endearing themselves to us more then any appliance probably should. It takes just sitting in the drivers seat to bring back vivid details of past adventures, places visited and memories made. This is how I feel sitting my 89 toyota, everything familiar, the cracked dash, foam showing through the seat and the roar of the 22re as defies friction and gravity. This trip I made with the boys down spaas creek road in the summer is probably its last adventure, it recently broke a cam shaft and chewed the heads up. With severe frame rust that I have patched and welded numerous times it may be time to let it go. Several times I told the wife that the next day I was hauling it off for scrap, yet some how its still sitting, just outside the window. My responsible side says it needs to go, looks bad sitting there what would the neighbors say but, part of me says its ok to just let it be, letting slowly fade away as the weeds and grass push up around it. Just not ready to let it go, its old, rusted and broken but, I have had it longer then my kids, its moved with me several times it means something more then the sum of its rusty parts and there is still this little inkling that maybe one day I could fix it.
Spaas creek road is a fun little backroad with just enough challenge as to be interesting. We started from the north side which makes the muddy washouts traveled in a down hill fashion







Several weeks ago I was back in the area and many of the mud holes have been graded out. As you descend towards the creek bed there are several more mud holes









Once to the bottom the road goes in and out of the creek bed and for good portions of way the creek is the road.







Since I was traveling with 2 of the boys it was only mandatory to get out and throw rocks as well as rescuing a box turtle that was attempting to cross this busy road.





The road continues to meander along through the rugged valley that drains into the red river. The area is popular with climbers and hikers and our end goal for the day was Miguals, an amazing pizza place and climber hangout.











The trail begins to pull away from the creek as we head to the more maintained stretch of this road.






Heading out towards blacktop as the clouds roll in





It was a beautiful day in the Gorge, another adventure accomplished all made possible by a 4 wheeled appliance.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Thanks for sharing these pictures and writing

 

[Mitch502]

Amazing writing. Can't wait to get out in mine. The Gorge is one of the first places I'd like to go. Are there any good maps of roads that should be taken in the gorge for some fun?

Thanks,
Mitch