Our First Kentucky Camping Trip - Part 3

In Part 2 of this blog series, we hiked all over Red River Gorge Geological Area, ate some pizza and burgers (not at the same time), and took a boat ride through a cave!

Hiking to Whittleton Arch, inside the Gorge

Wednesday morning started very similarly to Tuesday; we woke up to the sounds of birds screaming their feathery hearts out, made coffee and tea, started watching the Tour, and heated up breakfast casserole and biscuits.  Our final mornings at camp normally involve us eating breakfast, then packing up and heading right home; however, since home was just a short drive away, since we were up early, and since we had plenty of time before checkout (it wasn't until 1pm), we decided one last hike was in order.  I'd initially planned for us to hike to Whittleton Arch on Tuesday, but after our pizza lunch, we decided a nap was more our speed.  Thankfully, the trailhead was super close to our campground, so it was a great pick for a hike on the morning we planned to head home.

In Part 1 of this blog series, I mentioned that there are two campgrounds inside Natural Bridge State Resort Park; we were staying in Middle Fork, and the other was Whittleton.  The state Park claimed one of the trails in the Whittleton area as their own, to Henson's Arch, but even though the trail we chose had the same name as the campground, and we even had to walk through the campground to access the trailhead, technically, the trail to Whittleton Arch was within the boundaries of the Gorge instead.  Confusing, right?  That's why we ended up doing an extra .25 miles before we even hit the trailhead, as we spent some time looking for it, checking all the maps we were carrying, and so on.

We eventually hit the trail, and we're so glad we did!  This hike was incredible - it was around 2.5 total miles out and back (we didn't count our "wandering around" distance), and it followed a creek almost the entire way.  The information I found online said the trail was quiet, but we were still truly shocked to be the only folks on it the entire time we were out there (about an hour total).  Because of the nearby creek and dense tree canopy, it was pretty wet - the air was humid and parts of the trail were mucky/slippery - and we both decided we wouldn't want to hike it if rain had recently come through.  The bugs were also out in force, and it made me think longingly of the spray I had in the camper (another change from Arizona hiking).

Regardless, this was our favorite hike of the entire camping trip, as the scenery was just gorgeous:

I did mention the bugs and lack of other people, right?  We were clearly the first humans to hike this trail that day, and since Chris is generally the leader in our pack of two, it didn't take him long to pick up a stick, which he used to clear spiderwebs from the trail along our journey (as opposed to his prior method, which was using his face).

Web stick acquired!

Ooh, stick upgrade!

More trail glamour shots:

I like big rocks, and I cannot lie...

Before too long, we reached Whittleton Arch and enjoyed this beautiful place, all alone in the silence except for the 8,000,000 bugs attempting to attach themselves to our bodies in various ways.

That's the arch on the left of the shot - you can see the two dark streaks where the waterfall comes down.

Again, it was relatively dry when we went through, so the waterfall was pretty small.

A side view from slightly underneath the arch

You can pass completely under this arch, if you really feel the need,

but we passed on the bouldering on this adventure

We hiked the 1.25 miles back to the truck, hopped in, and headed back to the campground for showers and snacks (and to finish watching the stage of the Tour).  Before too long, we were packed up and on the road toward home!  Once we arrived, we unpacked, started laundry, then went out to reclaim the girls.  Within another hour or so, we were all sacked out on the couch at home, happy to be in our family unit once again!  What a great trip!

These two party hard at daycare!

While we obviously stayed overnight on this excursion, we're really excited that an amazing location like the Gorge is an easy driving distance from our house (probably closer to 45 minutes without towing the rig); we hope to get back there soon for more hiking!

Later!

Amy