A year in the Red River Gorge

wsp_scott

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I did not know where to post this, since it is not really backpacking (only one night), but a lot of day hikes.

I have done a lot of day hiking in the Red River Gorge in the last couple of years (about 35 days in the last 15ish months). I owe a lot of inspiration for the following photos and the day hiking to this post about waterfalls in the Red River Gorge on KYWilderness.com. It encouraged me to get way off the trail to see what I could find. I started out posting individual trip reports for each day and then quickly fell behind. It became harder to process photos and then post them as the number of photos started to increase, in other words, I started to procrastinate. I managed to stay on top of backpacking trip reports but always had this huge backlog of day hiking photos to deal with.

For the last couple of months I have had this post (Ode to Delicate Arch) from BackCountryPost.com as blogging inspiration. I've have never seen Delicate Arch in person (it's in Utah), but I've seen lots of photos. It is a very popular place full of tourists. I read this post a couple years ago and immediately thought of the RRG, very popular, very crowded, full of tourists. But still an amazing place with lots to be grateful for, "the gorge" is a special place.
Note: the vast majority of these photos were taken from non-official or non-existent trails.

And so, without further ado...
A Year (plus a little bit more) in the Red River Gorge

September 2018


The gorge has lots of flowers for most of the year ...




... and there are always creeks somewhere nearby ...


... there are also a lot of different fungi ...


... and animals ...


... and amazing views ...


... more animal life (only seen one of these before) ...


... lots of these floating around ...


... along with some other fungi ...


... sometimes there are clouds and fog ...






... but the views are still amazing ...


... and if you know where to look, there is often a waterfall just around the corner ...




... and that is just a couple different day hikes in September. There will be less commentary and fewer photos from now on.

October 2018










January 2019











We haven't seen an arch until now, but the gorge is packed with them. I like waterfalls better.


February 2019




This one is right off an official trail (i.e. very easy to get to) ...


... and if it has been raining, you sometimes get a double waterfall.


March 2019
I caught a glimpse of an otter in a tributary of the Red River a couple years ago, but it disappeared very quickly. This one (and a friend) were in the Red River. The friend disappeared immediately, but this guy stuck around for a bit. I wasn't very close to him, this is zoomed in and then heavily cropped. I wish I saw these more often.






April 2019




The salamanders usually move too quickly to get a photo, I think the cold water might have slowed him down a bit.


This waterfall involved a lot of bushwacking to get to, but was worth it.

09-04-19_11-07_2.jpg


Spring flowers begin to appear ...






... and the butterflies come back.


May 2019

06-05-19_14-03.jpg



16-05-19_12-03.jpg


June 2019
I don't usually camp in the gorge (too crowded), but the sunsets can be great.


The gorge is full of rhododendron which makes bushwacking very tedious, but for about a month, the blooms are very pretty.




July 2019






August 2019








September 2019
I only hiked in the gorge once this month when my sister came to visit and I did not take any photos

October 2019



Fall is coming and the leaves are beginning to change




Grays Arch


Grays Arch from below


November 2019






December 2019






A couple of months ago, I was getting pretty tired of the gorge since I have hiked here so often. Putting these photos together has shown me what a great place it is and how lucky I am to have it so close to home.

If you are bored or snow bound, there are a lot more photos here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-year-in-red-river-gorge.html
 
Beautiful photos for sure.

Do you not see many climbers, or do you just avoid them? We used to rock climb down there.
 
I did not know where to post this, since it is not really backpacking (only one night), but a lot of day hikes.

I have done a lot of day hiking in the Red River Gorge in the last couple of years (about 35 days in the last 15ish months). I owe a lot of inspiration for the following photos and the day hiking to this post about waterfalls in the Red River Gorge on KYWilderness.com. It encouraged me to get way off the trail to see what I could find. I started out posting individual trip reports for each day and then quickly fell behind. It became harder to process photos and then post them as the number of photos started to increase, in other words, I started to procrastinate. I managed to stay on top of backpacking trip reports but always had this huge backlog of day hiking photos to deal with.

For the last couple of months I have had this post (Ode to Delicate Arch) from BackCountryPost.com as blogging inspiration. I've have never seen Delicate Arch in person (it's in Utah), but I've seen lots of photos. It is a very popular place full of tourists. I read this post a couple years ago and immediately thought of the RRG, very popular, very crowded, full of tourists. But still an amazing place with lots to be grateful for, "the gorge" is a special place.
Note: the vast majority of these photos were taken from non-official or non-existent trails.

And so, without further ado...
A Year (plus a little bit more) in the Red River Gorge

September 2018


The gorge has lots of flowers for most of the year ...




... and there are always creeks somewhere nearby ...


... there are also a lot of different fungi ...


... and animals ...


... and amazing views ...


... more animal life (only seen one of these before) ...


... lots of these floating around ...


... along with some other fungi ...


... sometimes there are clouds and fog ...






... but the views are still amazing ...


... and if you know where to look, there is often a waterfall just around the corner ...




... and that is just a couple different day hikes in September. There will be less commentary and fewer photos from now on.

October 2018










January 2019











We haven't seen an arch until now, but the gorge is packed with them. I like waterfalls better.


February 2019




This one is right off an official trail (i.e. very easy to get to) ...


... and if it has been raining, you sometimes get a double waterfall.


March 2019
I caught a glimpse of an otter in a tributary of the Red River a couple years ago, but it disappeared very quickly. This one (and a friend) were in the Red River. The friend disappeared immediately, but this guy stuck around for a bit. I wasn't very close to him, this is zoomed in and then heavily cropped. I wish I saw these more often.






April 2019




The salamanders usually move too quickly to get a photo, I think the cold water might have slowed him down a bit.


This waterfall involved a lot of bushwacking to get to, but was worth it.

09-04-19_11-07_2.jpg


Spring flowers begin to appear ...






... and the butterflies come back.


May 2019

06-05-19_14-03.jpg



16-05-19_12-03.jpg


June 2019
I don't usually camp in the gorge (too crowded), but the sunsets can be great.


The gorge is full of rhododendron which makes bushwacking very tedious, but for about a month, the blooms are very pretty.




July 2019






August 2019








September 2019
I only hiked in the gorge once this month when my sister came to visit and I did not take any photos

October 2019



Fall is coming and the leaves are beginning to change




Grays Arch


Grays Arch from below


November 2019






December 2019






A couple of months ago, I was getting pretty tired of the gorge since I have hiked here so often. Putting these photos together has shown me what a great place it is and how lucky I am to have it so close to home.

If you are bored or snow bound, there are a lot more photos here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-year-in-red-river-gorge.html
Beautiful photos! We had a lovely weekend there a few Octobers ago.
 
Beautiful photos for sure.

Do you not see many climbers, or do you just avoid them? We used to rock climb down there.

I have only seen climbers once in the gorge, just a couple of weeks ago (near Eagle Point off the Douglas Trail). I know that the gorge is a "mecca" for climbers, but I don't think they like the winter and that is when I spend the most time there. I think most climbers stay near the roads, but I'm not sure.

glad everyone else liked the photos
 
I did not know where to post this, since it is not really backpacking (only one night), but a lot of day hikes.

I have done a lot of day hiking in the Red River Gorge in the last couple of years (about 35 days in the last 15ish months). I owe a lot of inspiration for the following photos and the day hiking to this post about waterfalls in the Red River Gorge on KYWilderness.com. It encouraged me to get way off the trail to see what I could find. I started out posting individual trip reports for each day and then quickly fell behind. It became harder to process photos and then post them as the number of photos started to increase, in other words, I started to procrastinate. I managed to stay on top of backpacking trip reports but always had this huge backlog of day hiking photos to deal with.

For the last couple of months I have had this post (Ode to Delicate Arch) from BackCountryPost.com as blogging inspiration. I've have never seen Delicate Arch in person (it's in Utah), but I've seen lots of photos. It is a very popular place full of tourists. I read this post a couple years ago and immediately thought of the RRG, very popular, very crowded, full of tourists. But still an amazing place with lots to be grateful for, "the gorge" is a special place.
Note: the vast majority of these photos were taken from non-official or non-existent trails.

And so, without further ado...
A Year (plus a little bit more) in the Red River Gorge

September 2018


The gorge has lots of flowers for most of the year ...




... and there are always creeks somewhere nearby ...


... there are also a lot of different fungi ...


... and animals ...


... and amazing views ...


... more animal life (only seen one of these before) ...


... lots of these floating around ...


... along with some other fungi ...


... sometimes there are clouds and fog ...






... but the views are still amazing ...


... and if you know where to look, there is often a waterfall just around the corner ...




... and that is just a couple different day hikes in September. There will be less commentary and fewer photos from now on.

October 2018










January 2019











We haven't seen an arch until now, but the gorge is packed with them. I like waterfalls better.


February 2019




This one is right off an official trail (i.e. very easy to get to) ...


... and if it has been raining, you sometimes get a double waterfall.


March 2019
I caught a glimpse of an otter in a tributary of the Red River a couple years ago, but it disappeared very quickly. This one (and a friend) were in the Red River. The friend disappeared immediately, but this guy stuck around for a bit. I wasn't very close to him, this is zoomed in and then heavily cropped. I wish I saw these more often.






April 2019




The salamanders usually move too quickly to get a photo, I think the cold water might have slowed him down a bit.


This waterfall involved a lot of bushwacking to get to, but was worth it.

09-04-19_11-07_2.jpg


Spring flowers begin to appear ...






... and the butterflies come back.


May 2019

06-05-19_14-03.jpg



16-05-19_12-03.jpg


June 2019
I don't usually camp in the gorge (too crowded), but the sunsets can be great.


The gorge is full of rhododendron which makes bushwacking very tedious, but for about a month, the blooms are very pretty.




July 2019






August 2019








September 2019
I only hiked in the gorge once this month when my sister came to visit and I did not take any photos

October 2019



Fall is coming and the leaves are beginning to change




Grays Arch


Grays Arch from below


November 2019






December 2019






A couple of months ago, I was getting pretty tired of the gorge since I have hiked here so often. Putting these photos together has shown me what a great place it is and how lucky I am to have it so close to home.

If you are bored or snow bound, there are a lot more photos here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-year-in-red-river-gorge.html

Beautiful pics! My family started going to the Gorge when I was 8 years old. That was in 1966!! I’ve probably camped at the Gorge at least 30 times, sometimes backpacking, sometimes car camping, sometimes floating the Red River. So many great memories! Thanks for bringing them back!!
 
Fantastic!! I recognized a lot of those places. Off trail RRG is where its at for sure. I avoid the place for the most part these days, but in winter and spring those wet weather waterfalls are gems. Nice finds.
If you want to get away from the crowds, Beaver Creek Wilderness area is amazing after big rains. Wateralls and miles of stunning clifflines, rockshelters and arches.
 
Fantastic!! I recognized a lot of those places. Off trail RRG is where its at for sure. I avoid the place for the most part these days, but in winter and spring those wet weather waterfalls are gems. Nice finds.
If you want to get away from the crowds, Beaver Creek Wilderness area is amazing after big rains. Wateralls and miles of stunning clifflines, rockshelters and arches.

RRG is great in the winter/spring especially on weekdays. I did not see anyone on trail for at least half of these dayhikes, some days, I did not even see cars as I drove through the gorge to the trailhead.
Beaver Creek has been on my list for a while, but the drive time makes it difficult with family responsibilities. Maybe I'll squeeze an overnight trip in this spring.
 
That was completely different. Thank you for sharing. I've driven by there many times and didn't know it was there.
 
Gasp!! An otter!! How special!
Thanks for sharing! Seems like a magical place.
 
Stunning photos--the detail and perspective you capture is incredible. Hmm, the Red River Gorge is less than 9 hours drive for me, if I started now I could be there tomorrow morning....
 
I would happily give you a tour or suggest a hike the next time you are driving by.

Let me clarify. That was many years ago when I lived in Michigan and visited the Smokies. I've been in Utah for 44 years and seldom get back to the East. But I thank you for the offer and I would welcome a tour if I find myself back that way. It's certainly a special place.
 
Gasp!! An otter!! How special!
Thanks for sharing! Seems like a magical place.

Otters are fun to watch. The only place I have done so is on the Kern river downstream from Lake Isabella. Many years ago but I hope they are still there.
 
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