Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014 - 12

H Warriors Path Trail Magic
Text and photos by Leonard adkins

The hike

This found hike woke up The veTeran disTance hiker's eyes
and senses To The beauTies around him.

i was driving, home from an outdoors conference where, despite its
subject matter, I had spent three days
indoors attending trail workshops and
listening to lecturers waxing eloquently (but in exceedingly minute
detail) about various ecosystems. I was
also tired of repeatedly passing the
same 18-wheeler on the uphills only
to have it barrel toward me on the
descents, its chrome grill molded into
a sinister sneer and filling up every bit
of space in my rear view mirror. Laurie
and I have dubbed this phenomenon
"truggling," to indicate that you are
struggling with, and unable to escape
from, a truck.
So, I was primed for a calming
break in some quiet woods when a
brown sign on I-81 indicated Warriors'
Path State Park was accessible from
the next exit.
Stopping at the park office for a
trail map, I asked the receptionist
which trail would be the one I was
most likely to meet the fewest people. She said the most scenic hike
combined the Devils Backbone Trail
that went across a ridge overlooking
Fort Patrick Henry Lake with the Fall
Creek Loop Trail, which passed
through a successional landscape of
forest and field. She also said I would
probably encounter a large outdoors
group that had a hike planned for the
route that day. Instead, she suggested
the Sinking Waters Trail System,
which "is not as glamorous," and,
because it's in a somewhat disjunct
part of the park, "almost nobody
hikes there except the local neighbors
who go for a bit of exercise."
Maybe it was because I had just
spent several days in a row indoors,
maybe it was because I needed to
escape the bustle of the modern
world, or maybe it was because the
12 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

The "green tunnel" of the Sinking Waters Trail System is made up of blackberry
and raspberry bushes, Virginia creeper, small trees and wildflowers.

park employee had set me up to not
expect much, but for whatever the
reason, I found myself enjoying this
outing and noticing and taking in
more of the natural world than I had
for some time.
In fact, as I descended along the
trail - an old roadway that had serviced a now-gone community from the
early part of the previous century - the
vegetation overtaking the route was
not just a blur of green to me. Rather,
it was an amalgam of individuals, such
as blackberry and raspberry bushes,
Virginia creeper, small pawpaw and
sassafras trees, multiple species of
wildflowers and, of course, an abundance of poison ivy. I was even taking
in the latter's tiny white flowers that,
later in the year, would develop into
clusters of off-white berries, which

warriors' Path also offers...

...a campground with electric hookups, dump
stations and hot showers; a swimming pool;
picnic areas and shelters; fishing for bass,
crappie, catfish and trout; an 18-hole golf
course; and a total of nearly 20 miles of trails,
including an 8.5-mile National Recreation Trail
open to mountain bikers and guided horseback
rides on two miles of designated trail. In
addition, there is a playground suitable for
children of all physical and mental abilities; a
Braille Trail with sensory stations; an accessible
tree house; an amphitheater that seats 1,000
people; and so much flora and fauna that it
takes more than 10 pages just to list the
individual species.
Warriors' Path State Park, 490 Hemlock
Road, Kingsport, Tennessee 37663; 423239-8531; tnstateparks.com/parks/about/
warriors-path.pdf
http://www.tnstateparks.com/parks/about/warriors-path.pdf http://www.tnstateparks.com/parks/about/warriors-path.pdf http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014

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