Went out to the Red River Gorge over the weekend with my girlfriend and my dog and had a great trip. I haven't explored a lot of the RRG but I have yet to be disappointed on my trips.
We started out Saturday making our way to the Bison Way parking area to do the Indian Staircase/Arch Loop. We had been to the staircase before but wanted to see it from the other side so the loop had been calling our name for a while. It was very busy all over the RRG and this was no exception. We only briefly stopped at the top of the staircase and didn't even take a picture. There were plenty of boy scouts and teenage girls who were really loud and obnoxious to say the least so we got out of the main area in a hurry. A couple hundred yards down the trail we took a break at what is known as "frogs head" where I also forgot to take a picture..oops. We made our way around to a massive rock shelter and I did snap a couple of the pictures there. The first looking toward the top of Indian Staircase and the second is my dog in front of the rock shelter.
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We continued on our way and saw several campsites and I noticed a couple of empty ENO's at one which was cool. Several good overlooks along the way to view the staircase. If you look closely you will see a lot of people making their way to the top.
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Shortly after, the loop starts making its way back downhill and you come to the Indian Arch which is one of my new favorites arches that I have seen at the RRG thus far.
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Not too many things to note the rest of the way out but there are a couple of nice views once you get down in the valley and look up at the rocks. Overall the hike was 3.3 miles and took us 2 1/4 hours with quite a few stops along the way.
We finished up there around 4:30 or so and decided we would go back out and get an early dinner. We decided to check out the Skybridge Station which we had passed several times and were intrigued by and we were not disappointed. Several craft beers on tap that were all from KY and a great menu of "gourmet" hot dogs. We had a birthday party/cookout the following day where we would be having hot dogs so we opted for quesadillas instead and they were excellent. We will definitely be back there!
After dinner we made our way to the Rock Bridge trail as per recommendations from others at the restaurant as a quick hike before we went to make camp and it was yet another great stop. It was another loop and I didn't track this one but it is allegedly about 1 1/2 miles according to the map and half of it is downhill so it didn't take us too long. We saw several groups hiking in to camp as well as many people that already had their tents up and fires going so combine that with heavy foot traffic from tourists and it adds up as somewhere I will definitely pass on for camping in the future. The rock bridge is something else though. Had it been earlier in the day I would have liked to explored the area a little more but it'll have to wait until another time.
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After that stop we needed to hurry to camp. We decided on the area above Whistling Arch which we had hiked out to before and expected it to be busy given how perfect it is (in our opinion anyway) but we got lucky and had the place to ourselves. Pictures don't do it justice but it is one of my favorite views, if not my favorite, that I have seen while hiking in the RRG. There is also a very nice view of the sunset!
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There did end up being a couple of "hiccups" at this site... 1) You have to climb up a short rock face which is relatively easy but despite all the foliage up there, it has been picked clean of dead trees so firewood was sparse and I ended up having to climb back down to get enough to get us through the night and 2) There are plenty of trees but only two of them were at a proper distance for hammocks and weren't surrounded by briars and poison ivy so we had to hang both of our hammocks side by side on the same trees. It wasn't bad but it was my girlfriends first time in a hammock so I was hoping for more ideal conditions but she still seemed to enjoy it. The bonus was we only had to setup one tarp
In the haste of collecting firewood before the sun went down I forgot to take a picture of our setup and then I had to wake up too early to leave and forgot again. Oh well. This was also the first time I had my dog with me in the hammock and she kept me very warm and she didn't seem to mind a bit. Again, I wish I had a picture but I'll have to remember next time!
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A couple of things to note from our hammock setups.. This was my first overnight in my Shell Hammock and it was great. The integrated UQ kept me very toasty all night as temps dipped into the low 50's. Also, my girlfriend was using an inflatable sleeping pad in conjunction with the ENO Hotspot and it worked, but not as well as we were hoping. I think it was a combination of her trying to get used to being in a hammock her first time and moving around a lot as well as us being side by side which didn't offer up a lot of wiggle room for her. She still claims she was comfortable and wants to keep trying it out so that's a plus. I'll probably get her a Jarbridge soon if she wants to keep hanging.
Anyway, we had to wake up early to leave since we had to get back for my nieces birthday party but I took a few minutes to enjoy the fresh air and the view before we hiked out. Also worth mentioning, this is only a .2 mile hike to the campsite so we were able to pack in a few luxury items to make the night better, most notably a small cooler and our camping chairs.
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Anyone who has been to the RRG knows you have to go to Miguel's Pizza before you leave but somewhat unfortunately we left too early and got there for breakfast before they were serving pizza but their breakfast was still top notch so it was ok. I'll be getting pizza after the group hang coming up in June for sure.
So all in all another great experience in the RRG. Really nice that it is two hours or less from where I live so I'll certainly be making many more trips this year. Thanks for looking!
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Originally Posted by ShellHammock
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