129
Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area
9/21/2013
I needed to get back into the woods where trails don't go...the summer brush has kept me out but the wilderness was calling...so in I went. The Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area still has plenty of places to explore, even though I've seen a good portion of it. After the usual breakfast at South Park Restaurant in Clarksville the parking area near Kapark Cemetery was arrived at. This is on FS 1410 off of Cave Mountain Rd. By 5:45 a.m. I was walking down FS 1410 towards the Buffalo. This is pretty much a "four wheel drive only" type road that connects to FS 1463 on the other side of the river. The road on the east side is passable by vehicles with decent ground clearance and links to Hwy 21/16.
After 3 miles the dirt road was exited and a no name hollow was started down. We'll call this hollow...Jim Bob Hollow. The creek was pretty much dry even though the area got a little rain the afternoon before. Eventually a trickle was seen but the couple of waterfalls along the way were unimpressive. The river was located by 8:45 and by now the sun was well up and super bright. After hanging around here a while I headed downstream and at Pruitt Hollow climbed up and followed the lower shelf on the west side of the river. There were a few small bluffs along the way and for the most part the forest was not too thick. Some spots were very thick and working through them was difficult. I had planned on reaching Hawk Hollow but was running out of time so headed back west after reaching Adkins Creek coming in across the river. The vehicle was in view at 3:15. Temp at the start was 56 degrees and 74 on exit. It was great day and a great hike. The seed ticks seemed to be gone and the other pests were minimal. I did encounter a coyote in a meadow that I think was awakened as I strolled through. Distance was 10.5 miles
