Park Units 83 & 84: Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area and Obed Wild and Scenic River

8/22/17. Today was our "river day"! We started out with a drive to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area which is on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. Needless to say, the area was lush, green, and beautiful. We really love trees so this was a little bit of heaven.

We found a trail that took us to a lookout over the river and we really enjoyed the forest walk (except when our imagination got the better of us and we imagined being kidnapped or worse on this remote trail with no other people in sight! We realized we had told no one where we were going today, so we quickly texted Jason with our plan).

This park is huge, so we drove up the northern section in Kentucky, called Blue Heron, where there used to be a coal mining company town.

There is now an outdoor museum with information about coal mining and life at the time. The bookstore and concessions were closed today and we were the only ones at the site. 

It was very hot and misty from a recent shower and it gave off an aura of a creepy, ghostlike past!

Next we drove a couple of hours to the Obed Wild & Scenic River. After a lovely chat with a ranger from PA who missed home a great deal, we went off to an overlook trail. The park service built in a boardwalk to protect the rocks, flora, and fauna and the views were spectacular! Amazing green colors, interesting rock cliffs, unusual plants and mushrooms all added to the enjoyment. We spent quite a while just enjoying the calm, and quiet since we were again all by ourselves.

It was a wonderful day to enjoy nature! This area reminded us a lot of Pennsylvania and the rolling hills and trees of the Delaware Water Gap. On the way home, we ran into a terrifying lightening storm that was much more intense than anything we've experienced at home. It was a reminder of the amazing power of nature!!