Day 91, Sunday, September 5, 2021, Ewing, VA 

Rest day.

Day 90, Saturday, September 4, 2021, Ewing, VA 

About six miles from the campground is Virginia’s Wilderness Road State Park. The main feature of the park which includes the Wilderness Road Rail is Martin Station. It is an authentic recreation of the fort established in 1775 by Captain Joseph Martin and played a key role in the settlement of the west. The authenticity of the recreation included utilizing only tools and materials that were available in the 1775 construction down to the clothes the workers wore and the food that they ate. It is occupied by five costumed interpreters including, of course, a blacksmith. We watched the blacksmith finish making a pan and he then indicated he would make us a souvenir.  I said a pan would be nice but he indicated that would take abut 30 hours. So we took home a nail. Very interesting history lesson and the best part for us was we were the only park fort guests at the time. We did a little hiking around the state park and said hello to some bison along the way.

Day 89, Friday, September 3, 2021, Ewing, VA 

Another beautiful day for hiking. We hiked along the Wilderness Trail to the Gap Cave, 1.2 miles and a 230 foot elevation gain which seemed like much more. Although the Park’s cave tours were closed, we could enter about 50 feet of the cave. But even before we entered the cave, we enjoyed the 54 degree cool breeze coming from the cave. We continued on the Wilderness Trail to a small waterfall but the wooden bridge was labeled closed due to substantial wood rot. We went back to the car, drove to the Iron Furnace site, picked up the Wilderness Trail and then hiked back to the closed bridge to get a better view of the waterfall. Alas, the trees hindered the view of the waterfall so no photo. But yes, that is a photo of me on the rotted bridge which fortunately held me.

Day 88, Thursday, September 2, 2021, Ewing, VA 

A beautiful, sunny, cool day - perfect for our hiking adventures. We hiked the Gap Trail to reach the middle of the Cumberland Gap and then onward to the Tri-State Trail. We then arrived at the conjunction of the three states - Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Yes, we did stand in all three states at once. The hike rated moderate was 2.4 miles with a 540 foot elevation gain. Next we went back to the Pinnacle Overlook. What a difference a day makes as the views were all the way to the horizon.  We could see both ends of the tunnel and the gap became clear. We could also see Middlesboro, KY, which is the only flat land around. That is because Middlesboro is located in a meteorite crater from 200-300 million years ago. The meteorite is estimated to have been the size of a football field and made a four mile wide crater. Next we drove into the tiny town of Cumberland Gap, TN, and visited the Iron Furnace. The 30 foot stone tower is all that is left of an iron smelting business operating from 1820's to the 1880's. We then drove around Harrogate, TN, which is home to Lincoln Memorial University. The size of the University dwarfs the town. We then drove around Middlesboro. The cute downtown area has many closed up shops but the “suburbs” has the Walmart Supercenter and fast food row.

Day 87, Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Ewing, VA (62 miles)

We departed Sheltowee Trace Adventure Park in the rain and headed to the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. We approached the Cumberland Gap Tunnel just in time to see the sign: tunnel closed. Fortunately, it was a temporary closing for the passage of a ‘hazmat vehicle” which required an escort. The tunnel which is in the Park is .9 miles long, opened in 1996, closed the road which went through the Cumberland Gap and allowed the Gap to be restored to its 1775 condition. We checked into the Park’s Cumberland Wilderness Campground (50 amp E, DS with potable water) which is in the Virginia portion of the Park. We then went back through the tunnel from the Tennessee’s side to the Visitors Center which is in Kentucky.  We saw a film about Daniel Boone’s establishment of the Wilderness Trail. The Cumberland Gap was originally discovered by Thomas Walker, a surveyor for the Loyal Land Company, in 1750 but he did not go far enough to see the expansive west. Boone first went through the Gap in 1769 and came back in 1775 and blazed the wilderness trail to the west.  We then drove to the Pinnacle Overlook parking lot and made a short hike to the overlook. It was an overcast day and we were in and above the clouds at the overlook. We could barely see the town of Cumberland Gap, TN, which was directly below. Better weather is forecasted and we shall return to the overlook.