Sand Cave on Cumberland Gap’s Ewing Trail

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Mary Johnson

Pat C. saw my post on House Mountain Natural Area and immediately suggested that I must hike to Sand Cave on Cumberland Gap’s Ewing Trail. I looked it up on Google and it looks fantastic! (see photos) (see map) White Rocks and Sand Cave are described as “two of the loveliest natural features to be found in any Southeastern national park.” in a Knoxville News article. It’s 45 miles from Sharps Chapel (just over the VA border). It reminds me of Old Man’s Cave in Hocking State Park south of Columbus Ohio. It definitely is on my list for a hike this summer. Round trip is 9 miles.

Life is an Adventure.

Directions from Sharps Chapel

Take St Rt. 33 to U.S. Highway 25E, and take a right onto U.S. Highway 58 East at Cumberland Gap.

Follow Highway 58 for 12 miles to Ewing, Va., and take a left onto State Route 724. The Ewing Trail starts at the end of Route 724, which is also marked as Sand Cave Road.

View Larger Map

House Mountain – a Great Place for a Hike

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Mary Johnson

Last Saturday, Jim and I decided to do a little exploring in the car. It’s always helpful to have a destination and we saw a state natural area called House Mountain on the map. It was only 30 miles from Sharps Chapel. It was a beautiful day and we headed out.

To us, the drive to anywhere from Sharps Chapel is scenic. We just love the mountains and the country roads. We were particularly enjoying watching all the farmers who were hurrying to rake, bail, and transport their hay to shelter before the rain that was due the next day. It was as if they put out an all-points-bulletin to synchronize this over the last five days which were hot and sunny and perfect for this.

House Mountain, it turns out, is only 10 miles from Knoxville and is the highest elevation in Knox County.

When we got there, we saw several families and what appeared to be high school or college students hiking the trail. The trail map showed a couple of options (short or long hikes) and we chose a loop that would take us to the ridge for a nice view. We went up Mountain Trail, across Crest Trail, then down West Overlook Trail. It took us about 2 hours.

It was a strenuous hike, due to the elevation and the condition of the trails. There were lots of rocks on the path, so do not try to hike this in sandals. The trail boasted huge rocks and cliffs that were very picturesque, all along the way. Poison Ivy was plentiful. I can just see it covering the trail in some spots as the summer progresses.

At the top, we were expecting to see a formal outlook, similar to what they have at Cumberland Gap, but it was all rustic. You had to scramble off the trail a bit to get the good views, but well worth the hike.

We came across a young family from Knoxville with their newest addition only 2 months old! The older children were in good spirits, although ready for a break at the top, and I made sure I complimented them on their accomplishment thus far.

View Larger Map

Enjoy the photos and I hope you get a chance to visit this very nice trail sometime soon.

Life is an Adventure!

Fish Art Drawer Pulls – Creativity Abounds in Sharps Chapel

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Mary Johnson

There are a lot of local artists in Union County (see Union Co. Arts Cooperative) but Pat and Bill Clapsaddle are two that I particularly admire. Some of you may already know Pat as an accomplished ceramic artist, but may not be familiar with Bill’s talents. These fish drawer pulls are all Bill’s creative genius. Bill, a retired historic home restorer / custom builder, crafted them in clay and painted them himself, using glazes. Pat helped by giving advice on how to cast and use her glazes to get the effects he wanted — Bill actually made all the casts and applied the glazes.

I don’t claim to be able to identify fish, other than, perhaps, blue gill. I would bet that these are accurate and could be easily identified by people who know fish. Pat and Bill are also accomplished fisher-people — I’ve seen photos of them holding their catches and you can tell they enjoy it immensely from the looks on their faces.

If you are interested in purchasing these, they will be available for sale at the Foothills Craft Show in November at the Jacobs Building in Pat’s booth. They are signed and dated by Bill.

But you’ll be able to see Pat earlier than that and purchase her ceramics this coming Saturday, where she will be giving an art demo at ”Art in the Park” in Maynardville on June 1st. Please stop by her booth and tell her that you saw these drawer pulls. Pat Clapsaddle Pottery has a Facebook page, also, so

please ”like” it to see new photos of her work and find out where she will be exhibiting next. She is quite active!

Life is an Adventure!

Play for the Fun of It – And Don’t Keep Score

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Mary Johnson

Jim and I were out enjoying the beautiful weather yesterday and came upon a swing that was suspended from a TALL tree. It was calling my name.

It was not one of those rubber swings that tightly wrap your bottom to the point where it hurts — the kind found in school playgrounds today so that you don’t fall out. No, it was an old fashioned swing with a WIDE board with two holes drilled in it for the rope to go under — the kind they had when I was a kid and nobody thought about law suits. Only this swing was better because it had a single rope coming off the limb that branched into a triangle towards the bottom. This engineering marvel allowed you to swing in circles! I leaned back and looked up into the branches until I started to get dizzy – which didn’t take much. What fun!

I stopped so Jim could try it. At first he said no. But after a little encouragement, he got on. Is that a smile I see on his face? It was one of the highlights of our day.

Don’t Over Think Play. Be Spontaneous

I had just finished reading the book “Travels with Epicurus” — A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life, by Daniel Klein. In his book, the author talks about spontaneous play and how, as adults, we:

“transform pure play into competitive play — the ancient Greeks were Olympic champs at this [...] We went from pointless play to keeping one eye on the scoreboard. And our current dedication to sports as self-improvement, complete with personal trainers and strange garments made out of spandex, has virtually wiped out any lightheartedness remaining in play. Even when taking a walk, distance and elapsed time are now often recorded, then measured against previous records as we compete with ourselves for our personal best. Play is no longer something we do with our idle time; it is another ambitious activity crammed into our schedules”.

Boy, that sounds too familiar. Guilty as charged. Hence, my delight at coming upon the swing. It’s a sign.

When was the last time you played?

…or did something spontaneous for the pure pleasure of joy? I thought so. Life is an Adventure.

Sharps Chapel Women Attend International Quilt Show

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Mary Johnson

Last weekend, the International Quilt Show was held in Cincinnati and a group of women from Sharps Chapel joined a bus tour and headed north to check it out. I was in Dayton at the time and arranged to meet them there for one day.

The first photo shows everyone in our group seated for lunch inside the convention center. Three women were from Sunset Bay, two from Norris Shores, one from Tanglewood, and two from Pinnacle Point (near the ferry). That’s me in the cream jacket on the left.

It was a huge quilt show, with hand made quilts from all over the world. I did not count the number of quilts, but there were easily 150.

And of course, where there are quilters, the quilt vendors cannot be too far away. It was fun to see all the gadgets we supposedly can’t live without.

The two quilts I photographed here were my favorites. I like geometric shapes and color. It was interesting to get to know the other women better and learn what they were interested in. Some liked quilts with flowers in them. Others had preferences for quilts that had not been embellished with painting.

I am so glad that I was able to meeting up with the group and share the experience with them. Thanks, Nancy S., for helping to make this happen and making me feel welcome.

If you are interested in quilting, there is a quilting club in Sharps Chapel. They welcome new members.

Life is an adventure!

Sharps Chapel Living

Life is an Adventure on Norris Lake in TN

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