2007 Excursions

See Also: full resolution pictures from the trips

The 2007 REU students went on four excursions. The excursions included a hike on Alum Bluff Trail in the Smoky Mountains, hiking and train trip in Big South Fork National Recreation Area, rafting on the Hiwassee River, and rafting on Ocoee River.

The first excursion was to the classic Smoky Mountains trail to Alum Bluff. The trial winds along a mountain stream for about a mile before threading through a hole in the side of the mountain called arch rock. After a break for pictures we continued more steeply up the side of the mountain. We stopped for a break at an open rocky area with great views of the valley below and Chimney Tops before finishing the trail at Alum Bluff--an old alum mine dug into a cliff that smells faintly of sulfur. For some students this was their first hiking trip ever.

For the second excursion we traveled up to the Big South Fork National Recreation area along the Tennessee Kentucky border. We road the Big South Fork Scenic Railway down to the abandoned mining town of Blue Heron, where we could walk across a high coal tipple across the river. Later we took a short hike to Yahoo Falls but alas, as a result of sustained drought we had to be content with a 113 foot tall Yahoo Drips.

We next took a mild, unguided float on the Hiwassee River. Despite the drought there was enough water thanks to a TVA dam release. That still didn't stop some boats from getting lodged on the rocks in parts of the raging Class 2 rapids. Not exactly heart stopping (for that we had the next trip), but really lots of fun and nice (except when getting stuck) to be our own guides. At the end of the trip a few of us took a dip in the cold, clear water.

The final excursion was a guided whitewater trip on the Ocoee river, another dam-fed river, part of which was featured in the Atlanta summer olympics. We suited up fully with life preservers, paddles, and helmets. The trip featured almost continuous class 3 and 4 rapids, complete with a guide shouting orders. One of the boats got a chance to "surf" a large standing wave, sitting in one spot just below the wave and occasionally being swamped by it. All made it through safely—the ony casualty was a paddle lost by Dr. Wang, which drifted away and vanished without a trace.