Morning brought the annoying buzzing of our editor's cell phone. After half an hour of hitting the snooze button, we all wanted to beat him with the firewood axe. Crisp cool air filled the tent and none of us wanted to move, but with the Coal Creek mountain trails calling, we seemed to build up good motivation. We brought along with us two rides that suited our needs for this trip, the Kawasaki Brute Force 650 and our Arctic Cat XTZ1000. We packed our supplies and headed out for a full day of daylight-to-dark exploring. The first trail took us up winding hill climbs, and we popped out right at the base of the Coal Creek mining property near Horseshoe ridge. After a short run up some scenic paved sections we hit the first trailhead, which would become trail #24. I personally loved this trail as we rounded the mountainside several times scanning all the majestic views and it brought us to our first wow moment. Gazing off a cliff over the valley from which we had just ascended was absolutely breathtaking. This small part of our day would forever be a reminder that we should be thankful for all we have. There had been a small memorial to a husband and friend placed here, which was a subtle reminder to not take life for granted.
Moving on into the ride we found the trails to be anywhere from beginner to downright technically challenging. Staying on the marked path meant that we at least had a good direction and chance of making it to the next trailhead. We came out of trail #24 and picked up #17 to get us further up the mountain. The famous waterfall off of trail #16 would be our second destination and it seemed to be hiding from us really well. The trails are marked on the map we received at camp, but most have a few new alternate sections. After a couple of missed turns we finally stood in awe at the secret the mountain had been hiding. An incredible forty-foot rolling waterfall fell into the pool below that formed what we believed to be the east fork of Stoney Flat Creek. One man and his son had driven their Jeep through many of the trails on which we had narrowly guided our ATVs and joined us at the falls. Meeting new faces was just part of the experience during our adventure and we even came across a few guys that had a killer getaway planned like ourselves. The only difference, they were riding Coal Creek this day and for the next two days they had planned to venture to two other ORV areas close by.
Riding up into the area of Long Trace Ridge we picked up trail #18 and headed due north. The elevation was taking us skyward with every turn and the sights just kept getting better. After heading out the gravel for about 6 of the total 8.6-mile TVA windmill road, we picked up gravel road 2 for the 2.2 miles into the Windrock fields nestled quietly in the peaks of Buffalo Mountain. At an amazing 3,317 ft above sea level the view again had its effect on all of us. This is where we found the massive windmills that generate power for the surrounding counties. If you have never stood at the feet of one of these engineering marvels, it's a must see. The blades on the windmills can be heard cutting through the wind and it really gave us insight into our miniscule existence in the big scheme of things. The sun was slowly finding its way westward and after our trip around the windmills we decided to head back to camp before dark. This is when we realized we hadn't really seen even a small part of the trails and sights that the Coal Creek had to offer. There were old hand-hewn coalmines left in those hills that captured our imagination, but that would have to be another day. In fact, you can add Rattle rock, Caryville flats, and the radar base to that list. Plans of a new ride began to fill the conversation as everyone geared up for the trip down the mountain.