Persimmon Ridge Park

• 2.89 miles*
• 1:55 duration*
• 240 feet elevation gain*
• 1 CITO event
• 5 geocaches

The hiking stick and I headed to Jonesborough on this chilly morning to attend a Cache in Trash Out (CITO) event hosted by Got Fossils? (Jerome and Carla). But first, LakeBum and I did a little caching on the trip over, including stopping off at the entrance to the park so he could log one of Got Fossils?’s cool gadget caches.

We spent an hour picking up trash between the parking lot and the creek at Persimmon Ridge Park, netting several bags of trash, a photocopier, a plastic wading pool, a basketball goal pole, an orange traffic cone, and a beach ball. My stick helped me navigate the steep hillside, and even came in handy from time to time when I needed to spear something or sweep something out from amidst the thorns.

After we finished our cleanup, part of the group decided to hike some of the park’s trails and log a few geocaches. After a couple of weeks off from hiking, one of which I spent mostly on the couch with a stomach ailment, it felt good to be on the trails again.

We parked near the camp ground and headed up Luke’s Trail, named for geocacher Luke Carter (unstrung) who constructed the trail as part of his Eagle service project. We followed it up to and along the ridgeline on the east side of the park, and then down to where it meets Walter’s Trail named for another Eagle Scout, Walter Hopkins.

A highlight of the hike was finding another one of Got Fossils?’s gadget caches. At another of the caches, G.I. GEO found a busted up chair. In the spirit of CITO, he carried it for the rest of the hike and properly disposed of it in the dumpster.

* stats only reflect distance, time and elevation gain logged during the hike.