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Cumberland Gap National Historical Park *Day 3-Gibson Gap to the Pinnacle* March 21, 2004 Cumberland Gap Home Page Day 1-To Martins Fork Day 2 -To Gibson Gap Photo Gallery Cumberland Gap Day Hike to Skylight Cave The city of Cumberland Gap from the Pinnacle
We woke at 7:00 a.m. on the last day. Neither of us slept particularly well even though we were exhausted at bedtime. The wind rattled the tent much of the night disturbing us every time we fell asleep. I was moving very slow. The morning temperature was about 32°, the sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain again. This was a far cry from the balmy 60's on Friday and Saturday. The wind was ever present and we bundled up to eat breakfast. Will started a fire with some of his white gas, wanting to burn the remnants of his burnable trash before our hike out. We were amazed at how dry everything was after such a serious downpour. What wasn't dry had turned into frozen droplets and John and I had to shake, shake, shake our tent. We started hiking and again fell into our hiking rhythm. I was still moving slow and the at the first uphill, John hiked ahead. He ended up hiking most of the day with Ron and Steve, while I spent a pleasant morning hiking with Barbara.
The wind was present all day. We had 5.2-miles to hike this day plus the side trip to Skylight Cave. The temperature never really warmed up, the thermometer read between 34-40 all day. This of course did not include the bitter wind chill. By the time we reached the turn off to Skylight Cave, flurries were drifting around us. We were so glad it wasn't rain. Skylight Cave was on our must see list but we noticed the cave was not listed on the trail sign so we weren't sure just how far we had to hike. We spoke with a gentleman who was on his way up the trail from the direction of the cave and he told us he had hiked quite a distance down the trail and never saw the cave. Judging from the map and the trail sign, the bottom of the trail was less than a mile away so we started down figuring we would find it. Well, the trail dropped straight off the side of the mountain. We hiked for a few minutes and decided to turn around. We really needed to save what little strength we had left for the hike out. We turned our attention to getting to the car. We had been warned by the ranger about a short but steep hike to the Pinnacle. What we had not been warned about was the longer, steeper climb before the short climb to the Pinnacle. I was never so glad to see the top of any mountain! But, while John went directly to the parking lot, I went up the dozen or so steps to the top of the Pinnacle. I found Ron on top and we continued along the paved pinnacle trail to the cannon and civil war memorial. We wound our way around the pinnacle to an overlook which was totally spectacular. We could see the tunnel, the gap, Middlesboro, KY, and the city of Cumberland Gap. I really wanted to share the view with John and was pleased when I saw him walking toward us. Finally we are in the car! With only Steve's car to get us back to the Visitor's Center, we shuttled in two loads, John, Ron, Barbara and me in the 1st load and Will, Diane and Lucy in the second. While most of us waited in warmth at the center, Will, Ron and Steve drove back to Ewing to pick up the other two cars. We were so cold that we sat in the center with our hats, gloves and coats on. Diane and I went into the visitor center's theater to catch the Daniel Boone film. About the time I found myself struggling to stay awake, John walked in and told us that the cars were her. Steve drove home while the rest of us headed to Middlesboro for a yummy Mexican meal at Pelancho's. We all looked forward to a hot shower but felt the usual sadness for the end of a great trip.
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