Exploring Daniel Boone Forest – Day 1

8/31/19

Mike, Ashley, me and Caine snd Riley (dogs)

4.4 miles hiking. 154 miles Driving

We got in late last night so no prep. We woke up early and headed out. We had to stop for food and water. We were headed to the Auxier Ridge Trail. This is in the Red River Gorge part of the Daniel Boone National Forest. We were going to go to Courthouse Rock then do the loop to Double Arch. We got to the trailhead and there were a lot of cars. We got lucky snd got a parking spot. On the way out the police were giving out lots of parking tickets!

Riley is a big dog but Caine is a huge dog. They were like 2 typical guys trying to out do each other on the trail. Pulling and wanting to be in front!

The trail to courthouse rock is 2.1 miles. The ridge line trail goes along the ridge with two gorges and sheer cliffs on each side. It was a beautiful trail. The picture below is over Double Arch where we were going to hike to. There was a super deep gorge between us and that do I imagine it was a mighty steep trail.

About a mile and a half Caine was getting real tired. We had to let him rest. We made it to the overlook and there are quite a few flights of metal stairs to go down. Caine was trying to recover on the cool rocks.

The stairs were a concern especially for Caine so we hung around here and got some great views. The stairs take you down to Courthouse Rock. I didn’t see any but this is a popular spot for rock climbers.

We turned around and headed back. No way to do the loop with the dogs. We met Mike on the Arch of the trail. He didn’t want to cross it.

Once we got there he had no problem crossing and getting to view Courthouse Rock. We let Caine rest while we went forward. Then we headed back to the car. Half way back we saw a couple with a 3 legged dog. He was suffering too. He would walk a bit and flop down on the trail. Then Caine started doing it too! Walk 30 feet, flop down. That couple was trying to carry it too. Caine way to big to carry! It was a black dog also, which might be part of the problem with the heat?

It took forever to get back. We felt like the worst pet owners! We gave him lots of water snd even poured some on him! We gave the 3 legged dog water too. They had run out. Ashley and I were out of water but Mike was loaded down with it thank goodness!

Such a beautiful trail and Grays arch is right down the road from the trailhead. We will be coming back!

In the car Caine just got his act together! He was hanging between the seats so he could feel the A/C I think! Haha

We were going to hike more but with the dogs overheating we decided to go back to Lexington and watch the Carolina game.