henry horton state park; date #8, a hike through a cedar glade

 so, we are trying to keep up with the dates and are definitely running a little behind.  we had a nice warm afternoon together and decided to head to a park we had never visited before.  this area has several cedar glades and we chose to visit the one in the henry horton state park located in chapel hill.  there are 3 trails to hike but the hickory ridge loop runs around a cedar glade.  if it looks this beautiful in january, imagine what it will be like in the spring when the native wildflowers begin to bloom.  we plan to go back to see that for ourselves.

 we actually left the trail and walked down to the bottom of this crevice.  the temperature immediately dropped about 10-15 degrees and it was incredible to look at up close.  amazing what water can do!

 peek-a-boo...a natural hole/tunnel in the rocks 

 ferns growing in the moss on the rocks

 lichen-they just rest on the ground, no roots to attach them

 close up of the moss and lichen

 a cedar tree growing in the rocks

 cactus? we found a bunch of them

 what the trail looked like

 we weren't the only ones hiking the trails-deer were following the path too!  we also came across a flock of wild turkey.

 we followed these yellow paint marks to make our loop on the trail.  it took us about an hour since we stopped a lot.  afterwards, we went for lunch at martins bbq in nolensville.

 pulled pork sammiches!  fresh cut fries, mmmm.....

little piggy at the door of martins bbq