My first ever visit to Kentucky was a 3-day backpacking adventure in the Red River Gorge Geological Area of Daniel Boone National Forest. My buddy Scott lives in the area and used his expertise to put together a fun route for us to trek and see a lot of unique sights. Known for its plethora of natural sandstone arches, I haven't seen anything quite like the Red River Gorge east of the Mississippi.

We started at the Martins Fork Trailhead and begin hiking toward Greys Arch. Along the way we ran into a complete surprise - my cousin Marina was out hiking as well and we randomly crossed paths out in the wilderness! Continuing on our way after the fortuitous meeting we marveled at massive Greys Arch towering overhead. A bit of hiking later and we set up camp before trekking out a quarter mile to enjoy the beautiful view looking out over the Gorge from Hansons Point.

Our second day started by heading back to the Hansons Point view and enjoying some tea & coffee while watching the fog clear from the depths of the Gorge. Hiking along took us to the day's highlight - Cloudsplitter. Requiring scaling a rope up a sheer rock face to get to the top, the vista was more than worth it. Continuing Scott's route we ended up at the top of Indian Staircase before finding a quiet wooded spot to camp for the night.

Day 3 finished off the final 2 miles of the trip to the Bison Way Trailhead. I had a great time on this adventure and really enjoyed the uniqueness of the Red River Gorge Geological Area.

Thanks for watching!
Layne