Wind Songs: Stone Door

There is one more overlook adjacent to Stone Door and as LC and James and I approached it we debated briefly what to do first - overlook or the door.

I looked towards Stone Door and the very first thing I noticed was this very large tree.

Huge and growing out of the rock face and obscuring part of the stair way leading down to the trails lower in the gorge.

I regarded it in amazement for a few moments, looked over the rugged and unwelcoming environment that it was growing in, and smiled at such an extraordinary thing.

I greatly wanted to walk down the multitude of stairs and between the two high rock walls.

LC said that he would first stay with Jamie and just as I was about to head down, a whole slew of teenagers appeared from the trees beside the overlook and rushed down the stairs.

There was my answer to my indecision.

I would head to the overlook first, giving the noisy little urchins a chance to head down and move on.............

The wooden bridge spans a deep ravine, and also spans the distance between solid land and the rock outcropping of the overlook...................

As LC and I were walking up to Stone Door a couple of joggers had passed us on the trail.

By the time we had visited the first overlook and then made our way the short distance over to this second overlook, I found the couple sitting on a large boulder relaxed and visiting with others who were also at this place.

As I bypassed them my first thought was "what an outstanding place for a turnaround during a run!".

More hill, more rock, more small pine tree, more blue sky, more sun, more open world, more beautiful................

I looked at this leafless, gnarly, wind-contorted tree, hanging on tightly with roots spread out across the top of the rocks and it instantly reminded me of so many trees I had seen in the mountains in both Alaska and Wyoming.

Twisted branches at strange and almost unnatural angles, outer trunk twisted in ways that you never see in areas that are not constantly battered and beaten by strong, cold winds.

In this mostly higher altitude pine-tree filled world of rock bluffs, this wind-weary soldier stood alone.

Very beautiful in a way that was different from typically understood and appreciated natural beauty.

I liked it.

I liked it very much................

Wandering away from the cliffs' edge and moving across short rocky trails that led back to the bridge.............

After talking briefly with my Mountain Boy, who seemed content to stay with Jamie, I headed down the steep rock stairs..............

For the next 20 minutes I wandered into a totally different world than the one I had been a part of for the past couple of hours.

For centuries in the Tennessee past this place was used by Indians as a passageway from the upper ridge down into the gorges below.

Stone Door is a 10 ft. wide by 100 ft. deep crack, forming from the top of the escarpment down into the gorge below. They say it looks like a giant door left ajar but truthfully I don't see that.

What I see are more than 100 rock steps leading steeply downwards.

Some of the steps are wide and easy to step down onto. Some are very narrow and require you to turn your foot sideways in order to plant your weight.

Huge rock faces on both sides of me, close enough that I could almost touch them when I stretched my arms out to my sides.

I could see a crack of blue sky above me.

I could see a crack of daylight and trees at the opening hidden in the shadows down below me.

It a physically extraordinary place.

Something I have never seen in any other country or any other state.

It is magical, a little spooky, a little dangerous and requires attention when you move, and you find yourself almost compelled to stop constantly to look around you - up at the slice of visible sky, around you at the hugely interesting rock formations, down to monitor your steps, down to reassure yourself that the world does again open up and that the walls really will not close in and swallow you whole..................

A view of the wooden steps that lead from the bottom of Stone Door down further into the gorge.

There are multiple trail access points from here...............

The outer wall of one rock face of Stone Door..............

I did not spend a lot of time at the bottom of the rock stairs because man and dog were waiting patiently for me at the top.

After spending only a few minutes looking around me and greatly enjoying the fact that I was there, I turned back and began the long climb back up...................

After I got home later in the afternoon and downloaded the pictures I had taken I disappointed when I realized that they absolutely did not do the place justice.

Which gives me a ready excuse to visit again soon and try to picture take some more.

Stone Door is located in the small community of Beersheeba Springs..................