Natural Bridge
With autumn leaves turning & the sky beaconing blue, we took a day in October for hiking in Natural Bridge State Park & the surrounding area. Natural Bridge is a wonderfully wild place with great vistas, craggy stone outcroppings, shaded trails, caves, and mossy rocks. Our day there was uncrowded, but did include several dads on outings with out-of-school children that made the chatter around us lively and fun. We hiked the easier way up to the Bridge, but took the tougher trail down. We felt our legs trembling by day’s end. The leaves were barely turning, but were still beautiful. We walked for a few hours and then enjoyed a late lunch in the lodge restaurant. After eating we drove and photographed along the Red River Gorge and visited the remote Gladie Homestead in the Park. We were the only people at the Homestead so we wandered slowly around the property and through the old tobacco barn. Alan even stretched out in the late afternoon sun and took a nap on the grass.
The bridge's size makes it hard to photograph from close-up. It's awesome.
Above are photos of the inside of a tobacco-drying barn. Notice the many racks elevated into the ceiling area on which long leaves hang upside-down for drying. A collection of old farm tools fascinated Alan-some familiar to him from his days on the farm.
Quilt designs are commonly found on old barns throughout Kentucky. They create a quilt trail, another way for tourists to discover quaint and lovely places throughout the state.
The old homestead, once so far away from anywhere, is now accessible by an asphalt road--but still from away from anywhere! 
