Lookout for what....March 27th

Today I joined Meg the Hiker for walk along some trails on Lookout Mtn. The weather was fabulous, low 70's, PC, light wind under the trees.
We began this from a parking area on the left side of the street, just above St Elmo, on Hwy #58. From this trailhead parking we crossed the busy road very carefully, as the auto traffic from both directions was dealing w/ turns and restricted vision. Once across we walked along a service road which 1 mile later brought us to Ruby Falls, and another busy road crossing. This put us in the lower part of the parking lot described by 'forest case' in his entry "Ruby Falls", 3/11/08 From here we navigated are way to another service road in the back of the lot and began to slowly distance ourselves from the "busy-ness" of Ruby Falls parking. While walking under, and just past the rails for the Incline Railway a train passed, we turned to watch and wave to the folks as they climbed upward. Along here we had views of the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga. We continued along what I believe was the Upper Truck trail and noticed a transition from healthy hardwoods into an area of mixed hardwood and pines, noted by the pines mostly destroyed and decaying because of the Pine Beetle.
I encourage you to learn more about this. You can find further information at the Chattanooga Nature Center, located here on Lookout Mtn. (423-821-1160).
When we reached the intersection for the Gum Spring trail going to Sunset Rock, (we've walked this trail numerous times) we chose follow it and hiked up for a 1/4 mile or so and then sat on some rocks to rest and talk for a while. "The Hiker" then suggested we return to the intersection and continue on the Upper Truck trail, which we did. This portion of the trail reminded us of recent hikes on Pigeon Mtn., w/ both the terrain and open areas beneath the Big trees. Absolutely a beautiful walking trail.
All of the trails mentioned here were easy to moderate, except the Gum Spring trail which would be considered difficult. From the Upper Truck trail there were views of the cliffs and overlooks above and a view into the valleys below w/ Raccoon, Hicks, and Elder Mountains; others as well, visible in the distance. We walked at least 6 and a 1/2 miles of wide and enjoyable trails. Peace!