Day 6 – Yesterday’s News
Adding To What We Know In Laurel & Knox County
Mike and I headed out from Levi Jackson Park today and walked the roads to Happy Hollow Rd. When I did last year’s hike, I missed recording this area because there was no juice in the Satcom. This time, I was at full power and now have the GPS data I needed.
The Happy Hollow/Boggs Lane sections are genuine Boone Trace, and I hope some day we see families come out to walk it for the day.
Over the past two centuries, this section has seen logging and homesteads. It is in this section that the first Kentucky postman was killed.
The terrain today has been brushy with brambles, but the original road is easy to see.
We were met at the other end by Steve and Doug. They are both members of the Knox Historical Society. Steve is also on the board of Friends of Boone Trace, and Doug walked 16 miles last year with Givan and me.
We motored down to a few areas that have some routing questions in the Bimble area and, after some mountain climbing, found a new discovery. A visible road that comes out of Shy Mug Hollow through a low gap. A local land owner and lifelong resident pointed it out and he believes it to be genuine BT.
As for a future public path, we need to do some more research. The entire Shy Mug Hollow is owned by the Brown family, who farm and ranch there. We respect their land and don’t wish to impose on them. There is historical evidence that after Boone marked his original road, settlers bypassed Shy Mug Hollow to avoid the steep terrain and used the next low land feature, Trace Branch Creek, also known as Higgins Hollow.
I have no cell service, so you are getting this update a day late. I am not staying at the campsite I had planned but in a small cabin on Steve’s property just off Higgins Hollow. I’ll be walking to my next night spot from here by way of another genuine BT section in Bimble. In fact, it is the actual dividing point of BT and the Wilderness Road. I placed a GPS mark on the map at the exact separation point. I’ll start my SatCom in the morning to try and preserve the mark for you to see. It’s the first ping mark after the long straight line from farther north.
Three more nights and this trip is wrapping up with many new points to be added to what we know of Daniel Boone’s road into the Kentucky wilderness.
Walk On
Curtis