Road to Muir Valley Floor
Road to Muir Valley Floor
Went to the great wall the other day and saw the new road. is it ready to drive down? If so where is the turn off of 715?
"climb, fall, send, go home"
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squeezindlemmon
- Posts: 1452
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:02 pm
The road is not in really good shape right now and a big part of it has been washed out. You will definitely need a 4W drive to get all the way down to the valley floor. It's possible that it's not as muddy as last week bec of the nice/dry weather we've been having but it is still quite an adventure to drive thru. PM weber for detailed info.
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our mind. ~Bob Marley
ender xx:
Nope, that near-vertical scree slope was actually used by mules, then later log skidders to remove logs from the valley. We intend to close this skid path and repair the erosion by terracing it and planting something to help stop further erosion. A new gently slopped hiking trail was built last month by a bunch of super volunteers to replace the skid path.
The road talked about in this thread is made up of two sections. The first section, that we call the "Cliff Road" is a half-mile road that was blasted out of the rock side of a very steep cliff in a narrow canyon that starts at the top of the ridge that KY 715 follows. The Cliff Road has existed since the 1930's and has been used continuously by the family who previously owned the northern portion of Muir Valley. It starts down from 715 at a point about a half mile south of the Rogers Elementary School. The Cliff Road is not presently in the best of shape due to three gully washers that hit the Gorge this year. It will be repaired in the next few weeks.
At the bottom end of the Cliff Road are two cabins. Cathy Holthouser lives in the first one and will be running the second one as a climbers' hostel type of bed and breakfast. More info can be found about Cathy's b and b at www.smokeyforkbandb.com. Cathy is graciously offering lodging to climbers in return for a little help in remodeling the place. Call the number on her website for more details. Note that Cathy's two cabins on two acres are not part of Muir Valley, although the symbiontic relationship between her and Muir has obvious mutual benefit.
Those persons who have called Cathy and arranged to stay at her B and B are welcome to drive down the Cliff Road, which is shared by Muir Valley owners and Cathy. You may park on her two acres or on the meadow below the second cabin, which is Muir property.
Be forewarned that the Cliff Road lives up to his name! There are sheer vertical dropoffs at the edge of the road in several spots. The drops are from 80 to over 100 feet. Do NOT drive off the road without a very large parachute. Eventually, we hope to install guardrails. There are none now. Although a common convention is that the uphill driver has right-of-way, the universal rule is that common sense, courtesy, and cooperation should be used to resolve the situation.
The second section of road is new and currently under construction. It connects up at the south end of the Cliff Road and will eventually continue down the valley for about 2 miles. At this time, it is impassable except to robust 4-W drive vehicles. Please!!! NO ONE is to drive on this new section of road without prior permission of Rick and Liz Weber, especially in the next month while construction is going on. For those few vehicles that have been given permission to travel this road, park way off the road and out of the way of earth moving equipment! Again, contact us before driving past Cathy's cabins, or you may have a seriously close encounter with a bulldozer.
Rick Weber
Nope, that near-vertical scree slope was actually used by mules, then later log skidders to remove logs from the valley. We intend to close this skid path and repair the erosion by terracing it and planting something to help stop further erosion. A new gently slopped hiking trail was built last month by a bunch of super volunteers to replace the skid path.
The road talked about in this thread is made up of two sections. The first section, that we call the "Cliff Road" is a half-mile road that was blasted out of the rock side of a very steep cliff in a narrow canyon that starts at the top of the ridge that KY 715 follows. The Cliff Road has existed since the 1930's and has been used continuously by the family who previously owned the northern portion of Muir Valley. It starts down from 715 at a point about a half mile south of the Rogers Elementary School. The Cliff Road is not presently in the best of shape due to three gully washers that hit the Gorge this year. It will be repaired in the next few weeks.
At the bottom end of the Cliff Road are two cabins. Cathy Holthouser lives in the first one and will be running the second one as a climbers' hostel type of bed and breakfast. More info can be found about Cathy's b and b at www.smokeyforkbandb.com. Cathy is graciously offering lodging to climbers in return for a little help in remodeling the place. Call the number on her website for more details. Note that Cathy's two cabins on two acres are not part of Muir Valley, although the symbiontic relationship between her and Muir has obvious mutual benefit.
Those persons who have called Cathy and arranged to stay at her B and B are welcome to drive down the Cliff Road, which is shared by Muir Valley owners and Cathy. You may park on her two acres or on the meadow below the second cabin, which is Muir property.
Be forewarned that the Cliff Road lives up to his name! There are sheer vertical dropoffs at the edge of the road in several spots. The drops are from 80 to over 100 feet. Do NOT drive off the road without a very large parachute. Eventually, we hope to install guardrails. There are none now. Although a common convention is that the uphill driver has right-of-way, the universal rule is that common sense, courtesy, and cooperation should be used to resolve the situation.
The second section of road is new and currently under construction. It connects up at the south end of the Cliff Road and will eventually continue down the valley for about 2 miles. At this time, it is impassable except to robust 4-W drive vehicles. Please!!! NO ONE is to drive on this new section of road without prior permission of Rick and Liz Weber, especially in the next month while construction is going on. For those few vehicles that have been given permission to travel this road, park way off the road and out of the way of earth moving equipment! Again, contact us before driving past Cathy's cabins, or you may have a seriously close encounter with a bulldozer.
Rick Weber
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. - Randy Pausch
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. - Henry David Thoreau
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. - Henry David Thoreau