On October 22, 2000 we drove to Elkhorn City, Kentucky to ride on the Pine Mountain Trail. Having been on a portion of the trail about three weeks earlier, we were hoping to be able to ride to the point we had reached on our previous ride. We unloaded and left the trailer at about 9:30, starting out along the Russell Fork River. The river goes through the gorge in the Breaks Interstate Park, and exits the gorge just south of Elkhorn City.

Elkhorn City, Kentucky. The river is flowing north towards the town after having passed through the Breaks Interstate Park.

The trail was rocky and steep once it started up the mountain. The Pine Mountain trail is marked with yellow, but there are other unmarked trails that leave the main trail at several places along the way. Not having time to explore everthing, we stuck to the main trail. The weather was great, with my only complaint being that it was slightly hazy and overcast, which limited visibility somewhat. There are lots of beautiful vistas from this mountain that will allow you to see for miles on clear days.

Looking southwest along the ridge of the Cumberland Mountain. We ate lunch on the rightmost part of the rock formation.

We pressed on towards the top of the ridge. Tying up our horses and making our way out onto a rocky bluff we could see a large sandstone formation. We had seen this same formation on our previous ride, but from the opposite direction. Continuing on, the trail got too rough and steep to ride, so we led the horses for the next half mile or so. Just before coming out of the woods at the base of the sandstone formation we found an old cemetery, called Hall Cemetery. No one appeared to have been buried in it for about 50 years and most of the stones were unmarked.

The entrance to Hall Cemetery, located on the Kentucky side of the mountain just a short distance from the base of the sandstone rock formation.

We rode on past the sandstone formation, then switched back as we got closer to the ridge. Climbing along the narrow trail, we went through the "Notch" at the top which put us on top of the main ridge. From there we turned left and went back to the sandstone formation, where we tied up and ate our lunch.

The spot where we ate lunch, looking northeast towards the Breaks Interstate Park.

After lunch we headed back towards the notch, but decided to ride on out the ridge hoping to reach a point where we had been only three weeks before. After riding for only fifteen minutes we were there. We took another look from the rocks back towards the Breaks, then pointed the horses back towards the trailer. It was just a little before 3:00, but knowing they were headed home, plus the fact that it was mostly downhill, we made it back to the trailer by about 5:30.