By Pat Carver
Three people and two dogs met to go hiking at Lula Lake on Saturday, November 5th. It was a beautiful day—great for hammocking, my new sport. 🙂
We hiked up the bluff, set up our hammocks, and ate lunch. From there, we were in no hurry. The scenery was absolutely mesmerizing—looking down at Chattanooga valley.
Question: What is the name of the Ridge that seems to span one end of Chattanooga to Georgia?
After some time, we decided to head back down via the adventure trail. It is named Adventure trail for a reason—we had to hike down holding onto a rope. Follow the rope and you have no problem; try and take a shortcut on your own and you may just be sliding down on your butt. (LOL)
We started our day just before 10am and finished about 2pm. It was a great hike! Thanks to Sandra Walker, Healthier Curry, Domino and Sugar for joining me.
The Lula Lake Land Trust, established by the will of Robert M. Davenport in January of 1994, seeks to protect and preserve the natural beauty and abundant resources within the Rock Creek watershed for the benefit of present and future generations by fostering education, research and conservation stewardship of the land.
As early as 1958, Mr. Davenport began to acquire pieces of property that would later form the core of the land trust project. These original acquisitions included two exquisite natural features, Lula Lake and Lula Falls.
Mining, clear-cut timber harvests, garbage dumping and unrestricted public access had left much of the surrounding land denuded of its beauty and apparent value, giving Mr. Davenport the opportunity to quietly amass several hundred acres throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s. Once closed to public access in the early 1980’s, he began rejuvenating the land by cleaning up the dump sites and replanting timbered areas. The conservation of the core property, and the opening of public access to Lookout Mountain’s natural resources, are a tribute to his hard work.
Mr. Davenport had talked to his family about long-term goals for Lula Lake such as preserving the property and conducting biological inventories to identify any rare or unique plants and animals.
One such species, Virginia spirea (Spiraea virginiana), was found on the property and previously known from only one other location in Georgia. When learning this, Mr. Davenport became completely convinced of the importance of preserving this unique area for future generations.
By the time of his untimely death in 1994, Robert M. Davenport had acquired over 1,200 acres surrounding Lula Lake. Since then, the Land Trust has increased protection within the watershed to over 8,000 acres.