June 14, 2009: Sunday… Happy Flag Day!
Today we met up with a couple ‘jeepers’ to ride up to Prentice Cooper State Forest.
The ride was planned and discussed at last month’s club meeting. The plan was to meet at the Sears in East Ridge at 1:00. We got there early to do a little catching up with our fellow club members… but we were there alone! Right at 1:00 Terry (the organizer of this ride) and Debbie, who are both new the club, arrived. After sitting around for a few minutes we realized no one else was gonna show so we hit the road. We took the ride towards signal mountain using all roads but the freeway! But we finally made it to Shuford’s Smokehouse on Signal Mountain Road around 1:35 where we met up with Mike and Suzanne. And then there were three jeepers!
The ride was planned and discussed at last month’s club meeting. The plan was to meet at the Sears in East Ridge at 1:00. We got there early to do a little catching up with our fellow club members… but we were there alone! Right at 1:00 Terry (the organizer of this ride) and Debbie, who are both new the club, arrived. After sitting around for a few minutes we realized no one else was gonna show so we hit the road. We took the ride towards signal mountain using all roads but the freeway! But we finally made it to Shuford’s Smokehouse on Signal Mountain Road around 1:35 where we met up with Mike and Suzanne. And then there were three jeepers!
We had packed a big picnic lunch since that was the original plan. (Apparently we didn’t get the word that plans had changed and the others were planning on eating at Shuford’s!) But since there were only the 3 of us, the others just grabbed a to-go plate from Shuford’s and we headed towards Prentice Cooper. Mike and I were excited about going into Prentice Cooper from a different direction as when we were last there (Jeep Jamboree with the Ringgold dealership a couple years ago). Last time we went in at the bottom of the mountain and today we went in through the top.
So once we entered the park we took the trail to Snooper’s Rock. It was so nice! Can’t believe we’ve been there before and didn’t visit this area. What a view! We had our picnic lunch on the rock and watched boats traveling down the river gorge. It was a beautiful day for taking in the sights!
So once we entered the park we took the trail to Snooper’s Rock. It was so nice! Can’t believe we’ve been there before and didn’t visit this area. What a view! We had our picnic lunch on the rock and watched boats traveling down the river gorge. It was a beautiful day for taking in the sights!
The view from Snooper's Rock...
Britt getting ready for the picnic...
Me and Britt posing for a shot on the rock...
I made Britt's favorite snack to take for the picnic, fresh fruit ka-bobs! I made way to many as I expected a larger group to be on the ride. We took this big container back home with us :)
Yummy, yum, yum!!!
Renee, Mike, Brittany, Suzanne, Mike J, Debbie & Terry. (Thanks to the guy we met on the rock who took this picture for us; can't remember his name but he's the announcer for the Chattanooga Lookouts!)
Once we took the trail/loop out past Snooper’s rock it was about 3:30. Sadly this was a short ride and we called it a day. The main trail Mike and I were looking forward to traveling was apparently going to take longer than what time the others jeepers had available. Next time we’ll either have to get an earlier start or go on a Saturday.
Here's a little background info on Prentice Cooper State Forest:
Prentice Cooper State Forest is located in southeastern Tennessee, in Marion County. The forest is approximately 10 miles west of Chattanooga and is heavily utilized by the public. It is situated on the scenic Tennessee River Gorge. The property for Prentice Cooper was acquired by simple purchase between 1938 and 1944. The site was proclaimed a State Forest in 1945. Sixty-nine percent of the forest are in multiple-use regulated forests and the remainder is in conservation areas. Approximately 6,939 acres are designated as unregulated scenic zones that protect this view shed and other scenic areas of the forest. Hicks Gap Natural Area (350 acres) also occurs in the forest and was developed to protect the federally endangered Large-flowered Skullcap. The forest also includes several in-holdings owned by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and 3 cemeteries. Management activities of the forest focus primarily on sustainable timber management, forest management demonstration and wildlife habitat improvement while maintaining recreational opportunities for the public. There are 35 miles of hiking trails, including the south end of the Cumberland Trail State Park. There also are two designated camping areas. Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Forestry Division has provided labor and portions of the forest for various types of research in collaboration with the University of Tennessee. Hunting has been a traditional use of the forest. Other recreational activities include OHV use in designated areas, rock climbing, hiking, Mountain biking, horseback riding, bird watching, and camping.
And a little info on who this park is named after:
William Prentice Cooper (1895–1969) was an American politician and Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945.
Life and career -
A native of Bedford County, Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University and then Harvard University. After service in World War I, he opened a law practice in 1921, and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1923 before being elected district attorney. In 1936 he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. He attracted the favorable attention of Memphis political boss E.H. Crump, who had experienced a falling-out with his one-time protege, Governor Gordon Browning. With Crump's help, Cooper achieved the Democratic nomination for governor in August, 1938. At this point in Tennessee history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was considered "tantamount to election", as it was in much of the South in that era.
Cooper was Tennessee's wartime governor during World War II, which brought about the basis for the greatest social change in the history of the state up to that point. Large facilities were built, including Fort Campbell, most of which is in Tennessee despite its Kentucky address, some POW camps, and the Oak Ridge facilities where the atomic bomb was developed. Of course, the state government under Cooper played only a supporting role in these activities, which were under the direction of the federal government's War Department.
Cooper was also an advocate for education, and during his tenure the state began to provide textbooks for students in the lower grades without requiring that their parents purchase them, a major change. He was also dedicated to higher teacher pay, but very limited in how he could provide for this due to the state's very limited tax base. He was also dedicated to public health, and during his tenure a statewide network of tuberculosis hospitals was built which served the state for about three decades.
Cooper served three consecutive two-year terms. During his tenure, the state debt was greatly reduced. Staying active in public service, Cooper was later U.S. ambassador to Peru. He served as a delegate to the limited state constitutional convention in 1953, which proposed several major changes which were subsequently adopted by the voters, including, perhaps most notably, the extension of the gubernatorial term from two to four years.
Encouraged by pro-segregation interests, Cooper challenged freshman the U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. in the 1958 Democratic primary, but lost handily (with Gore taking about 60% of the vote). From then on, he was regarded as something of a Democratic elder statesman. Prentice Cooper State Forest, atop Suck Creek Mountain near Chattanooga is named in his honor, as are buildings at virtually all of Tennessee state universities.
Cooper, a bachelor while in office, later married. His son Jim Cooper, born in 1954, has served on two separate occasions in the United States House of Representatives. In his first race in 1982, he successfully ran against Cissy Baker, the daughter of then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, in a race featuring the offspring of two famous Tennessee political figures. After 6 terms, he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994 for the open seat that Al Gore, Jr. had vacated with his election to the Vice-Presidency in 1992, although unlike his father, he managed to win his party's nomination. He was beaten by noted lawyer and actor Fred Thompson. Eight years later in 2002, after moving from his rural-based 4th district to urban Nashville, he won the nomination for the open seat of Bob Clement, another son of a former Tennessee Governor, and easily won election to the House again, where he is currently serving his (as of 2009) 10th term.
Life and career -
A native of Bedford County, Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University and then Harvard University. After service in World War I, he opened a law practice in 1921, and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1923 before being elected district attorney. In 1936 he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. He attracted the favorable attention of Memphis political boss E.H. Crump, who had experienced a falling-out with his one-time protege, Governor Gordon Browning. With Crump's help, Cooper achieved the Democratic nomination for governor in August, 1938. At this point in Tennessee history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was considered "tantamount to election", as it was in much of the South in that era.
Cooper was Tennessee's wartime governor during World War II, which brought about the basis for the greatest social change in the history of the state up to that point. Large facilities were built, including Fort Campbell, most of which is in Tennessee despite its Kentucky address, some POW camps, and the Oak Ridge facilities where the atomic bomb was developed. Of course, the state government under Cooper played only a supporting role in these activities, which were under the direction of the federal government's War Department.
Cooper was also an advocate for education, and during his tenure the state began to provide textbooks for students in the lower grades without requiring that their parents purchase them, a major change. He was also dedicated to higher teacher pay, but very limited in how he could provide for this due to the state's very limited tax base. He was also dedicated to public health, and during his tenure a statewide network of tuberculosis hospitals was built which served the state for about three decades.
Cooper served three consecutive two-year terms. During his tenure, the state debt was greatly reduced. Staying active in public service, Cooper was later U.S. ambassador to Peru. He served as a delegate to the limited state constitutional convention in 1953, which proposed several major changes which were subsequently adopted by the voters, including, perhaps most notably, the extension of the gubernatorial term from two to four years.
Encouraged by pro-segregation interests, Cooper challenged freshman the U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. in the 1958 Democratic primary, but lost handily (with Gore taking about 60% of the vote). From then on, he was regarded as something of a Democratic elder statesman. Prentice Cooper State Forest, atop Suck Creek Mountain near Chattanooga is named in his honor, as are buildings at virtually all of Tennessee state universities.
Cooper, a bachelor while in office, later married. His son Jim Cooper, born in 1954, has served on two separate occasions in the United States House of Representatives. In his first race in 1982, he successfully ran against Cissy Baker, the daughter of then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, in a race featuring the offspring of two famous Tennessee political figures. After 6 terms, he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994 for the open seat that Al Gore, Jr. had vacated with his election to the Vice-Presidency in 1992, although unlike his father, he managed to win his party's nomination. He was beaten by noted lawyer and actor Fred Thompson. Eight years later in 2002, after moving from his rural-based 4th district to urban Nashville, he won the nomination for the open seat of Bob Clement, another son of a former Tennessee Governor, and easily won election to the House again, where he is currently serving his (as of 2009) 10th term.
Next club meeting will be Monday, July 6th at Casey's Restaurant on Lee Hwy (6:00-8:00)
