In November the Backpacking Meetup had a trip to Virgin Falls on the Cumberland Plateau near Sparta. This was my first backpacking trip and the prediction was for freezing temperatures and precipitation. I wasn't sure about it but went anyway. Thanks to good equipment, experienced leadership and a relaxed plan it turned out to be a great weekend. We camped about halfway in. That was good, didn't have to carry gear so far. A big pack on your back throws your center of gravity off, hiking poles help. Once we set up camp and put the packs in our tents, we were able to hike more quickly to the Falls. There was a crowd of Scouts and Vandy students camping at Virgin Falls. There was very little room to pitch tents and all the downed wood had been taken so that was another reason to camp where we did even though we did share the area with another Scout group.
When we returned to camp we made a small fire and cooked our food, nothing memorable. During the night several showers passed through but I stayed cozy all night. When I stuck my head out in the morning the rain had turned to flurries. As we left camp and came out of the gorge back up to the plateau level there was snow, not much but it was pretty.
