In July, Tom and I worked at the Tri-State Outdoor Fest as representatives of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  We had done this two years ago, but our job was a little different this time.

The Tri-State Outdoor Fest is a celebration of all the things there are to do outdoors in the Tri-State Area.  The fest is held in the town of Cumberland Gap.  It is a chance to highlight the trails and state parks in the area.  As the resident national park site, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park surrounds the town, which means everyone has to drive through our park in order to get to the town.

During Tri-State Outdoor Fest, main street Cumberland Gap is filled with vendors and exhibitors.  Unfortunately, this year it also poured down rain until about 1 p.m.  The fest starts at 10, so some of the exhibitors decided not to come.  In addition, the rain discouraged attendance.  In the morning, there were a lot more exhibitors than there were attendees.

Tri-State Outdoor Fest is the one day a year that Cumberland Gap National Historical Park offers free tours of the cave.  Usually it costs $8 per person to go on a cave tour.  This is a shortened tour.  It is an opportunity for locals as well as visitors to get a taste of the cave without paying or going on the full tour.  Usually there are 200 people who take advantage of the free day to check out the cave.

This year, because of the rain, there were only 44.  Considering there were only 13 in the morning, we were pleased to have that many.  More people stopped by once the rain cleared off after 1 p.m.

In the morning, Tom and I walked around town and talked to people.  We were supposed to encourage visitors to head up to the cave.  But there were so few visitors that we mostly just talked to the vendors and exhibitors.  A bluegrass trio played.  They weren’t very good and most people ignored them.  Tom and I had a chance to talk to lots of different folks.

One section of exhibitors was all about the Cumberland Trail.  Great Eastern Trail, Cumberland Gap Trail Alliance, and Cumberland Trail State Park all had representatives eager to talk about the trail.  Another section was conservancy groups.  Vendors interspersed between them.  We especially enjoyed talking to the Stringbean Bag maker.  He designs and makes a variety of waterproof bicycle bags, handsewing all of them himself.

There were activities for children such as bounce houses and other inflatables.  A fire truck filled up a pool that kids could swim in or learn how to paddle board in.  Tom and I enjoyed shared a burger and some tater tots from a food truck.  I got a scoop of ice cream, and then it was time to change shifts.

For second shift, a different group of volunteers was taking over walking around the town.  Tom and I were stationed at the entrance to the Gap Cave trail.  We told people what they needed to know about hiking up to the cave and getting their free tour.  It wasn’t hard duty and it was nice to be under a shelter.  At 2 p.m. we closed off the trail, which meant that the rangers at the cave could finish up the tours and pack.  About 3 p.m. everything was packed up and we headed back to the Visitors Center at the park.

It is always fun to do something different on one of our work days.  Our day was hot and wet but we enjoyed talking to a variety of people in town.