Booth Creek Falls

For the first week in July, we headed to Colorado to beat the heat and humidity.  We flew out of RDU Saturday morning, arriving in Denver before 9 local time.  After getting our rental car, we headed west on I-70 and made our first stop in the quaint mountain town of Idaho Springs.  Being a holiday week in the middle of summer, it took a bit to find a parking space.  Eventually, another car left and we took their spot.  A short paved trail led under the interstate and to Bridal Veil Falls.

The water level was low but the Charlie Tayler Water Wheel made for a nice scene.

The water wheel was built in 1893 by Charlie Tayler, who attributed his good health to the fact that he never kissed women or took baths.  The spring-fed waterfall tumbled into Clear Creek near some rapids and a few rafters paddled by.

After we stretched our legs and got some pictures, we continued on.  Our next stop was Booth Creek Falls near Vail in the Eagles Nest Wilderness of White River National Forest.  Again, the trailhead parking was nearly full but we got the last spot.  Booth Creek Trail (#2011) was pretty steep and we were still getting used to the altitude so the going was slow.  Lots of wildflowers were blooming along the trail, including some gorgeous Colorado blue columbine, with cool spurs on the back of the flowers.

Although the trail was mostly forested at this point, there were a few spots with great open views.

In about 2 miles, we made it to Booth Creek Falls.  The gorge at the falls was steep and narrow and I had to maneuver around for a picture.

It was way too steep to get down to the base.  Above the Falls, we went down to creek level.  I waded in the creek for a picture of some cascades above the falls.

The water was very cold and I couldn't stay long, even with just my feet in the water.  The view looking over the falls was pretty cool - there were some dry rocks in the middle of the creek to view safely.

We headed a little further on the trail, making it to over 10,000 feet, before turning back.  We had planned to go as far as Booth Creek Lake, but it was getting late and we were feeling the altitude, so we turned around.  Heading back, we went slow to stop and enjoy the wildflowers along the trail.

Prairie bluebells, red columbine, Indian paintbrush, and featherleaf fleabane were among the many flowers we spotted.

There were some nice cascades along the creek above the waterfall.

Pretty much the entire creek is cascades and drops, hence the steepness of the trail.  We spotted a yellow-bellied marmot near the waterfall on the way back.

They're really good climbers; he was able to scurry away on the steep cliffs.  The downhill hike on the way back was leisurely and we stopped to see the many wildflowers blooming amidst the aspen forest.

Barbey's larkspur have really pretty blue-purple flowers.

Thimbleberry produces an edible berry, similar to a raspberry.

Richardson's geranium is a species of white geranium.

Soon, we made it back to the parking area.

From here, we continued to Hotchkiss and stayed at the Hotchkiss Inn.  We were very tired when we arrived and passed right out.

Cooling off in the Eno

Sunday was going to be another very hot day in North Carolina, so I wanted somewhere to hike with water to help cool off and Eno River is always a good choice for water hikes.  The Eno River Association recently opened Confluence Natural Area to the public.  At the confluence of the East and West Forks, this marks the spot where the Eno River begins.  I started off hiking the Two Forks Trail from the parking area.  The trail passes through an open meadow past the pavilion and restrooms and then follows an old road through the woods to the northern end of the Big Meadow.

From here, it became a regular trail and it was clear not many people had hiked it recently as the spiderwebs were terrible.  The trail followed East Fork Eno River downstream and right before the confluence, a spur led to a nice view at the southern end of Big Meadow.

Right past the spur was a viewpoint at the confluence of East and West Forks of Eno River.

From here, the trail began following West Fork Eno River upstream.  Further on, I found a nice rocky spot to go out into the river.

Past here, Two Forks Trail terminated at Shepperd Mill Trail.  I went left and continued following West Fork upstream.

I never found any remnants of a mill but there was a rocky outcrop.

Where there trail ended at another open meadow, I backtracked to follow Shepperd Mill Trail back towards the start.  Right near the parking area was a rusty old piece of farm equipment.

Then I finished my hike up back at the parking area.

From here, I drove to the Cole Mill access for Eno River State Park.  It was warming up so I switched hiking boots for water shoes and started off on Pea Creek Trail.  It's a loop and near the half-way point, a footbridge crosses the creek.

I got on Dunnagan Trail to make another loop.  About half way around was an old Dunnagan gravestone.

The trail loops around and starts following the river.  I got in the river across from Pump Station to cool off a bit.  The water was fairly warm, but it was refreshing.

Continuing on, I finished up Dunnagan and Pea Creek Trails and the got on Cole Mill Trail to Bobbit Hole Trail.  At Bobbit Hole, I got in the water again and splashed around.  The water level was low but it was moving pretty quick so it was quite refreshing.

A dog was playing fetch in the water and really seemed to be enjoying himself.  After cooling off for a bit, I hiked back to the car to finish up.

Little Table Rock

Sunday morning, we broke camp and left Linville Falls.  We got on NC-181 south towards Morganton for a few miles and turned onto FR-496, following the gravel road for about a mile to where it crossed over Steels Creek and parked.  Just upstream from the road is Upper Steels Creek Falls.  I scrambled up to the base of the waterfall, but there was a lot of downfall all over the place.

While Upper Steels Creek is just above the road, Newt Falls is just below.  However, it was a lot harder to reach.  We hiked back on the road a short ways to an old trailhead for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.  The trail has since been rerouted, but we followed the old trail to where it crossed Steels Creek at the top of Newt Falls.

Getting down would be really difficult, so Sandy stayed with Alex up on the trail, while I made the difficult bushwhack down.  I came to a spot where I could get out into the creek at the base of the upper section of this waterfall.  I wasn't expecting much, but this upper section was really scenic and worth the challenging climb down.

There was more waterfall below, but no easy way to get further down.  With Sandy and Alex waiting, I just headed back up.

Then we went back to NC-181 and backtracked to Gingercake Road and headed up towards Table Rock in Linville Gorge.  Parking at the trailhead for Spence Ridge Trail we started out following it gradually downhill.  In under a mile, we went left on Little Table Rock Trail and continued heading down.  It would be a lot of uphill to get to Table Rock now.  After crossing a tributary, the trail started heading up and very steeply.  The heat and humidity made the climb up very strenuous.  We took a couple breaks and finally made it.  Just before the end a short spur led to Little Table Rock with nice views of Linville Gorge.

We also had a nice view of Table Rock towering above.  At the Mountains to Sea Trail, we turned right and hiked down towards the picnic area.  A Virginia rose was blooming along the trail.

Past the parking area, we continued on MST out towards the Chimneys.  There were great views of the gorge from along the trail.

A couple spots required a little rock scrambling and Forest Service doesn't recommend pets on the trail, but Alex had no trouble.

Near the Chimneys, we found a nice shady spot to eat lunch and enjoy the views.  Looking east, the Blue Ridge escarpment and foothills drop drastically down to the Piedmont.

On the way back, there was a nice view of Table Rock from the parking area.

But we passed on going up to Table Rock as it was so hot and Alex was struggling with the heat.

There were some spiderwort and fire pink blooming along the table as we made the gradual ascent.

After passing the turn leading up to Table Rock it would be almost all downhill from here.

We followed the MST from Table Rock down to FR-210 and turned left to follow the road a short ways to our car to finish out the weekend.

We stopped at Cook Out on the way home so Alex could get a hot dog for dinner.

Beech Mountain Waterfalls

Saturday, we took Alex out to the mountains for a weekend of hiking and camping.  It was going to be hot, so we wanted to go as high as possible.  We left around 630 and arrived around 10 at Beech Mountain, the highest incorporated town in the eastern US.  Our first stop was at the Buckeye Recreation Center.  I went inside to purchase a trail map as Beech Mountain is very confusing to get around.  Then we started down the Falls Trail.  This trail led down from the playground descending via switchbacks to Buckeye Creek at the confluence with Grassy Gap Creek.

Buckeye Creek Falls was just upstream of the confluence.  We stopped for a few minutes at this surprisingly nice waterfall, though the sun was shining right on it.

A bridge led over the creek and underneath blooming mountain laurel.  The trail followed the creek upstream past some nice cascades.

Soon the trail reached just below the dam at Buckeye Lake.  From here, the trail followed along a fence to the lower parking lot to finish up the loop.  We continued on Pine Ridge Road a short ways and picked up Grassy Gap Trail following its namesake upstream.  Although we were always close to homes, the trail definitely had a wilderness feel and it was easy to forget this was a city trail.  The trail crossed a couple gravel roads and then turned right to follow one, eventually running into Fox Run Trail.

The two trails ran together for a while and then split.  We went right to stay on Red Fox Trail that leads out to Pinnacle Ridge Road.  Just across the main road, we picked up Smoketree Trail that was another gravel road, heading down at first.  Heading back up, there were a couple switchbacks and then we went right to stay on Smoketree Trail.  Eventually, the trail came to a crossing of Buckeye Creek far upstream of the lake and waterfall.

There was a small waterfall here - Upper Buckeye Creek Falls.  It wasn't big or impressive, but there was a picnic table here and it made a nice spot for a break.

We then made the hike back to the car.  It started raining on the way, but nothing heavy.  Our next stop was at Lake Coffey and having the map helped navigating around Beech Mountain.  At the far end of the lake, a small waterfall drained into Pond Creek.  Here we got on Lower Pond Creek Trail and followed its namesake downstream.  Right after the first crossing was a nice drop into a big pool.

It was strange to see the back of a house right behind it.  With high water, Pond Creek was really impressive.

It was almost non-stop cascades and small drops in the creek and it was really rushing.

There were some hemlock varnish shelf mushrooms one a tree at one spot.

This trail was very steep and rocky with a rope to navigate one steep section; unexpectedly difficult for a town trail.

We came to a spot where there was one big cascading slide on the creek and I though this may have been the waterfall, but we continued on a bit.

When we did get to She Falls Falls, there was no doubt that this was the waterfall.  It was really beautiful.

The waterfall was named after a woman fell, breaking her leg and had to be rescued.  I'm surprised she survived!

After some pictures, we made our way back.  Some folks at the trailhead asked how Alex did with the rope section and were impressed he had no trouble.  Before leaving Beech Mountain, we made one more stop at the Parkway Overlook.

It was a nice view but power lines and buildings kind of spoil it.  The half-mile Overlook Trail led down to Perry Park where there was another small waterfall.  Just above it were some nice cascades.

Unfortunately, the waterfall itself was kind of ruined by the culvert pipes above.

We got some pictures and then headed back up to the overlook.

Heading down from Beech Mountain, we drove to Newland and made a stop at Bobby McLean Memorial Park, also called Waterfalls Park.  The small roadside park features a really nice waterfall in three sections.  The lowest is easily visible from the road.

A short trail leads to the upper sections.  The middle section was a small veil.

It was possible to see the upper section from here.

Continuing up the short trail, the upper section was about an eight foot steep slide.

Overall, really nice for a roadside waterfall and I'm surprised I hadn't stopped before.  We were getting really hungry at this point so had dinner at Carolina BBQ just up the road.  They had outdoor seating so we could dine with Alex and they even had beer.  Their barbecue and sides were really good - definitely have to remember this place.  After dinner we headed to Linville Falls and set up camp at site B51.  Then we headed to the falls for an evening hike.  First we headed over to Duggers Creek Loop Trail.  Mountain laurel were blooming along the creek.

I wanted to visit Duggers Creek Falls, because the last time I was here, the water level was really low so wanted to stop for a better picture.

The water level was way up the creek was really flowing.

Looping back to the visitor center, there were some flame azalea blooming.

Then we headed on the main trail to the Upper Falls Overlook.  This overlook had been closed but recently reopened.

Looking over the top of the main waterfall, the power of the river was apparent.

Finally, we made on more stop at the Chimneys Overlook for a view of late evening view of Linville Falls.

It was starting to get late so we headed back and made it back to camp just as the sun set.

Someone had left some firewood at our campsite so we built a fire and then went to bed.