Wildflowers and Waterfalls along Basin Creek

Monday was Alex's 11th birthday, so we took him for hike to celebrate.  We left early and first made a stop at Carter Falls near Elkin.  Early in the morning, no one else was here.  It was a short hike along an old road down to the falls.

It's a pretty big waterfall for so far east of the mountains.  On my last visit, it was afternoon and the sun was shining right on it.  It was looking a lot better in the early morning light.

I climbed around on the rocks for pictures and then we headed back.

From here, we made the short drive to the Longbottom Road parking for Doughton Park for our main hike.  Again, there was no one here, so were assured social distancing on our hike.  We followed Grassy Gap Fire Road for about 1.5 miles to the primitive campground and then got on Basin Creek Trail to follow it's namesake.  There were lots of wildflowers blooming in the area.

We spotted a few jack in the pulpit.

The water level was up and it was unseasonably cool, so the many water crossings on this hike would be fun.  The lush forest here was really beautiful in spring green.

There was an old chimney along the trail before the first crossing.

In about a half-mile, the crossings began and most required getting our feet wet.  Alex seemed to enjoy it more than Sandy.  Basin Creek is almost constant drops and cascades.

At the fourth crossing, we got off the trail and creek-walked and bushwhacked up to the Lower Basin Creek Falls.

The last section to get to the falls is a rock scramble, so we took turns so one of us could stay with Alex.

Then we got back on the main trail.  After the fifth crossing of Basin Creek and a tributary, there were two more old chimneys.

And shortly after, there was another chimney.  There were quite a few homesteads along Basin Creek at one time.

Soon after the ninth crossing, we could see the Upper Waterfall on Basin Creek.

The view from the trail was good, but we climbed down to the base and hung out down here for a while.

After a break, it was five more crossings to the trail's end at Caudhill Cabin.

There were also a lot of wildflowers blooming along the upper portion of the creek.

I even found some showy orchis, though they were past peak.

Canadian columbine were blooming in nice patches.

I also found a nice patch of woodland stonecrop.

And the fire pinks were really big!

We then made the hike back.

On the way home, we stopped to get Alex a hot dog for his birthday dinner.