Rabun Bald

Thursday, we headed back into Georgia and parked again at the Sky Valley Overlook.  It was another beautiful view with clouds over the valley.

Today, we were going for a hike here.  Mud Creek Trail picked up just past the overlook and followed the creek upstream.  There were some scenic cascades along the trail.

It was about a mile to the end at Mud Creek Falls.

It's possible to park right by the waterfall, but it was a nice hike up along the creek.

The waterfall was very scenic in the early morning light.

There was a hemlock tree growing around a rock here that was very interesting.

We enjoyed the view and then made the hike back.

The clouds had cleared from the overlook by the time we made it back.

Next, we continued into Sky Valley and parked at the trailhead for Rabun Bald at Beegum Gap.  The Bartram Trail led south from here towards the summit of Georgia's second highest peak.  In about a mile, FR-413 rejoined with Bartram Trail.  It got a little steep at this point as it switchbacked up through some rhododendron tunnels.

It then leveled off before reaching the lookout tower at the top.  We climbed up here to enjoy the views.

As the highest point around, there were great 360° views.

We had lunch up here, but soon more people started showing up, so we started hiking back.  At FR-413, we turned to make a loop on the hike back.

We started making our way back to North Carolina, pulling over on NC-106 at the Blue Valley Overlook.

Then we drove through Highlands and stopped at Cliffside Lake Recreation Area.  It's closed for the winter so we parked before the gate and hiked up to the Clifftop Vista Trailhead and got on the Ranger Falls Trail.  It ascended gradually then we took a split to the left to descend down towards Skitty Creek.

In just over a mile, the trail crossed the creek just below Ranger Falls.

On our last visit, the waterfall was barely a trickle, so nice to visit in much better water flow.

In high water, it's a nice waterfall and the rock that it flows over is very colorful.

We got some pictures and then made the hike back.

Continuing back towards Franklin on US-64, we made one more stop.  We took a turn on Ellijay Road and stopped at the roadside Katie's Falls.

A plaque by the waterfall said it was named by a local for his daughter in the early 20th century.

Then we headed to Franklin and had dinner at Lazy Hiker with Alex.  Then we headed back to Colin's place for New Years Eve.