This time, we parked at the trailhead for Hunt Fish Falls Trail. This trail headed steeply down to Lost Cove Creek in just under a mile. Near the end, there were some switchbacks and some cliffs here.
A path led along the cliffs out to rock with a view of Hunt Fish Sidekick Falls from the middle.
From here, we went back to the trail and turned right on Lost Cove Creek Trail (#262). The trail crossed below the base of Hunt Fish Sidekick Falls.
Here we could walk out on the rocks for a view of Hunt Fish Falls.
We had arrived early enough that it wasn't crowded yet, rare for this waterfall in the summer.
After some pictures, we continued on Lost Cove Trail following the creek downstream. We had to wade Lost Cove Creek and after the confluence with Gragg Prong, we had to wade that creek as well.
Soon we came to Gragg Prong Falls.
A climbed out on a rock part of the way down for a nice view of the falls. But it would have been tough to go further down so I didn't make it to the base this time.
Continuing on the trail, we stopped to see a nice cascade on the creek.
Soon, we arrived at Middle Gragg Prong Falls.
Surprisingly, no one else was at this one yet. So we walked around on the rocks a bit to get some pictures of the waterfall.
Soon enough, a few more people showed up so we took off. In another half-mile, we took a path that led down to the creek at Upper Gragg Prong Falls.
There was one other group here, but they were down by the creek, so we climbed up the big rock to eat lunch. I waded in the creek for some pictures and then we headed on.
At the trailhead on FR-981, I wanted to finish the Lost Cove Loop. There was a trailhead sign that said Timber Ridge Trail (#262), but Timber Ridge is #261 and Lost Cove is #262, so I followed that trail as it went in the general right direction. But it was not Lost Cove Trail. In a little over a mile, I came to the actual Timber Ridge Trail (#261) and went right to head up to the summit of Bee Mountain.
There was absolutely no view here and I was unable to figure out where Lost Cove Trail met up. But heading down, Lost Cove Trail was pretty easy to follow. The first part was incredibly steep, but at least I was going down. There was one spot with a decent view from the trail.
The trail moderated and continued descending via switchbacks to Lost Cove Creek. I had to cross the creek and the first mile of trail was pretty easy to follow. Then it got rather hard to follow as I had to cross the creek a couple times. But I kept following the creek downstream and eventually made it back to Hunt Fish Falls.
After finishing our hike, we headed into Newland for dinner at Carolina Barbecue. Then we headed back to camp for one more campfire.
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