Cane Creek Mountains

Sandy had Saturday off and it was looking to be a beautiful day so we took Alex for a day hike at Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area in Alamance County, just an hour drive.  Arriving a little after 8, it was still quite chilly this early in the morning.  We started off on Northern Approach Trail, which was gradual at first then got steep as it headed up the mountain.  There were some cool rocks to climb around on near the summit and we took a break here.

The trail passed by some rocky areas and then started heading down.

At one point, we saw two trees that were growing out of a rock and appeared to have split the rock open.

We finished the trail back at the parking lot and got on Longleaf Loop.  This trail made a 1-mile loop through an area where longleaf pine was being planted.

This was the last trail in the park, at least for phase 1.  There are plans to expand the park further in the future, but so far, it's really nice.

Since we were close by, we made a stop at Cedarock Park, another Alamance County Park.  Parking next to the visitor center, we got on Rock Creek Trail and headed over to the dam and waterfall.  The water level was pretty low so didn't seem much like a waterfall.

We continued on the loop and took Connector Trail to make a loop with Spoon Branch Trail then headed back to the car.

We were getting hungry at this point, so went to Cancun Mexican in Burlington that has nice outdoor seating.  We split the mixed fajitas for two and then headed home.

Roaring Run Furnace

Monday, we checked out of a hotel for the last time of the trip and drove north on US-220 into Jefferson National Forest and parked at Roaring Run Day Use Area.  The Roaring Run Loop Trail (#264) soon came to a split and we went left on the Streamside Trail that stayed close to the creek.

At a bridge crossing, there was a nice little water slide.

Not long after that was another really nice slide that might be considered a waterfall.

In under half a mile, we came to another split and went left on Roaring Run Falls Trail (#264A).  There was another nice water slide on the creek here.

Right above that was a narrow chute falls, but this still wasn't the actual waterfall.

The spur trail ended at the beautiful Roaring Run Falls.

I was really impressed with this one.

Just downstream was yet another slide.

From here we turned around and finished up the loop.  Roaring Run Furnace was near the end.

This 19th century furnace was used to produce iron that was shipped down the James River.

It was a really great little area that packed a lot of scenery into a short hike.

We wanted to get in one more hike on the way home and headed towards Roanoke.  We got on the Mill Mountain Parkway, a spur of the Blue Ridge Parkway and parked at Cedar Ridge Trailhead in the Roanoke Valley area.  Cedar Ridge Trail is a 5-mile loop around the area.

It was mostly forested, but there were a few open areas with views.

A lot of thistle was blooming and the pollinators were out.

The hike was about 2 hours for the loop.

From here, it was just another 3 hours to drive home after a long two weeks with more than 100 waterfalls in 11 states.

Catoctin Mountains

Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to the visitor center at Catoctin Mountain Park.  We got there early and there were still plenty of parking spaces.  After getting our stuff together, we set off on Cunningham Falls Nature Trail and hiked just over a mile to the split.  We turned left and crossed the road to take the short trail to Cunningham Falls.

With the recent hurricanes, all the waterfalls we had seen had really high water flow, but apparently the heavy rains hadn't come this far south.

After a couple pictures, we returned to Hog Rock Trail and started taking that up the mountain.  It was a steep climb up but soon we reached the Hog Rock Overlook.

It was very cloudy when we arrived, but we took a short break and view cleared a bit.  Continuing on, there were some cool rock formations at the top.

After crossing the park road, we soon came to Blue Ridge Summit Vista, which had really scenic views.

The Blue Ridge Summit Trail continued all the way back to the parking area.  I took a quick detour on Thurmont Vista Trail to the overlook, but there wasn't much of a view.

Then we finished the trail back at the visitor center.  It was very crowded by the time we were leaving.

From here, we drove south in Virginia.  We got off I-81 near Edinburg and drove into George Washington National Forest, parking at the end of FR-252.  We hiked up the steep Falls Ridge Trail and got off the trail near a cairn.  An obvious path with sporadic blazes led through the woods and down to Falls Run.  As we approached the waterfall, there were some cool cliffs along the creek.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of water at Falls Run Waterfall.  The high water seemed to be all up north.

Even in low water, it was a pretty cool waterfall over jagged rocks.

After some pictures, we hiked back.

From here, we continued south on I-81 to near Roanoke and stayed at the Quality Inn in Troutville.

Ricketts Glen

Saturday morning, we checked out early and headed to Ricketts Glen State Park.  Being a weekend, we wanted to get there early and avoid the crowds.  It wasn't too bad at the Lake Rose Trailhead arriving around 8.  We set off down the Falls Trail into Ganoga Glen and in less than half a mile, came to the first waterfall - Mohawk Falls.

Just a short ways further, we came to the top of Oneida Falls.

At 11 feet, it was one of the smaller waterfalls, but still very scenic.  We were fortunate to visit during high water conditions.

Cayuga Falls, the next waterfall, was just downstream. 

Another small but scenic waterfall where the creek split around a rock.

Just a short ways further, we came to the top of Ganoga Falls.

It's the highest in the park at 94 feet.  We found a scramble path to get down to the base.

Just a short ways downstream was Seneca Falls, a small but nice waterfall with Ganoga Falls visible in the background.

In another few hundred feet, we came to Delaware Falls.

This one is 37 feet, but its made up of a number of small drops.

With high water, it was very scenic and I spent some time scrambling around for pictures.

Next we came to a curve in the trail where an unnamed tributary flowed into the creek.  There was a nice waterfall, but too much downfall for a decent picture.

Mohican Falls was right below the confluence of the tributary.

This one also had two sections to the falls.

Conestoga Falls was next and this one isn't too impressive.

A little ways further was Tuscarora Falls and this one was quite nice.

At about a mile from the trailhead, we reached the 10th waterfall - Erie Falls.

We had to scramble to the base again for a good view.

From here, it was just a short ways to Waters Meet where the two branches of Kitchen Creek come together.

From here, we took the Falls Trail south following Kitchen Creek downstream and came to Harrison Wright Falls in a quarter mile.

It was just a short ways further to the beautiful Sheldon Reynolds Falls.

We scrambled down to the creek for a good view of this one.  I thought this one was really beautiful.

Just a short ways further was Murray Reynolds Falls.

It was a smaller waterfall but rather scenic.  The rock jutting out on river right prevented a good view from closer.

We had a snack here and then headed back to Waters Meet and headed up the East Branch.  Right away, we came to Wyandot Falls.

It's a small, but scenic waterfall and the trail crossed the creek above the waterfall.

Right above was B. Reynolds Falls.

We could walk behind this one and reach out and touch the falling water.

There were some nice cascades on the creek upstream.

Shortly, we came to R. B. Ricketts Falls.

It was a cool one with a second stream of flowing water.

There were more cascades above this one as well.

Next we came to Ozone Falls.

At 60 feet, it is the highest waterfall in Glen Leigh.

Th trail led right up along it with a view over the top.

The next waterfall was Huron Falls.

The lighting was starting to get poor, but I managed a few pictures.

Just above was Shawnee Falls.

It was just amazing how many waterfalls and how close they are all together.

Above Shawnee Falls was a short break, though the creek still had many small drops.

By the time we reached F. L. Ricketts Falls, the lighting was really bad and it was quite crowded.  We stopped for a snack, but it didn't look like a cloud would be coming.

There was a shortcut here, but we stayed on the main trail for the last waterfall - Onondaga Falls.

Just past here, we reached the intersection with Highland Trail and turned left to head back to the start.  About half way down the trail, we passed Midway Crevasse.

By the time we got back to the parking area, it was extremely crowded and a good time to leave.

From here, we left the park and drove down the gravel Sullivan Falls Road into State Game Lands Number 13.  Along the way, we spotted a roadside waterfall - Big Run Falls.

It was a pretty nice one for being roadside and I scrambled around for some pictures.

We then drove a little further to the parking area for Sullivan Falls.  A short path led to the falls, though it was quite steep at the end.

The waterfall was very scenic, but the lighting was terrible and there didn't appear to be any clouds.

So we climbed back up and took off.

Before leaving Pennsylvania, we made one more stop at the Evergreen Trailhead back in Ricketts Glen.  The short trail led to the top of Adams Falls almost immediately.

The trail continued to rock outcrop with a nice view of the falls, though the lighting was not ideal.

Continuing on, we crossed the creek to view the lowest drop.

The lowest drop wasn't visible from above and from down here we couldn't see the upper portion.

After some pictures, we continued on and hiked the short Evergreen Trail.

We finished up our hike and started driving south.

We stopped for dinner in Harrisburg at a taco food truck and then continued on to Thurmont, Maryland to spend the night at the Super 8.