Margarette Falls

Sunday, we headed back into Cherokee National Forest to the Bullen Hollow Trailhead in the Bald Mountains area.  From the parking area, we followed Forest Road 5099 into the forest at an information kiosk.  Phillips Hollow Trail went left to cross Dry Fork, but we went right on Margarette Falls Trail (#189).

This trail followed West Fork Dry Creek upstream to its namesake.  There were some nice cascades and drops all along the creek.

At about a half mile on the trail, we crossed the creek on a steel footbridge.

Not long after, we had to cross back over, but this time without the aid of a bridge.  In high water, it was a little tricky to get across dry.

The trail ended at the spectacular Margarette Falls.

It's a beautiful 60-foot waterfall that fans out over layered rocks.  Unfortunately, the clouds were not cooperating.

The left section of the falls was mainly out of the sun.

It didn't look like any clouds were coming and more folks were showing up, so we made our way back.

From here, we headed to Round Knob Picnic Area.  As the crow flies, it's only a couple miles away, but was good thirty minute drive as Round Knob Road (FR-88) is quite rough.  We started off on the Davis Creek Trail (#19) that descended steeply from Round Knob.  Some fly poison was blooming on the hike down.

We followed a tributary down to Davis Creek, crossing it twice then another tributary before reaching the creek.

Since the water level was up, this was a wade to get across.  Once across, we went left on Artie Hollow Trail (#18) and followed a tributary up the hollow.  The trail was narrow and overgrown, but well blazed and easy to follow.  After a while, the trail got in the creek and we had to creek walk up a ways.  A few parts were tricky for Alex but he made it.  The trail then resumed and passed Mary Falls.

It was a steep scramble down to creek level for views of the waterfall.

But at least the clouds were cooperating for this one.

After some pictures, we scrambled back up and made our way back to Davis Creek and had lunch.  There was a big rat snake near the crossing.

The hike back up Davis Creek Trail was steep, but we went slow and stopped for wildlife.  I spotted a huge snail on a rhododendron leaf.

A little mushroom was popping up from a stump.

As we were almost back to the car, Sandy spotted a baby copperhead just off the trail.  Fortunately, Alex wasn't interested.

After all the uphill, we made it back to the car.

We headed back to Johnson City and stopped at Atlantic Ale House.  We got pizza from a food truck and had dinner and drinks.  Then we headed back to the hotel and started packing up.