Art Loeb Long Branch Loop

Saturday, I had breakfast at the hotel then headed to the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education by Davidson River and parked around dawn.  I got on Cat Gap Loop Trail (#120) and hiked to Cedar Rock Falls.  There were some big icicles next to the falls.

Most of the ice at the waterfall had melted however.

I scrambled on the rocks for some pictures but didn't spend too long.

Back on the main trail, I heard something and scrambled down to a campsite.  There was an Upper Cedar Rock Falls here.

It was about 15 feet and pretty scenic.

Just past here, I got on Butter Gap Trail and hiked through Picklesimer Fields.

It started raining lightly as I got to Grogan Creek Falls.

In good lighting, this was a really scenic waterfall.

I spent some time here getting some photos.

Then I got back on the trail and continued hiking up.  Near the top of Grogan Creek was another nice little drop.

Butter Gap Trail ended at Art Loeb Trail so I could finish up section 1.  It was steep up to Chestnut Mountain then not too bad after that.  At Gloucester Gap, I turned on FR-475.  There was a seasonal waterfall on a small drainage along the road.

I continued on FR-475 to Long Branch Trail and in about a mile, I took a detour on Cemetery Loop to the McCall Cemetery.

Then back to Long Branch Trail.  I took another detour on FR5095 to Long Branch Falls.  There was a lot of downfall preventing a good picture.  

It didn't look like it would be going anywhere soon so I hiked back to Long Branch Trail.

Long Branch Trail ended back at Butter Gap Trail to finish up the loop.

Before leaving the forest, I did one more short hike on Estatoe Trail from Art Loeb Trailhead.

The trail followed Davidson River downstream to Brevard on boardwalks and a wide trail.

Then I went to Oskar Blues for dinner and some good beer on New Years Eve.