Cheoah Bald on the Bartram Trail

Sunday kicked off our mountain week with Amaroq in classic style: an early start and a scenic drive through the Nantahala Gorge to the Bartram Trail trailhead in the Cheoah Backcountry Area. We geared up, crossed the railroad tracks, and headed left onto Section 12, the final stretch of Bartram Trail leading to Cheoah Bald. A shiny new bridge over Ledbetter Creek greeted us right away (a welcome upgrade since my last visit).  From there, the trail turned relentlessly steep, and we felt every step in the July heat and humidity. The nearly perpetual clouds of gnats didn’t help either. After the initial big climb, the path eased as we dropped toward the first creek crossing.

I let Amaroq cool his paws and grab a drink in the refreshing water. A couple more easy rock-hops followed, and around 2.5 miles in we reached Bartram Falls.

The lighting wasn’t ideal (same on the way down), but I still love the dramatic upper section where the water tumbles into a tight V-shaped canyon just above the main drop.

Three more creek crossings later, the trail left the drainage, crossed an old road, and ramped up steeply again.

The final push was overgrown in spots, but we pushed through.

Just over 4 miles from the start, we joined the Appalachian Trail and turned right (southbound) for the short quarter-mile jaunt to the summit of Cheoah Bald.

The views were fantastic, sweeping down into the Nantahala Gorge we’d just climbed out of.

We enjoyed a quick snack, but the persistent flies and gnats kept our break short.

The return was mostly downhill and much easier on the legs.

Back at the bottom, we made a quick detour to Findley Falls as the sun finally broke through.  

It's a peaceful spot to relax before jumping back in the car. 

From there, we headed west to Andrews and the newly opened Cover Falls Preserve.

The easy half-mile trail led to a beautiful 40-foot Cover Falls.

I scrambled around the rocks for photos while another couple captured their own shots and videos.

We headed out just as rain started to fall.

Dinner was excellent pizza at Happy Trout Brewing in town, followed by check-in at 129 Cabins and a well-earned deep sleep.

Nantahala Gorge Waterfalls

For Halloween this year, we headed to the mountains for some scary difficult waterfalls.  We left super early and got to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to attempt Townhouse Branch Falls but looks like it is closed to public now.  So we headed up the river and parked at the access for Bartram Trail heading to the Cheoah Backcountry Area in Nantahala National Forest.  Ledbetter Canyon flowed under the railroad tracks here and the little bridge was scenic.

A path from the picnic area led across the tracks and to the Bartram Trail.  Instead of getting on the trail, we went straight to start following Ledbetter Creek upstream.

There were a lot of cascades and small falls all the way up the creek.

With the water level very high, we had to go around some cascades by climbing way up then had to head back down to the creek.

As we got closer to the creek, we came out at Inside Passage Falls.  There was significant water flowing through the passage, preventing any chance of climbing up through it, which we needed to continue upstream to Ledbetter Canyon Falls.

We then tried climbing the steep cliffs to see if we could get around the passage but it was just to steep, so we decided not to risk it.  Heading back, we got on Bartram Trail and started a steep climb up the ridge.  Near the top, an overgrown road to the left split off and descended to Handpole Branch.  The road petered out but it was an easy bushwhack to the top of Handpole Branch Falls.  A side stream flowed in with a nice 12-foot waterfall at the confluence with Handpole Branch.

From here, we made the extremely steep descent on river right side to a viewpoint 50 or so feet down.  The view was mostly obscured by rhododendron.

The waterfall keeps going down, but it was so difficult getting here, we didn't descend any further.  The climb back up was equally strenuous and difficult.  We finally made it back to the top then back to Bartram Trail.  Sandy spotted a grizzly spur-throat grasshopper along the trail.

Continuing on, the trail descended to Ledbetter Creek where we had to wade in high water.  Shortly after, was another crossing where we had to wade again.  There were more nice cascades along Ledbetter Creek up here.

Then we crossed some side streams before reaching Bartram Falls.

In high water, it was very scenic though rhododendron blocked the view from the trail.  The top of the waterfall was very interesting, but the lighting was poor.

I also climbed down to the base, but way to overgrown for any view of the falls.  After some pictures, we made the hike back.

From here, we drove to Robbinsville and checked into the Quality Inn and went to bed after a very long day.