Middle Creek Waterfalls

Saturday, we headed to the mountains for the Independence Day weekend.  We took my new car as I wanted to get a good picture out here.  We drove out to Highlands through Cullasaja Gorge and first stopped at Bridal Veil Falls, hands down the best place for a new car picture in NC.

After a couple photos, we continued on NC-107 to near the Georgia state line and parked at a school bus sign.  A thin strip of Nantahala National Forest leads from the road to Middle Creek.  After passing power lines, we turned right on a short path that led to a view of Upper Middle Creek Falls.

It was very foggy and quite a beautiful scene.  The rosebay rhododendron were putting on a show.  Little did we know that they would nearly be the death of us before the hike was over.

We scrambled down to the creek level for some pictures as the sun started breaking through the fog, making a really cool scene.

After some pictures, we headed back to the split and turned right to continue down along Middle Creek.  The trail was overgrown and hard to follow in places, but at least it was a trail.  In a quarter-mile or so, we came to the top of Middle Creek Falls.

There's a huge boulder up at the top and some nice cascades, but no way to get further down.

More rhododendron flowering up here as well.

We backtracked 50 feet or so and continued down to a view point of the main upper drop of the waterfall.

The clouds were cooperating and we could get some nice pictures of this beautiful waterfall.

I scrambled down on the rocks down to creek level for one more shot and then we continued on.

There was essentially no trail further down the creek.  We found a slightly open path through the dense rhododendron and slowly started making our way down.  It took nearly an hour to get down to the very bottom of Middle Creek Falls.  I think there used to be an old logging road around here, but we never found it, just incredibly dense rhododendron.  We creek-walked a ways to avoid some of the worst rhododendron and heard what we thought was the waterfall, but it was not.

This small waterfall was just above our target and I actually liked it better.  More brutal rhododendron and we finally made it to Dome Falls.

It's an interesting waterfall where the water flows over a big rock dome, which splits the flow.

Most of the water was on the river-left side.  There was an island immediately down from the falls, but it was too close to get a picture of the whole thing.

Interesting or not, this was excruciatingly difficult and I would not ever want to return.  Now, we just had to make the climb back up, which was just as miserable.  After a total of almost 8 hours, we made it back to the car.

From here, we drove to Maggie Valley through a big storm.  We checked into Stony Creek Lodge and then went to BearWaters Brewing for dinner.  They had excellent food and good beer.  After dinner, we went back to the room and checked out the swollen creek from the storms.  We took a quick shower and then went to bed after a very long and difficult day.

Elk in the Snow

Monday was out last full day in Franklin.  It snowed a bit overnight, but not too much in Franklin.  We headed north to Cherokee and parked at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Dogs are prohibited on most trails, but allowed on the Oconaluftee River Trail, which is hike 2 for #mst40hike for Alex.

We were fortunate that Cherokee had gotten more snow and there was a large herd of elk in the field.

After some pictures of the elk, we started off on the trail.  The river was very chilly looking in the light snow and ice.

We hiked past the Mountain Farm Museum, which was very scenic in the snow.

Dogs aren't allowed on the farm property, but we had a nice view walking by.

Past the outdoor museum, the trail continued to follow the river and there were a few small cascades.

The MST hike ended at the parkway, but we continued to the end at the park boundary.  On the hike back, we saw some of the elk herd just off the trail.

Alex seemed to be taking a keen interest in the elk, but we kept him and us at a safe distance.

Past the herd, we hiked along the closed Blue Ridge Parkway a short ways.  It was pretty in the snow.

A large flock of dark-eyed juncos were flying around the roadway.

We hiked as far as View Oconaluftee River overlook.  The river wasn't viewable from here, but the snowy mountains were nice.

Then we hiked back to the car.  US-441 was closed beyond Smokemont, but we made a quick stop just up the road before leaving the park.  A short trail led to Mingus Mill, which was beautiful in the snow.

Dogs aren't allowed, so we took turns going out to see the mill.

From here, we left the park and drove through Cherokee to the trailhead for Mingo Falls.

The wooden platform at the end of the trail was icy and rather slippery, but the waterfall was beautiful in high water.

After a few pictures, we headed back.

While in the Cherokee area, we drove down US-19 to the trailhead for Soco Falls.  The view from the overlook wasn't great so we scrambled down to the base.

It was really pretty in the snow.

After a few pictures, we headed back.

On the way back to Franklin, we made a detour through Highlands to see more snow at the higher elevation.  We drove through Cullasaja Gorge heading back and made a quick stop at Dry Falls.

It was scenic in the snow and high water level.  We walked behind and around the falls to get some views.

Then we drove back to Franklin.

For our last night in Franklin, we visited Currahee Brewing one last time.  Alex got one more chance to see Lola.  Then we headed back to Gooder Grove to pack up in the morning.

White Cliffs and Falls

Sunday, we packed up and said good-bye to Colin and began making our way home.  Heading east, we took US-64 through the Cullasaja Gorge.  There were no cars at the parking for Dry Falls, so we made a quick stop.  After paying the fee, we stopped at the accessible overlook first.

Then we took the paved Dry Falls Trail (#9) down to the waterfall.

It was really flowing today in the high water and we walked all around it.

It was definitely not so dry behind the falls today.  I got a video from behind the veil.

More people started showing up so we took off.

Our next stop was just past Highlands at Whiteside Mountain.  After parking, we got on the Whiteside Mountain Trail (#70) and went right at the split to go up the steep part.  Soon we made it to the top and were treated to fantastic views.

From here, the trail led along the top of the mountain with great views to the south and east.

The Chattooga River Valley was below.  This mountain lies along the continental divide with waters to the north and west draining into Little Tennessee River.

About half way long the trail, there was an interesting depression in the rock that resembled a crater.

It was a really nice trail with lots of views.  Fencing along the cliff edge was erected for safety.  Fortunately, Alex has no interest in going near the edge.

At the north end of the trail, we had one last view looking towards Cashiers.

Then it was a gentle descent on an old road back to the parking area.

We had one last stop to make on our way home at Whitewater Falls Recreation Area.  Walking through the parking area, there was a nice view of Lake Jocassee across the state line in South Carolina.

A paved path led to the upper overlook for Upper Whitewater Falls, claimed to be the highest waterfall in the east, though that is debatable.

Stairs led down to the overlook with the best views of the falls.

After some pictures, we continued down to the Foothills Trail and turned left to descend steeply towards the river.  Along the way, there were several spots on the trail with an obscured view of Corbin Creek Falls.  There would be no view at all in the summer.

As we got closer to the river, we could see the big metal footbridge across Whitewater River.

When we reached the river, there was a ladder and we realized Alex couldn't get up to the bridge.  So we took turns crossing.

Across the river, we could see Upper Whitewater Falls, but it was mostly blocked by foliage and there would be no easy way to go upstream.

After crossing, the trail soon crossed Corbin Creek on a small footbridge.  Corbin Creek Falls was immediately upstream.

The view wasn't great so I crossed and followed a scramble path up along the river left side.

I got as far as the main drop of the lower section of the falls, but it would have been difficult to go further and Sandy was waiting with Alex.

I got some pictures and then headed back, waiting with Alex while Sandy visited the waterfall.  Then we started hiking back up.  When we got back to the viewing deck for Upper Whitewater Falls, there was a rainbow.

We got some pictures then headed back to the car.

It was a bit of a drive to get home from here.