Middle Prong MST Hike

On Saturday, we whisked Harper and Amaroq off to the mountains for a weekend of waterfalls and vibrant fall foliage. We'd planned to hike Black Balsam Knob, but the parking lot was full, so we pivoted to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail lot on NC-215. Heading westbound on the trail, we crossed Bubbling Spring Branch into Middle Prong Wilderness, veered left off the path, and bushwhacked through a campsite to a social trail along the creek. After another crossing, we arrived at the base of Lower Bubbling Spring Branch Falls.

We took turns scrambling over the rocks for photos while keeping the kids safely below.

Refreshed from the falls, we crossed once more and tackled a steep climb, pausing for one final creek crossing before reaching Upper Bubbling Spring Branch Falls.

The rising sun made for tricky lighting, but a striking rock at the base, fringed with ferns, made it memorable.

We retraced our steps to the main trail, where Harper hopped out of the backpack and hiked independently for a stretch.

A mile in, switchbacks led to a viewpoint of Mount Hardy Falls (though the flow was modest in these dry conditions).

Past here were some nice views of the Balsam Mountains.

We pressed on another mile before turning back.

Driving south on NC-215, we stopped at Living Waters Ministry and followed a path to Mill Shoals.

It's a stunning double waterfall where North Fork French Broad River meets Shoal Creek, framed by pops of autumn color.

Shoal Creek Falls is just below the red building.

We clambered over the rocks, then took a short downstream trail past several inviting cascades, including Pancake Falls.

It's a small waterfall but flows over interesting rocks resembling a stack of pancakes.

The short trail ended at Bird Rock Falls. Even in low water, a gentle trickle veiled the massive cliff above the falls.

Several families splashed nearby, but we snapped a few photos and moved on.

For dinner, we pulled into Forks of the River Taproom, grabbing hearty wraps from the Levi's Lunchbox food truck and indulgent cake balls for dessert.  Harper enjoyed playing with the gravel around the picnic tables.  With full bellies, we checked into the Sunset Motel to unwind.

Middle Prong Waterfalls

Saturday, we got breakfast and then headed towards Sunburst Campground to Forest Road 97.  It was gated after the ford, so we parked and hiked the road to the second switchback and got on FR-97H to head towards Middle Prong Wilderness.  There are several waterfalls along this gated road, but we continued to near the end and took an unnamed road that ended at Big Beartrap Branch.  From here, we followed a steep and narrow path for almost half a mile to Big Beartrap Falls.

We came out at the base of the main upper drop that was very scenic though the lighting was not cooperating.

There were some cascades just downstream of the main drop and then it cascaded down some more.

We had to backtrack and climb back down for the base of the lower cascades.  The upper portion was not visible from here.

After some pictures, we headed back to the main trail.  At FR-97H, we first went right to the end of the road at Middle Prong.  The small but scenic Laurie Falls was right at this point, but the lighting was very poor by midday.

Heading back along FR-97H, we got off the trail and headed down a steep path to the top of Middle Prong Falls.  There was a little rainbow in the spray.

We took the steep scramble path heading towards the base.  A massive tree had fallen and we had to scale up and around on a cliff to get around.  We eventually made it to the base but the lighting was really bad, a shame as this is a really nice waterfall.

We headed back to FR-97H and continued back to Little Beartrap Falls.  Climbing up from the trail, there's a near little canyon above the main drop.

Just above the old road is another scenic cascade.

We then climbed down from the road to see the downstream cascades.  The sun was shining right on Berry Branch so no possibility of a picture of that one.

We then took the unnamed road here back to FR-97.  Some bloodroot were blooming along the trail.

Once at FR-97, we followed that back to our car past the gate to finish our hike.

Heading back to Waynesville, we had dinner at Bogarts and then retired for the evening.

Yellowstone Falls

Sunday morning, I broke camp after waking.  The rest of the group was unsure of their plans so I took off towards Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I managed to get a legal parking spot at the overlook; with little fall color left, Graveyard Fields wasn't as popular as usual.

Hiking down towards the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, I first stopped at Second Falls.  It was sunny and the lighting was poor, but it was really pretty in high water.

As this one is crowded, I moved on after a few pictures.  I finished up Mountains-to-Sea Access (#358B) and went right to go eastbound on MST.  In about a quarter-mile, I turned right off the trail to a campsite and headed down to the creek above Yellowstone Falls.  Crossing here was tricky in high water and I had to jump to avoid getting my feet wet.  Luckily, the rocks were dry.  On river right, a steep path led down along the falls.  It was little better than nothing and I had to crouch the entire way.  I first came out near the middle.

But there was more waterfall below and it got really steep from this point.  Monkey climbing down the rhododendron was the only way down to the base.

It was still sunny so not great for pictures but a little fall color was showing.  There was even a little rainbow in the spray.

I then made started making my way back.  I must have gotten off the path as it seemed to be even worse rhodos getting back up.  But soon I was back to the creek and then the MST.

My next stop was Bubbling Springs Cascade along NC215.  This is another great area for fall color, but most of the leaves had already fallen.  I climbed down from the road and rock hopped up to the base.

The water was way up, but the sun was shining right on it.  I then headed to the MST parking along NC-215.  Entering Middle Prong Wilderness, I followed Bubbling Springs Branch upstream, which was a little tricky.  I remembered this being easy in the past, but the water level was a lot lower.  Again, the sun was shining right on Lower Bubbling Springs Falls.

So I crossed the creek and climbed further up.  Most of Upper Bubbling Springs Falls was in the shade, so looked a lot better.

After a few pictures, I headed back.  I wasn't quite ready to leave yet, so hiked a short ways on MST eastbound towards Graveyard Fields.  The trail followed a small tributary upstream but it was too small for any major drops.

I took the Blue Ridge Parkway towards Asheville heading home and made a few stops on the way.  East Fork Overlook was right above Yellowstone Falls.

I could hear it down below but it was hidden from view.  Cradle of Forestry Overlook had nice views down the escarpment but color wasn't close to peak yet.

Mills River Overlook was similar.

I made one last stop at Bad Fork Overlook; at much lower elevation, there was little color change.

Then it was a long drive home.

Flooded Falls

It had rained almost nonstop for the last week and there was flooding in the mountains so a great time to chase waterfalls.  We left at 5 and headed to NC-215 north of Rosman.  Our first stop was a gravel pull off 2.6 north of US-64.  We continued on the road a hundred feet or so to a smaller grassy pull off and then bushwhacked down towards Big Bearwallow Creek.  There was some semblance of a path, but it was very steep.  As we got close to the creek, we could see something upstream, but there was no path at all.  We had to cross the creek and wade through dig hobble to the base.

It was a fairly nice drop, though it was really covered in rhododendron and dead trees.  And this was not the waterfall, though it could be considered the upper section.  A little further downstream was the top of Big Bearwallow Falls.

It was very steep and slippery getting down to the base and across the creek, but it was a very nice waterfall, especially in high water.

A tree growing here had a number of mushrooms growing on it.

Our next stop was just up NC-215 off Macedonia Church Road.  Lemon Falls was just down from the road and some stone steps made a path down.  Not a high waterfall, but very scenic.

The water was too deep to cross for a picture.  From here, we continued north on NC-215 to Courthouse Creek Road (FR-140).  Along the way, we stopped at Sumney Cove Falls.  An unnamed tributary in Sumney Cove drops into North Fork French Broad River on the other side.

It was mostly obscured by summer foliage, but was really flowing in the high water.  North Fork was way too high to wade to the other side.

We then drove to the parking for Courthouse Falls.  A short hike along Courthouse Falls Trail (#130) and Sumney Cove Trail (#129) led to a split where Courthouse Falls Trail goes left and Sumney Cove Trail goes right.  We went straight and followed a scramble path down to Mill Station Creek near the base of Cody Falls.

Cody Falls is very similar in appearance to Courthouse Falls but smaller.  I waded the creek to the other side for some pictures but the sun had come out.  Climbing back up to the trail, we made a quick stop to see Courthouse Falls.

We've visited several times before but this was definitely the highest water.  Near the falls was a weeping rock with a number of downy lobelia blooming.

Butterflies were all about about, pollinating the flowers.

Back to the main road, we continued up to the parkway and went south about 3 miles to the pull off at Haywood Gap.  A lot of cutleaf coneflower were blooming along the parkway.

Heading eastbound on MST, the trail split almost immediately and we went left onto Haywood Gap Trail (#142) and into Middle Prong Wilderness.  The trail descended steeply eventually picking up Haywood Gap Stream and followed it downstream.  About half a mile down, we crossed the creek and the trail leveled off a bit.  Just over a mile from the parkway, the trail forded Middle Prong.   Here, we got off the trail and creek walked a shortways upstream to the confluence of Haywood Gap and Buckeye Creek.  It was another 1000 feet or so to Buckeye Falls, but the creek walking was tough in high water.  Three decent size cascades were quite challenging to climb up before we made it to the base of Buckeye Falls.

As we approached the waterfall, we could see the whole thing, but at the base we could only see the lowest section.

We decided not to try and climb any higher and turned around from here.  Along the hike back, we spotted some Indian Pipe, an interesting plant that does not photosynthesize.

It was all uphill back to the car, but only the last part was particularly steep.

On the way to Waynesville, we stopped for a couple easy waterfalls along NC215.  First, we stopped at Little Wildcat Falls.  An unnamed tributary drops under the road and flows into West Fork Pigeon River near the confluence with Bubbling Springs Branch.

Normally, there's not much to see, but it's a nice roadside waterfall in high water.  A pipevine swallowtail butterfly was next to the road here.

Next, we stopped at Sunburst Falls.  Upstream of the bridge, the river was raging.

So much so, that we couldn't get down to see the lower section.  Finally, we made one more stop where the road crosses Green Creek.

A lot of wildflowers were blooming here including beebalm and impatiens.

A short hike led to the scenic Little Bird Falls.

The water was higher than the last time I visited and the setting was reminiscent of a tropical rain forest.

By this time, it was getting late so we headed to Waynesville for dinner and checked in to the Econo Lodge.