Thursday, April 20, 2017

2017-04-16 Easter Sunday Hiking in the Hickory Nut Gorge

Easter Sunday Hiking
In the Hickory Nut Gorge
Lake Lure, Little Laughter Refuge Falls, 
Cougar Crag on the backside of Rumbling Bald,
and Bearwallow Mountain
Rutherford, Henderson, and Buncombe County, NC
with Andy, Spencer, Stephanie K., and Carlos
Sunday, April 16th, 2017

 Carlos, Spencer, and Stephanie K getting air on Bearwallow Mountain!

My only regret on the day was not getting up a few hours earlier to make the Easter Sunrise Service on top of Chimney Rock Mountain.  Other than missing out on what Spencer claimed to be one of the top 15 sunrises of his life (and he has seen hundreds), this turned out to be a perfect day!


I started the day meeting Andy at the Lake Lure Marina.  While waiting for Andy to show up I took a little stroll and a few photos around the marina area.

 Easter Morning at Lake Lure
 Easter Morning at Lake Lure


Once Andy arrived we combined vehicles and headed over to our first hike of the day to a waterfall that I am calling Little Laughter Refuge Falls.  I believe this one is located on CMLC (Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy) property, but since I am not sure if it is officially open to the public yet I have changed the name to protect the innocent!

Little Laughter Refuge Falls from Downstream

Here is a hint for the die hard waterfall enthusiasts:
If you pull out a Thesaurus and a Topo Map of the area, you should be able to figure out the actual name and location of this waterfall!

This one was nicer than I expected and the morning light was perfect for waterfall photography!  A great way to start the day!

Me at Little Laughter Refuge Falls

Little Laughter Refuge Falls

For our next hike, Andy and I decided that a return to Rumbling Bald Mountain was in order!  This area was 100% Enveloped by the Party Rock Forest Fire late last year and I was curious to see how the forest has recovered.

We have heard rumors that the old truck along side the trail was burnt down to nothing.  Knowing the melting point of steel, I found these rumors hard to believe!

 The rumors this truck was burnt down to nothing were highly exaggerated!

I had thought that we would just hike up to Party Rock and back, but Andy had other things in mind.  He had his eyes set on an off trail outcrop area known by the climbing community as Cougar Crag!

Looking down at Cougar Crag and Lake Lure from the backside of Rumbling Bald Mountain

Excellent Choice Andy!  This spot offered up some spectacular views!  And the recent forest fire cleared out most of the underbrush making the bushwhacking rather easy.  You just have to be careful to watch for holes from burned out stumps!  Andy and I each did a face plant on at least one occasion from stepping into one of these holes!

Andy on the backside of Rumbling Bald Mountain

View from Cougar Crag

View of Lake Lure from the backside of Rumbling Bald Mountain

While it was obvious that this area was affected by the forest fire, my non-expert opinion is that there will be little to no long term damage to the forest.  All of the larger trees did not seem to show any ill effects!

 Cougar Crag Hike GPS Track


For our third hike, we would meet up with Spencer in search of some off trail waterfalls along the flanks of Bearwallow Mountain.  Spencer also invited along his friends Stephanie K and Carlos.

Apparently we were not the only people who think that Easter Sunday is a good day for a hike because the trailhead parking area was packed with vehicles!

As we began our hike up Bearwallow Mountain, I was surprised and the amount of wildflowers in bloom along the trail!

Bloodroot and Chickweed along the Bearwallow Mountain Trail

Trillium blooms along the Bearwallow Mountain Trail

Cool looking Burl along the Bearwallow Mountain Trail


It is a little over a mile (one way) and about 600 feet of elevation gain to the summit of Bearwallow Mountain!  If you can avoid the power lines and towers on the summit, there are spectacular views to be found all around!

Almost to the Summit of Bearwallow Mountain

A Cairn near the summit of Bearwallow Mountain

 Spencer on Bearwallow Mountain

Some nearby storms and the few sprinkles that fell on us was enough to scatter most of the other tourists back to their vehicles.  We pretty much had the summit all to ourselves to explore and enjoy!

Carlos, Stephanie K, Andy, and Spencer on Bearwallow Mountain

Spencer and Stephanie K getting some Air on Bearwallow Mountain

Hanging out at cool campsite just below the summit of Bearwallow Mountain

We didn't believe him that there was a view down here, 
but here is Spencer at Spencer's View

Storms in the distance from Bearwallow Mountain

I had told my wife Amy that I would try to be back home in time for Easter Dinner, so I did not join Andy and Spencer for the rest of their adventure.  Instead I decided to head back with Carlos and Stephanie.  This was my first time meeting and hiking with them and I enjoyed getting to know them better during our leisurely hike down the mountain!

Carlos by some Huge Boulders along the Bearwallow Mountain Fire Tower Road

GPS Track from our Bearwallow Mountain Hike

I made it home in time for Easter Dinner with Amy and a very enjoyable evening together to end a perfect day that included just about everything I love in life!

The complete set of photos are posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157682807756425



Wednesday, April 19, 2017

2017-04-15 The Art of Dr Suess

The Art of Dr. Suess
Upcountry History Museum
Greenville, SC
Saturday, April 15th, 2017

Amy by the Cat in the Hat


My wife Amy has always been a big fan of Dr. Suess.  So when we saw that the Upstate History Museum in Greenville, SC was hosting "The Art of Dr. Suess" Exhibition, we decided to check it out!

 Lunch at "Two Chefs Cafe"

Me with the Cat in the Hat

Amy by some interesting Dr. Suess Artwork

 A sampling of some of the Dr. Suess Artwork on Display

Puckering up to some Unorthodox Taxidermy

Amy by some familiar Dr. Suess Artwork

Jack and Amy on our Dr. Suess Date


Tuesday, April 18, 2017

2017-04-14 Cavern Falls and the Waterfalls on Little Cove Creek

Cavern Falls
and the Waterfalls on Little Cove Creek
Green River Gamelands
Polk County, NC
Friday, April 14th, 2017
with Dillon Senn

Blizzy, Dillon, and Me at Cavern Falls

Dillon and I both had off for Good Friday so we decided to get together for one of my all time favorite hikes and Waterfalls!  He had been as far as Milton Bradley Falls, but today I would "show him the ropes" and take him all the way upstream to the spectacular Cavern Falls!

Also Joining us would be Blizzy (Dillon's faithful canine companion)

 Blizzy on the trail!

Since I have written about this hike several times in the past, I am just going to post some photos from this trip!

Foam Flower

Funny Sign near the Trailhead

Heading into the Green River Game Lands

Old Farm Building in the Green River Gamelands

Mayapple Bloom

Dillon getting down low to photograph the Mayapple Bloom

Trillium

Milton Bradley Falls

Milton Bradley Falls

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Blizzy going for a swim to fetch a log!

Trillium blooming alongside Milton Bradley Falls

Bradley Cooper Falls

Bradley Cooper Falls

Bradley Cooper Falls

Marilou Bradley Falls

Lots of Jack-in-the-Pulpits blooming alongside Marilou Bradley Falls

Dillon and Blizzy at Marilou Bradley Falls

Marilou Bradley Falls

Nice cascade upstream from Marilou Bradley Falls

Cavern Falls

Inside the Cavern at Cavern Falls looking out at Dillon
Me inside the Cavern at Cavern Falls
(photo by Dillon Senn)

Dillon and Blizzy Hiking down from Cavern Falls

Blizzy

Nice Cascade between Marilou Bradley Falls and Cavern Falls

Green River Game Lands

We had bright sun all day, but Storm Clouds rolled in towards the end of our hike

Hiking back out of the Green River Game Lands



The complete set of photos from Friday's Adventure is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157680159036142




Meet Zoey

 Meet Zoey! Amy and I just adopted this beautiful girl!