Wednesday, September 26, 2018

2018-09-22 Elliotts Cabin Weekend

Team Waterfall Gathering at Elliott's Cabin
Spring Creek, Squirrel Branch, Caboose Falls.
Max Patch Sunset and Sunrise
Madison County, NC
September 22nd and 23rd, 2018


Group Photo at Elliott's Cabin

My buddy Elliott invited our Team Waterfall group up to his Cabin for the weekend!

A bunch of us met up Saturday Morning in Hot Springs, NC for an  exploratory hike along Spring Creek and Squirrel Branch in search of new waterfalls.

 Captain John

 Jill, The Badger, and Kitty

The Professor

 The Badger and Captain John


Part of the Team Waterfall experience is studying topo maps, identifying places where waterfalls might be, and planning the best way to access these spots.  These undocumented waterfalls we find almost always requires creek walking and or bushwhacking.

Creek Walking along Spring Creek
We don't need no trail!  


Many times our efforts are rewarded with some spectacular waterfall discoveries.  Today, was not one of those days! 

Squirrel Branch had much lower flow than we were expecting and there was not really any significant drops along the stretch we explored.   The closest thing we found to a legitimate waterfall we named Caboose Falls.

Captain John at the top of Caboose Falls




Next up the group moved on to a nice swimming hole along Spring Creek where several more Team Waterfall members joined us for a few hours of just hanging out and having fun.
 
Badger Group Selfie along Spring Creek

 The Professor

Ziggy and Luna

Kyle

Angelina

Most of the Group hanging out along Spring Creek near Hot Springs, NC


From there we continued on to Elliott's Cabin.

 Hanging out at Elliott's Cabin

 Me with the Badger and Spencer

 Carlos, the newest official member of Team Waterfall

 Hanging out at Elliott's Cabin

The Badger, Spencer, and Captain John

Elliott's Cabin is about a 2 mile (4 mile round trip) hike to the summit of Max Patch where our group enjoyed a magical sunset! 

Max Patch Sunset

 Max Patch Sunset

 Max Patch Sunset

 Jill enjoying the Sunset from Max Patch

 Group Photo
L to R:  Captain John, Michelle, Cody, Kyle, Angelina, 
Me, Jill, Elliot, Carlos, Professor Scott, Spencer
 
Michelle and Cody showing off their Yoga Skills

The rest of us showing off our lack of Yoga Skills
(photo by the Badger)

Spencer and The Professor

 Kitty and The Badger

The hike back to Elliott's cabin was well after dark, but a full moon gave just enough illumination that our headlights were not necessary!

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out around the campfire at Elliott's Cabin!  A perfect way to end an awesome day!

The next morning, I was the only one up early, so I did a solo hike back up to Max Patch for the Sunrise!  It was well worth getting up early for!

 Sunrise along the Appalachian Trail

 Max Patch Sunrise

 Max Patch Sunrise

 Max Patch Sunrise

 Max Patch Sunrise

 Hiking the Appalachian Trail back down to Elliot's Cabin


This was an amazing weekend!  Thanks to everyone that helped make it the epic event that it was!  Especially Elliott for hosting us all at his awesome cabin!

The complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157701727210565



1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great story and photos of a wonderful adventure with wonderful people, Jack. J. Cash

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