2019-07-21 Plott Balsam hike to Blackrock Mountain

Plott Balsam Ridgeline hike to Blackrock Mountain

Nantahala National Forest

Jackson County, NC

with Scott, John, Dillon, and Blizzy

Sunday, July 21st, 2019

Group Photo on Blackrock Mountain

Photo by John Podlewski
L to R (Back):  Dillon, Me, Scott
Front:  Blizzy and John
 

With the hottest weekend of the summer on tap, we decided to escape to the high country for a little hike along the ridge line of the Plott Balsams Mountain range. 

The clouds were mesmerizing, the summer wildflowers were out in force, and the birds, butterflies, and bees were putting on a show!   Cooler Mountain Temps, a nice breeze, and a great group of friends made for a perfect day of hiking!

Here are some of the photos from our adventure.

 view from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway Panorama

Dillon photographing a Sea of Clouds

John and Dillon trying to figure out what this thing is

Anyone know what this is?

Turk's Cap Lily
 

Indian Pipe
 

Trailside Memorial
 

Blizzy, Dillon, John, and Scott by what I assume is some old Logging Equipment

A Fungus Amungus

The Professor showing off a nice cluster of Turk's Cap Lillies

View from Blackrock Mountain
 

Near 360-degree Panorama from Blackrock Mountain
 

Dillon and Blizzy at Blackrock Mountain

view from Blackrock Mountain
 

 The Professor on top of Blackrock Mountain

Group Selfie on Blackrock Mountain
L to R:  Bushwhack Jack (Me), The Professor (Scott), The Captain (John), Dillon, and Blizzy

 Dillon and Blizzy soaking up the view on Blackrock Mountain

Blizzy

view from Blackrock Mountain

Hiking Along the Blackrock Mountain Trail
 

Dillon climbing Helicopter Rock

 Just Buzzing Around

Dillon, Blizzy, and John at Helicopter Rock
 

Dillon and Blizzy at Helicopter Rock
 

Turk's Cap Lily
 

Interesting Mushrooms
 

Hundreds of Tiny Mushrooms
 

Butterfly on a Turk's Cap Lily
 

Just Buzzing Around

GPS Track from our Hike

Click here for interactive link

My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157709838214271

2019-07-13 Team Waterfall Weekend - Day 2

Team Waterfall Birthday Celebration Weekend

for the Captain and the Professor

Somewhere in the Mountains of North Carolina

Day 2 - Saturday, July 13th, 2019

The Birthday Boyz at AAA Falls

As a commercial airline Pilot, Captain John has a fascination with seeking out old airplane wrecks which are scattered about the Carolina mountains.  Once of these searches has led to the discovery of a waterfall which John named AAA Falls after his three daughters, Aubrie, Avarie, and Aislyn.

For Saturday's adventure, the Captain would lead us down to AAA Falls and then continue on downstream into unexplored territory.  Of course this is easier said than done!  The creek we would explore drops over 3,000 feet of elevation!   This would be no easy task especially considering that there would be no trail for the majority of this expedition.


Since we knew this would be an all day adventure we dropped off shuttle vehicles near our planned exit point the previous evening so we could get a relatively early start! 

Seven Went In

Photo from the Spencer Clary Collection

L to R:  Captain John, Ranger Elliott, Professor Scott, Bushwhack Jack (Me), Jill, and Spencer

Plus one more behind Spencer's Camera who wishes to remain anonymous

The hike started out fairly easy on a well maintained forest service road with some nice views along the way!  There were some ominous looking clouds and some thunder booms in the distance.

An easy start to our hike along a nicely graded and well maintained forest service road

 Some nice views along the way

We started at slightly above 6,000 feet in elevation, and would follow the creek all the way down to a little below 3,000 feet.  This equates to over 3,200 feet of falling water with dozens of waterfalls and cascades!  Here are some of the photos from our journey down the creek!

While we stayed on public land the entire time, I have been asked not to provide the location of any of these waterfalls.

 Spencer at the first major drop

The first major drop along the way

 Telephone Pole Falls   (this pretty falls was on a nearby tributary stream)

 Cutlery Falls  (2nd major drop)

Not sure if we gave this one a name (3rd major drop)

The top of AAA Falls

Hanging out at a nice cascade just above the top of AAA Falls

The Professor at the top of AAA Falls

Elliott at the top of AAA Falls

Spencer and Jill at AAA Falls

 Scott and Elliott at AAA Caves

Elliott at AAA Caves

Scott at the 5th Major Drop

As mentioned earlier, Captain John has spent years looking for the remains of a 70 year old airplane wreck in the area.  We never did find the crash sight, but we did find one of the tires.

 Elliott by an airplane tire from a 70 year old plane crash

For most of the journey I kept towards the middle of the pack.  However, at one point I ended up ahead and led the way to the base of what I thought was the prettiest waterfall of the day.  According to the Team Waterfall rules committee, this gave me naming rights.  

Therefore, I am officially calling this one Amy's Falls after my beautiful bride!  Definitely not the tallest or most powerful, but the prettiest one in my eyes!

The Professor at Amy's Falls

Elliott at Amy's Falls

We continued on downstream finding several additional smaller waterfalls and cascades. 

 Triple Falls

Selfie time with the Birthday Boyz

 Working our way down another waterfall

Happy Birthday Captain John!

Thanks for organizing and leading this epic adventure!

It was after 6:00pm and we still had miles to go!  Fortunately, the Professor was able to find a trail which we used to quickly cover the remaining few miles back to where we parked the shuttle vehicles!

It sure felt good to get back on an actual trail!

I can honestly say that I will never forget this weekend!  And I am pretty sure I will have a lifelong scar to remember it by!  

My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157709706249286/with/48308438781/