Bear Creek Falls and The Road to Nowhere!
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Swain County, NC
with Casey, Scott, and Spencer
Sunday, January 27th, 2019
Group Photo at Bear Creek Falls
Sorry about the Waterfall Mist on the Lens!
L to R: Me, Spencer, Casey, Scott (the Professor)
I've known Casey for years through our various Facebook Groups and even briefly met him one time several years ago. But until now, I had never hiked with him!
Earlier in the week, Casey posted a list of nine (9) waterfalls he still needed to complete Kevin Adam's North Carolina Waterfalls 250 challenge! His plan for Sunday was to knock Bear Creek Falls off that list! Since this is also one that I have not been to, I decided to join him on this adventure! Also joining us would be Scott (the Professor), and Spencer.
One of the reasons why I am usually early is I like to leave myself extra time in case I feel the need to stop somewhere along the way! This roadside sunrise was well worth stopping for!
Smoky Mountain Sunrise from the Road to Nowhere
The Road to Nowhere ends at the Tunnel to Nowhere, which is where the four of us would begin our hike to Bear Creek Falls!
The Road to Nowhere!
Four Went In!
L to R: Me, Spencer, The Professor (Scott), and Casey
Inside the Tunnel to Nowhere
Inside the Tunnel to Nowhere
Inside the Tunnel to Nowhere
Once through the tunnel it would be all trail for about the next 4 miles! It was an uneventful, but very enjoyable hike to Bear Creek! The last section involves either a short bushwhack up the creek, or a steep scramble down from the trail. We went with the bushwhack route, which is probably the more difficult way to approach Bear Creek Falls!
Bear Creek Falls
Spencer at Bear Creek Falls
Ice at Bear Creek Falls
Bear Creek Falls Selfie
Spencer, Scott (the Professor), and Casey at Bear Creek Falls
Photo by Spencer!
Bear Creek Falls
We continued bushwhacking upstream to Upper Bear Creek Falls. I was not overly impressed with the Upper Drop and none of us thought it was worth the effort to get any closer, so we scrambled up to the main trail.
On the return hike, we took a little detour to check out the Forney Creek Arm of Fontana Lake. During the winter time, they drain about 50 feet of water from the lake making it rather interesting to explore around the shoreline!
Forney Creek entering into Fontana Lake
The Professor checking out an interesting log structure
Spencer and Scott hiking along the Fontana Lake Shoreline
The Forney Creek Arm of Fontana Lake
Spencer at Fontana Lake
The Forney Creek Arm of Fontana Lake
Spencer and Casey
Spencer on the Rock
Casey and Spencer
Overall, our total hike distance was about 10 miles round trip. There are some long and gradual ups and downs, but no real significant elevation changes. Here is the GPS track from our hike!
This was an awesome day with a great group of friends!
My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157706183982985
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