Jack and Amy!

Amy and I took a drive up to DuPont State Forest for a little hiking today.  Here is a quick shot from our hike:

Amy and Jack at Triple Falls

2012-10-21 A visit to Greenville with my Parents

Cleveland Park and Falls Park

Greenville, SC

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Since it was a beautiful day, Amy and I decided to take my parents into Greenville for dinner and a stroll though Cleveland Park and Falls Park.

Rather than trying to find a parking spot downtown, we parked at Cleveland Park and walked a bit of the Swamp Rabbit Trail through Cleveland Park, Falls Park and downtown Greenville.

It is about 2 miles one way making for a four mile round trip hike with a nice break in the middle for an excellent meal and a few brews at the Carolina Ale House.  This was a bit longer than my parents are used to walking, but they did fine.  And we did burn a few of the calories that we consumed!

Here are a few shots from our visit to Greenville.

Amy having some fun

 Along the Swamp Rabbit Trail

 Reedy River Falls and the Liberty Bridge

 My wife Amy and Mom taking a break

 Reedy River Falls and the Liberty Bridge

Amy and my Mom

2012-10-21 A visit to Hatcher Garden with my Parents

A Visit to Hatcher Garden

with my Parents

Spartanburg, SC

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

My parents were down for a visit this past weekend.  It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so Amy and I decided to take them for a stroll through Hatcher Garden here in Spartanburg, SC.

My wife Amy with my Mom

Me with my Mom and Dad

Amy

This past year, Hatcher Garden made the list for Amy and my charitable contributions.  We decided to get a brick made in the Butterfly Garden in memory of my grandparents.  This was our first visit to the garden since the brick was put in place.

Here are a few more shots from our stroll through Hatcher Garden.

2012-10-20 Ladies Night at "The Shop"

Ladies Night at "The Shop"

Rutherfordton, NC

Saturday, October 20th, 2012

On a typical Saturday afternoon you can almost always count on some sort of gathering of Men at my Father-in-Laws workshop.  However, once a year, my In-Laws through a little party where the men are invited to bring their wives and significant others along.

My parents also happened to be down for a visit this past weekend, so Amy and I brought them along for a little visit to my In-Laws and to see what Ladies Night at the Shop is all about.

Here are a few photos from the event!

 My Dad hanging out at The Shop

 My In-Laws and my wife Amy

 The Tractor and Smoker

 Austin and Lorie

t

 DeWalt

 Tommy and Mel

Hanging out around the Smoker

 My parents enjoying some good food

 My parents and buddy Jeff

 Austin driving the Tractor

 Austin Driving the Tractor

 Austin Driving the Tractor

Inside "The Shop"

Turtle Porn

The other day while mowing my lawn, I spotted something I have never seen before.  Turtles having sex!

At least that is what I assumed was happening.

This was interesting enough for me to shut down the lawn mower and grab my camera. 

The female turtle was a bit camera shy hiding inside her shell.  However, the male, not wanting to be interrupted in his moment of climax kept pumping away with his head fully extended out of his shell!

What are you looking at! 

So the next time someone mentions "Doing it Turtle Style", you now know what they are talking about!

I gave them a moment to finish up while I changed over to the Macro Lens for these next few shots.

 

 

Hopefully, I will have some baby turtles roaming around sometime soon!

2012-10-14 Secret Falls, Brooks Creek Falls, and Picklemiester Falls

Day 3

Camping and Waterfall Wandering Weekend

Secret Falls, Brooks Creek Falls, and Picklemiester Falls

Near Highlands, NC

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

An amazing thing happened this camping weekend!  For the first time ever, I found out what it is like to pack up dry camping gear!  It hadn't rained a drop during my two night stay at the Ammons Branch Campground.

After packing up camp, Andy and I decided to check out a few more nearby waterfalls.

First up would be Secret Falls.  We followed the directions in Kevin Adam's "North Carolina Waterfalls" book and discovered a rare error in Kevin's directions.  We drove up Walkingstick Road and Turned right at 2.5 miles.  From there the directions say to go an additional 2.95 miles, but after some trial and error, we realized that it is actually only a half mile further until the next right turn onto FR 4567.

Once we realized that Kevin meant a total of 2.95 miles and not an additional 2.95 miles, we had no additional problems finding the trailhead.

It appears that there have been some major improvements to this trail as it is now a much easier hike than described.  Although this one is no longer a secret, the much improved trail makes it a very easy hike of a little over a half mile to the base of this beautiful waterfall!

Secret Falls

Secret Falls

Secret Falls

 

Me at Secret Falls

Next up would be Picklesimer Rock House Falls, which I like to call Picklemiester Falls.  But first we decided to make a short detour to a roadside waterfall on Brooks Creek.  This one is mentioned in Kevin's book, but he also mentions that at the time the book was published the road was closed due to flood damage from Hurricanes Frances and Ivan.

Fortunately the road is now open again and the Waterfall on Brooks Creek turned out to be nicer than either of us was expecting.

Waterfall on Brooks Creek

We backtracked a bit and continued on the the Picklemiester Trailhead.  A short easy hike of about a half mile took us to a very small stream which we followed up to the base of the waterfall.

This one looks exactly like the more well known Moore Cove Falls in Pisgah National Forest.  However, I think the cave that Picklemiester flows over is a bit more impressive.

Picklemiester Falls

While it didn't rain while we were camping, a light rain did start falling during our Picklemiester visit which officially extended my streak of at least some rain during my camping weekends!

Although this is not the most photogenic waterfall, we did spend a good bit of time here snapping shots from all different vantage points and angles.

Me and Kona at Picklemiester Falls

It was still early enough in the day to get a good bit more hiking in, but I decided to head on home to watch my Virginia Tech Hokie game from the previous day on DVR.  Apparently Andy decided to call it a day as well, because he followed me all the way to I-85, bypassing all the stops that he was considering.

This was a very enjoyable camping and waterfall wandering weekend.

For the complete photo sets, you will have to visit my Facebook page as it appears that Webshots is no more!  It looks like I will have to start looking for a different photo sharing website to use!

2012-10-13 Flat Creek Falls, Nellie's Falls, and the Shadow Bear

Flat Creek Falls, Nellies's Falls

and the Shadow Bear

Near Lake Toxaway and Cashiers, NC

Saturday, October 13th, 2012

Our main goal for the day was to get to the base of Flat Creek Falls.  Neither Andy or I have ever been to this one and it has long been on our list of must see waterfalls.

We had no problem following Waterfalls Rich's directions to the parking area at the end of FR4662 right alongside Flat Creek.  From there we had to decide our plan of attack.  By bushwhacking downstream you will eventually get to top of Flat Creek Falls.  However, this is reported to be a very difficult bushwhack and the scramble from the top of the falls to the base is borderline suicidal.

We decided to try the easier route which supposedly crosses a small section of private property.

From the parking area, we rock hopped across the creek and followed the path to a large camping area.  From there we continued on the maze of Forest Service Roads and old logging roads, taking a right turn at every obvious intersection.

We definitely passed areas that looked like property boundaries, but nothing that was posted or any other signs that we were trespassing.  The hike was much easier than we were anticipating.  However, one wrong or missed turn and you could very easily get lost in here!

It is about a 3 mile hike with a total descent of about 700 feet.  About half of the elevation descent is during the last half mile or so.  Once arriving at the creek, we just followed it upstream rock hopping back and forth a total of three times.

The first sight of Flat Creek Falls was awesome!

Flat Creek Falls

And it got even better as we continued on another 100 yards or so to an even better viewpoint of the main drop!

Flat Creek Falls

I believe we hit this one at optimal Fall Color.  The bright sun was less than ideal, but it did help make the color of the foliage really pop!

Flat Creek Falls

We spent a good bit of time here photographing the falls, eating lunch, and hoping a few stray clouds would block the sun for a little while before heading back the way we came.

Kona

Once back at the parking area, we followed Waterfall Rich's directions to another waterfall upstream on Flat Creek called Nellie's Falls.

Nellie's Falls

It is about a 1.5 mile round trip easy hike following old roadbeds and Bernie paths.  This one proved to be much nicer than we were anticipating and seemed a good bit higher than it looked in Rich's photo.

Me at Nellie's Falls

On the drive back to the Ammons Branch Campground we figured the timing would be perfect to find the Shadow Bear.  The Shadow Bear makes an appearance on sunny days in October just before sunset.

The Shadow Bear

We weren't the only ones anticipating the bears appearance.  The overlook located on US64 about halfway between Cashiers and Highlands was packed with people and cars.  We had to get a bit creative to find a place to park our vehicles and fortunately we were able to find a spot along the guardrail to photograph the show.

The Shadow Bear

After the Shadow Bear disappeared into the night, we continued our drive to the Ammons Branch Campground which was packed well beyond capacity.  There was a group of about 30 hunters on their annual mancation.

Fortunately they were not overly distracting allowing Andy and I to enjoy a nice evening and a few cold Beers around the campfire.

Coming up Next

Secret Falls and Pickle Miester Falls