Weekend Wrap-Up

Time to get back into the blogging groove!

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday.  CH wanted to take me to this place called Buck Bald in the Cherokee Forest. He's been there many times on the motorcycle, but I had never been. It's really just a clearing on the top of a mountain where a fire tower once stood. The tower is gone; there are a couple of picnic tables. We had the area to ourselves; it was so quiet you could hear the wind. I packed a lunch for us, so we had a nice little picnic with this view:

Unfortunately, the day was hazy, so the view wasn't as clear as it could have been, but the 360° view was still stunning. There is still a concrete marker that may have been for the fire tower. CH said that one time when he was there, he saw a couple of military helicopters hovering over the spot. He said he could see some of the guys with a map, pointing to the marker, so he thought it may be now be a landmark for aircraft.

On the way, I saw a sign for Conasauga Falls, so we stopped on the way back for what we thought was going to be a nice little hike. And it was...on the way down. Coming back up was a completely different story. The sign at the beginning of the trail said it was 1 mile, but I swear it was more than that, and we didn't go down the whole way.

I saw a couple of interesting things on the trail:

We stopped for ice cream and saw this gigantic frying pan:

After we got home, we rested for a while, then CH grilled brats for supper. I mixed up some Tennessee Tea. CH had some at a local restaurant, so I got the ingredients and tried it..and it was just what we needed after the day we had!
Never in my life have my calves hurt as bad as they did on Sunday! I really had trouble walking around, so I spent most of the day recovering relaxing.
Now it's Monday. Time to get my rear in gear and actually do something productive around the house!

Juney Whank Falls

Juney Whank Falls is a waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains that I've never even heard of, much less visited.  It is in the NC side of the park, which is probably why I've never heard of it.

Hiking in the Smokies describes the walk to the falls as "easy":  it's only .5 mile, but it does say that it is a steep climb.  

There are a couple of stories as to the origin of the name.  1 story is that it is short for Junaluska Whank, who may be buried around the falls.  The other story is that "Juney Whank" means "where the bear passes" in Cherokee.

You can get a "3-fer" when you visit these falls:  Toms Branch Falls and Indian Creek Falls are accessible from the same parking lot as Juney Whank.  Toms Branch is only .3 miles from the trailhead, while Indian Creek is .6 miles past Toms Branch.

Abrams Falls

(For photo creds, click on the pictures)

Abrams Falls isn't a very high waterfall, but it can be very "heavy".  It's also very beautiful.  The hike is also very beautiful.  It's a little bit of hike to get to, but well worth it.  It is rated as a "moderate" hiking trail, but there are parts of it that seem more like "difficult".  The total round trip hike is 5 miles, and should take anywhere between 3-4 hours.  And, of course, there's always the danger that you may see a bear wandering around. Appropriate footwear would be hiking boots due to the trekking over rocks, as well as a couple of log bridges.
The trailhead is just inside Cades Cove.  Due to this, if you're planning a trip to Abrams Falls, you probably should add in at least an extra hour to get to/from the trailhead...just in case.  There are times when traffic is heavy in The Cove.

As with any waterfall, there is a serious danger of drowning if you get in at the bottom of the fall.  There have been some deaths due to people not heeding this warnings.  www.hikinginthesmokies.com reports that this hike is listed in the top 10 most dangerous hikes in the country.  (I'm glad I didn't know that last time I hiked it!)  The reason for its listing is the threat of hypothermia, as well as the drowning risk.  But, don't let that deter you from hiking to Abrams Falls...it's well worth the hike as long as you respect the surroundings.

A Walk in the Woods

Yesterday started out as a really yucky day.  It was raining when I woke up (YAY!), but I was afraid it was going to mess up part of  my plans for the day.  Oldest Son had a day off, so I went up to see him.  He's turning into quite the "Nature Boy", so he had a hike on a very small part of the Appalachian Trail planned for us.  I love waterfalls, so OS had one he wanted to show me.

By the time I got to OS' house, it had pretty much stopped raining.  We had to go by Financial Aid and drop something off, then we grabbed a quick lunch and we were off on our adventure!  On the way we went through a little town that has the oldest covered bridge still in use in the state.  

Then, we made it to the trail:

At the beginning of the section we hiked, there was a canopy of these gorgeous rhododendron:

I bet it's absolutely stunning when they're blooming!

Not too far in, we came across this sign:

My trail guide!

We crossed a bridge that was just a little  scary to me because  it was pretty high and you could see between the slats:

But the view was lovely:

We saw walls of rocks:

Then, we came to a very large "hill" with rocks built into the side to make stairs:

We finally made it to the falls:

This picture  doesn't do it justice as to how big it really was.  OS & I had a discussion about how anybody could see that and not believe in God.  

I was pretty fascinated by the foam that the falls made:

 The whole way down to the falls, I kept thinking about having to climb back up the hill.  It sure would be a lot easier if they had installed an escalator when they made the rock steps!  I mean, there's plenty of water, so it shouldn't be that hard to generate electricity, right?  It turned out that it really wasn't all that bad; I stopped a couple of times going up, and it was all good.

I spent 4 years in that area when I was in undergrad school, but didn't take advantage of everything that the area had to offer.   After yesterday, I regret that I had no idea of the beauty of the area.  I did go to the river a couple of times, but never hiked.  

After spending quality time with OS yesterday,  I learned a few things:

1.  OS knows what he's doing when he's out on the trail.  He showed me things to look out for just in case something happened to him and I had to make it back by myself.

2.  His tendency to wear out shoes is apparently now working to his advantage.  The shoe company is sending him free shoes to wear out, then send back so they can figure out how to make them last!  

3.  OS loves him mom.  He looked out after me during our hike, stopping every now and then when we were walking up the hill from the falls.  He made sure I had plenty of water and gave me a walking stick to use!  Yes, I am the queen!

4.  I am incredibly out of shape.  Now that my back is better, I'm definitely going to have to hit the walking trail & treadmill.

5.  OS is in incredibly good shape.  It's a different shape than he was in when he played football, but I don't even think he broke a sweat when we hiked.  Me,well, I was soaked by the time we  got back to the car!
6.  I really enjoyed being out in the middle of nowhere.  Taking in the clean, fresh air and just being out there with my boy, and feeling completely safe.  (Of course, I don't think I'd like it when it was dark...I have too great of an imagination-thinking about the bears and other wild animals that are roaming out there!)   I may even invest in some boots (which are necessary to keep the rocks out of your shoes!) and take in some trails around here!

You know, as hard as it is to admit that my baby is all grown up, it is just as satisfying to see him as an adult.  Sure, there are areas where he still needs some guidance, but I'm extremely proud of the man he's become!