TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Christy and I did a little
bit of everything last weekend. We were
up early on Saturday morning, as Christy was doing a triathlon in Kings
Mountain. We left the house before 6am,
and Christy spent the next hour dropping off her bike and organizing her gear
for the race. Once that was complete, I
took Christy over to the starting line at Moss Lake. I dropped her off, and headed for Crowders Mountain to get in a
quick training hike.
I arrived at “Crowded
Mountain” at 8:10, which was 10 minutes after the park gates opened. At that point, there were already a dozen or
more cars in the parking lot. So much
for beating the crowds! My hike was
truly solo, as we weren’t able to bring Saucony with us on this trip.
I did a quick loop hike to
the summit of Crowders Mountain. On the
ascent, I took the Rocktop Trail, which is a fun and interesting path. It follows the rocky spine of the ridge
connecting Crowders Mountain with Kings Pinnacle. There are several viewpoints along this route, but the morning
was overcast and even a bit foggy, so there wasn’t much to look at.
I passed the charming
communication towers on the summit, and descended to the rock outcrops, which
were already beginning to draw a crowd.
At least I didn’t get there that afternoon. At that point, “Crowded Mountain” probably looked like a Best Buy
on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
I paused only briefly before
descending a long staircase. Here I
discovered both Mountain Laurel and Rosebay Rhododendron in bloom. This came as a surprise, as I hadn’t
realized that those plants grew at Crowders Mountain.
The stairs eventually gave
way to a gravel road. The only
redeeming quality to this “trail” is the views of the cliffs above. Then I turned off onto the main trail back
to the Visitors Center. It was on this
path that I nearly tripped over a colorful turtle. I tried to get some photos, but this was apparently the fastest
turtle in the world. Every time I tried
to get a shot, he ran away from me.
I dodged traffic crossing
Sparrow Springs Road again, and once more lived to tell about it. Who says hiking at Crowders Mountain is
boring?
It was still fairly early,
so I added a couple of miles to my loop, hiking past the “backcountry”
campsites before turning back on the well-named Turnback Trail. I returned to the car at 11:30, which put me
on schedule to get back to Kings Mountain to pick Christy up at noon.
Christy had a tough race,
thanks to the 90+ degree heat and a mysterious pain in one of her toes. We didn’t linger long, as we were spending
the rest of the weekend with our friends Bob and Laura at their place up in
Ashe County.
We made the drive in a
couple of hours, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at their
place. What had been a hot and humid
morning in the Piedmont turned into a breezy, delightful afternoon in the high
country.
Later, Bob and I spent a
couple of hours organizing our food for our upcoming hike on the John Muir
Trail. This proved to be an even bigger
project than I had anticipated. Since
the hike takes 3 weeks, we have to prepare and mail several resupply packages
to various points along the route. We
managed to finish one of them, and get started on two more, before we ran out
of zip lock bags and other supplies.
We’ll have to finish that project in the next week or so. Luckily for me, Christy has been a huge help
in buying and dehydrating food over the last couple of weeks. It’s hard to do that sort of thing when
you’re working in Louisiana during the week!
We slept in the next
morning, before enjoying omelets on their deck. If we had been in Charlotte, we could’ve cooked the omelets on
the back deck without a stove! In Ashe
County though, it was cloudy but comfortable.
We were discussing our options for the day when breakfast was
interrupted by a passing thunderstorm.
Bob and I had considered doing an exploratory hike up Three Top
Mountain, but that’s no place to be in violent weather. After much debate, we decided to do a fairly
short waterfall hike in Tennessee. Christy decided to pass, as she was sore from the triathlon. Ultimately, Christy and Laura decided to go
shopping in Boone. Who says hiking
isn’t an expensive hobby? It can be if
your wife doesn’t come along!
Bob and I eventually got
organized and on the road. Our
destination was Gentry Creek Falls, in the Cherokee National Forest a few miles
north of Mountain City, Tennessee. I
had been there once before, but it had been many years earlier. I was looking forward to a return visit, and
was hoping that the cloudy sky would provide good conditions for photography.
We took the scenic route to
Mountain City, following a series of winding mountain roads through Rich
Mountain Gap. We arrived at the
trailhead at noon, where we spotted two women walking five huge
Rottweilers. At the parking area, we
found one other car, but it looked like it had been there for awhile. There was a jack under the drivers side
door, but we couldn’t figure out why, as the tire appeared to be fine.
The gnats were awful at the
trailhead, so we hurried up the Gentry Creek Trail, which is signed and blazed
blue. We followed an old railroad
grade, which provides an easy walk, although the tread is rocky in places. Before long, we entered a deep, narrow,
rocky gorge. A few minutes later, we
reached a bridge over the stream. The
last time I had hiked to the falls, there had been no bridges, and the hike had
required crossing the creek 15 times (one-way). Now, some of the crossings are spanned by rustic log
bridges. During the course of the hike,
I counted 6 or 7 of them. However, some
of them are quite slippery, and at least one was in poor condition.
Water levels were fairly
low, and we were able to rock hop the rest of the crossings with minimal
difficulty. After hiking an hour, we
crossed the last bridge and arrived at a junction. Most of the trail is well-marked, except for this junction, which
isn’t blazed at all. We turned left,
following close to the creek. We rock
hopped the creek twice, before rejoining the other trail. For future reference, I’ll have to remember
to take the trail to the right, to avoid adding two extra creek crossings to
the journey.
A few minutes later, we made
a final crossing and began to climb.
Soon, the falls came into view.
We climbed up and around a huge boulder covered in Lichens, Ferns, and
Moss. Beyond the boulder, we descended
a rocky treadway to the base of the falls.
Gentry Creek Falls is
actually a double waterfall. It plunges
over two drops; the first is about 20’, while the second is a bit taller. In between is a ledge that features a nice
pool. The entire scene is spectacular,
as rocky, fern-covered cliffs form an amphitheater around the creek.
We rested there for an hour
or so, and had a quick lunch. I spent
most of the time taking photos, as there are a number of interesting
compositions.
From the base of the falls,
the upper drop is mostly hidden. After
eating, we climbed a steep, slippery path up to the base of the upper
drop. Although the entire waterfall is
beautiful, I think the upper drop is the best part. Gentry Creek Falls is really just one waterfall, but because you
can’t see the upper drop from the bottom, nor the lower drop from above, it
almost seems like two.
Hiking at the base of the
upper drop is a bit hazardous. The
rocks are exceptionally slippery, and it’s only a short distance to the brink
of the lower falls. Plus, climbing back
down to the main trail requires some caution.
If you decide to check out the upper falls, be careful!
I had just finished taking
photos when the sun came out. What
great timing! For me, it usually
doesn’t work out that way. We hiked
back quickly. With the sun out, I
skipped the photos of several cascades along the creek I had planned to
take. That was probably just as well,
as we had to get back to Boone to pick up our wives before they spent too much
money!
Back at the trailhead, we
discovered that the “jacked-up” car was gone.
We returned to Boone by 4:30, where I discovered that Christy hadn’t
spent any actual money. Now that’s the
kind of shopping trip I can approve of!
Back to Tennessee
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!