On Saturday following Thanksgiving, my hiking partner and I started off from out lodgings at my brother’s house at 6:30 for a 2 1/2-hour drive to Savage Gulf State Park. It is not particularly close to anything which is a bane and benefit. We had expected it to be in the low-20’s, but clouds held in heat overnight for a low-30’s beginning. I had never been there before though I had it on my bucket list for years. The draw was the Stone Door. The name seems mysterious if not odd for a natural feature, so I wanted to see it. I knew that we could also see some waterfalls. There were several more than I had expected and more water flowing over them than is usual for the Cumberland Plateau. My brother later told me that it had been raining quite a bit down their way which explains it. If you want to see some of what we experienced, check out “Water Falling.”
Archive for the ‘Waterfall’ Category
Savage Gulf
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfall, tagged Cumberland Plateau, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Savage Gulf State Park, Stone Door, Waterfalls on December 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A Frozen Head Hike
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Thanksgiving, Waterfall, tagged Frozen Head State Park, Hike, Outdoors, Waterfall on December 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Times, they are a changin’. My extended family has had a Thanksgiving tradition that has built up over 35+ years. We gather at my oldest brother’s house, eat lunch together, play flag football, watch a football game, go for a hike the next day, and meet back at my brother’s house for “haystacks” (1). Other parts to this tradition, like night-before soup supper have come and gone. Number of attendees at this gathering have varied from somewhere in the teens to over 60. Visits to in-laws, children, sickness, friends and classmates have caused a constant flux in the numbers. This year there were 24 souls in attendance, greatly reduced from just a few years ago. That did not dampen our joy at sharing the thankfulness for all that God has provided, family being high on the list. My generation, the four siblings were there, however, I am the only one from that generation who still plays in the flag football game. The group agreed that the next morning, which was supposed to have temperatures in the teens, was not a good time to hike for young and old. I convinced my older brother to go out on a hike anyway. Though I have hiked many places over many years, I had never been in Frozen Head State Park. He said that there was a 3-mile hike to a waterfall. It was far better than not going at all, and the prospect of just two of us meant that we could converse more deeply and catch up.
Present pursuits have limited my hiking and blogging. It explains why three days before our First Advent Celebration (2), I am just now blogging about a Thanksgiving hike. Pictures and commentary at “Two Frozen Head Waterfalls.”
- “Haystacks”, as my sister-in-law labeled them, is an individual’s mixture of salad parts topped with meat (turkey most usually or ground beef), cheese, salsa, beans, and whatever else is available and lacking whatever the individual does not prefer.
- It doesn’t slip off the tongue quite so easily as Merry Christmas, nor does it meet traditional muster, but it is more accurate.
Jones Falls
Posted in General, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfall, tagged Hike, Jones Falls, Outdoors, Waterfalls on March 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Back in October I went on a hike with three young people from my church. I had been to Elk River Falls numerous times in years past and even recently, but I did not know until recently that there are two falls beyond that on downstream tributaries. My hiking partner and I were looking for the second one but didn’t find the trail. We have to go back and try again. On the way back I stopped for water and a snack while he went to catch up with the other two who had turned back after Jones Falls. They temporarily got off trail and I passed them, going all the way back to the parking lot at back. Finally, we met up, but I must confess that I was a bit nervous for them. None of that spoiled the beautiful day we enjoyed in the woods finding something new. Click on “Jones Falls” for a few pictures.
Revisiting Margarette and Bailey Falls
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Waterfall, tagged Bushwhacking, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfalls on December 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I must confess that I have been to so many waterfalls in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina that relating names to scenes is a lost cause with me. So, when my hiking partner said that he would like to take his brother to Margarette Falls, I responded that I had probably been there but couldn’t remember. His brother was in for the week on business and to visit from Vancouver, WA. I knew miles before we got to the parking lot that I had been there not so long ago. In fact, it is a bit embarrassing to recall that it had been as recently as September, 2022 (check it out at “Birthday Hike“). This hike was different for many reasons. Compare this Tuesday hike of about ten days ago with the one 15 months ago at “M and B Falls.”
CreatorWorship 