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.”
Posts Tagged ‘Bushwhacking’
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 »
A Gorges Place
Posted in Camping, Ecology, Family, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Bushwhacking, Camping, Cascades, Ecology, Escarpment, Gorges, Hike, Waterfalls on September 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Yeah, I didn’t spell that wrongly. It is a play on words. I went on a two-night camping trip with my older brothers and their wives at Gorges State Park in Transylvania County, NC. As the name implies, it has some very rough real estate. In fact, it sits on the SC border where the escarpment drops out of the mountains into the Piedmont. The gorges are not what I usually think of as a gorge (1), however, since there are no cliffs in the park that I saw. Instead, they are steep-sided and steep-graded draws where creeks have worn down to bedrock, leaving cascades and the occasional freefall waterfall. Because of how fast the mountains drop away, Transylvania County has 250 waterfalls. That gets me to wondering how a waterfall is defined (see “Cascades, Not Falls“). What is the minimum height limit? What is the minimum slope of cascades? Does water have to leave contact with the surface in a cascade to be counted? There is little doubt that the various creeks have multiple waterfalls, but how are they counted? One thing that I observed in the Visitor’s Center while comparing labeled pictures of waterfalls and trails marked with waterfalls in the park was that most of the falls in the park don’t have trails to them. That sounds like to me an excellent excuse to go back and bushwhack more. The combination of geology, topography, aspect, and prevailing winds results in significant rainfall and runoff. The average annual rainfall in Upper East Tennessee where I live is about 44 inches. In Morganton, NC, where I used to live, it is 51 inches. In Gorges State Park, the average annual rainfall is 91 inches, making it nearly a temperate rainforest. That is all good for the waterfalls, but the particularly shallow topsoil still causes the tree cover to be predominated by drier slope varieties like pines and certain oaks. However, seeps here and there are lush with a profusion of hornworts, ferns, orchids, and many other wildflowers. Check out all of the gorges lushness at “Gorges State Park.”
- “gorge- a narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it” https://www.bing.com/search?q=gorge+definition&form=ANNTH1&refig=31b0bb6c75e64e7bb332c55d569e5433
Bushwhacking Pond
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Wildflowers, tagged Bushwhacking, Nature, Outdoors, Ridge walk, Wildflowers, Woods on April 24, 2023| 1 Comment »
The day before “A Few Quick Miles“, I went on a hiking trip with a young friend from church with whom I had hiked “Through A Gorge” previously. I had actually wanted to do this hike for over thirty-five years. It is in an area now designated as Pond Mountain Wilderness Area. The draw for me was there were very few trails in the middle of this 6900-acre area. Going off trail can be challenging. I have numerous experiences with bushwhacking, some rewarding and some exhausting and very long. I have learned to avoid off trail in deep draws with creeks unless I have plenty of time, a specific goal, and a good exit strategy.* If you would like to see a few pictures of the trip, click on Pond Mountain.
*I should write a business plan based on bushwhacking.
Bushwhacker Extraordinaire
Posted in General, Hike, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Bushwhacking, Exploring, Hike, Outdoors, Waterfalls on November 12, 2022| 2 Comments »
I asked my wife when I arrived back home, “Why do my children all want to plunge down through the brush and off the trail?” She rolled her eyes and said, “Maybe because that’s what their dad taught them?”
Well, what can I say? My middle son texted me and asked if I’d like to go on a hike. He didn’t say where. The Appalachian Trail traverses Cross Mountain from Iron to Holston Mtn. In the gap where the road crosses there is a parking space and a gentle walk across a large field with excellent views. Next it enters an open middle-aged forest of predominately Yellow Poplars, Chestnut Oaks, and Northern Red Oaks. As we glided along this gentle grade on the leaf strewn trail on a balmy November day, my son suddenly said, “I want to show you something. Let’s go down here.” We followed a reasonable slope along a spur ridge for several hundred feet, then took a sharp right and down into the draw. As we slid down the slope we entered rhododendron thicket and rocky creekbed with the slickest leaf and algae combination. Check out my further commentary and pictures at Stoney Creek.
CreatorWorship 