RATtreks

Abrams, Garrett Cr., and Cabin Cr. Falls (All Virginia) – 9-16-2011

I was unable to go on my annual week long birthday hike in September of this year, but I did go with my friends Dave and Lou to a place I had been wanting to go for a long time. Having recently heard on the news that access would soon be closed to Abrams Falls in Virginia, I wanted to go while it was still possible. Of course we did not know it at the time but it had already been enacted and there were some No Trespassing signs but we thought they were for the property being developed adjacent to the creek and not actually for the trail to the falls as they were not right on the trail and not specific. (That`s my story and I`m sticking to it !) I later found out that the land has a new owner and is all private property and no one is allowed access and violators will be charged with criminal trespass and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department does patrol the area regularly to enforce it so, I would not advise going to these falls. We could see that the land was being developed and a road was freshly cut across the creek and up the hill on the other side most likely to what will be a new house or something in the future. We assumed the signs were intended for that part of the property so we headed down the creek towards the falls ! We got lucky on this Friday and there was no one there and apparently the cops did not come by at the right time as we got in and out without incident but I am told this is a risky venture that charges are now being placed to those caught trespassing here.

Abrams Falls (Southwest Virginia)

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Roan Mountain High Knob – 8-7-2011

My last trip to the Roan Mountain area was up to Grassy Ridge so this time it was decided to go the other way to the Roan High Knob. We started at Carver’s Gap on a cloudy Sunday morning where we parked among the many usual tourists who were all headed up towards Round and Jane Bald as we took the way less traveled through the pines in the direction of the highest point of the Roan Mountain high country. Although you can drive to the top, it is a very scenic hike instead. The road was closed most all of last year as renovations were done to the bathrooms and the road was paved. The first thing Bol’Dar and I noticed was a strange dead fly phenomena around the new bathroom and parking area. It was odd to see so many dead flies clustered together all over the place, even on the tops of the plant growth, but it was only a prelude to what we would find later that day and what we would learn from it.

Sign for Roan High Knob Shelter

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Wolf Creek, Dudley, and Kelly Falls – 7-31-2011

I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying my friend Dave Aldridge on an awesome waterfall adventure on the last day of July 2011. He took me to a place I had been wanting to go to for some time now as he had been there a couple of times already and was more than happy to share it with me. After a mid-morning start and a large cup of cappuccino we made our way towards the town of Hot Springs, North Carolina. Taking the back way off route 70 to 107 towards Del Rio where we would get on 25/70, we arrived at the trail head after about an hour or so worth of driving. The scenery in this part of the country is spectacular and I enjoyed every mile of it. From the Forest Service gate where we parked, the road was mostly downhill gradually to the falls. Of course this is the easy and not very well known way to get to these falls.There are other ways to access them, one being from the Wolf Creek Trail-head which is located off hwy 25/70 before you get to the secret route we used. It is a much longer hike, mostly uphill going that way. The other way would require a lot of driving and much of it on high mountain gravel roads some of which are very narrow. This would be from Max Patch through Lemon Gap and then Rattlesnake Gap where you could eventually drive to within 1/4 mile of the falls. The lesser known route we took  (Shutin Creek) is an easier and much shorter drive with a less than 4 mile round trip hike is by far the best way to go.

Wolf Creek Falls

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Pinnacle Mountain Lookout Tower – 7-17-2011

It has been a while since the renovations to the old fire tower on Pinnacle Mountain have been completed along with the new trail that was constructed coming up from Unicoi, Tennessee. I have been wanting to hike the new trail and I finally got around to it on Sunday July 17, 2011. It was a warm and very hazy day when I left the trail-head located at the Unicoi exit off I – 26 so it felt good to be in the shade of the dense woods. Knowing it was not more than a mile to the top as the power lines go and as the crow flies, but I had already been told that the trail was some 4.5 miles one way to the top ! This I could not imagine but I was about to find out ! The trail is very wide but obviously machine made and there are several places where there was a trail made and then discontinued and started again going slightly different. I learned later that the trail builders were told it had to be a certain length so they had to keep changing it until it came out long enough ?? This is in part to it being a mountain bicycle trail as well as a hiking trail. I did pass two coming down on my way up. I would be wishing I had brought mine by the time I came back !

Pinnacle Mountain Lookout Tower

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Trail Maintenance Trip – 7-13-2011

I haven`t been back to my section of trail on the Appalachian Trail since the early Spring walk-through in March of this year and it was now time to cut the annual growth. My friend Doug Corkhill was also planning a trip to his section which joins mine so he once again graciously volunteered to pick us (my son Tyler and myself) up at Spivey Gap to ride with him to the summit of Big Bald. This allows us to walk one way from top down enabling us to have more time to work on the entire section and eliminating the super steep climb from Spivey Gap to Little Bald and then having to walk it all back ! Doug arrived at Spivey Gap around 9am and by 10 am we were on Big Bald. It took longer than usual as we were not able to access the back entrance and had to go around. It was a beautiful morning on Big Bald and the clouds were lifting as we made our way North towards Little Bald.

Big Bald Mountain

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Douglas, Walker, and other Misc. Waterfalls 7-10-2011

It has been awhile since my last report as I have been very busy with non-hiking activities lately. Because of this I am now way behind in writing my reports on all the trips I took this past summer. In order to catch up I am not going to compose as many details as I usually do for the next few blog entries but I will provide the highlights and any points of interest along with the best photographs available from each adventure until I get things back under control.

Ever since I met my waterfall loving friend Dave Aldridge (and his friend Lou) he has talked about taking us to the Douglas Falls area in the Big Ivy area of the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. (This is near Barnardsville) We finally made the trip on Sunday July 10, 2011 and I am very glad we did. This place is a mecca of creeks and waterfalls. So many in fact that I lost count ! Our navigator Dave made a wrong turn on to FR 63 which winds up the mountain and comes out at the Craggy Gardens picnic area off the Blue Ridge Parkway so we had to backtrack some but this was a very scenic route and had quite a few waterfalls of its own where the gravel road crosses numerous creeks so it was definitely not a waste of time.

Douglas Falls

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Whetstone Branch Falls – 6-25-2011

This adventure would be an exploratory expedition to locate any falls on Richardson and Whetstone Branch. You may be wondering why Richardson Branch Falls is not in the title of this blog but that is due to the fact that the picture of the falls titled Richardson Branch Falls as seen on the TN Landforms site are not actually on Richardson Branch but instead, are found on Whetstone Branch ! We are working with them to get this corrected. We also discovered some much larger falls above them that hopefully will be listed soon. We drove to Damascus, Virginia and then over to Taylor’s Valley where the starting point is near McQueen Knob on USFS Road #124. This is a road less traveled and it is gated so it is foot travel only and most likely only used by a few locals for hunting purposes. We did speak with a nice elderly gentleman on our way in who was working in his garden, as this road goes right above and behind his house. He told us about a very large, old bear with gray hair that frequents the area regularly. He was trying to tell us to be careful I think, but we were actually hoping we would see the bear !

Whetstone Branch Falls (lower?)

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Margarette, Glen, and Bailey Falls – 5-28-2011

It was a warm morning in late May when my waterfall loving friend Dave Aldridge and I decided we would try and get to Bailey Falls [since his earlier attempt in January had fell just short of them due to the cold, icy conditions that day]. That would not be an issue this time as it was very warm and everything was now green and the water levels were still fairly high. Bailey Falls are located above and upstream from the well known Margarette Falls so, we started out at the trail-head located off Shelton Mission Road and began hiking up the Margarette Falls Trail (#189). On the drive there while passing between the Horse Creek and Camp Creek areas we noticed some of the massive storm damage from the recent tornadoes that came through there in April and we could not help but wonder just what kind of shape the trail would be in and if any trail work had been done already. We had not gone far when we came upon a large downed tree across the trail but fortunately we were able to walk under it.  We did not encounter any more damage the rest of the day and we were pleased to find the area had been spared the brunt of the storm.

Margarette Falls 5-28-11 (Photo courtesy of Ashley Bowen)

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Hairnt Wedding of Hoppy & Birdie – 5-21-2011

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, there was a place called Hairntville where lived a couple named Hoppy and Birdie. After living together there in peace and harmony for many years, they decided one day that they would be married, so a Hairnt wedding was planned. It was to take place the week after Trail Daze and people would come from far and wide to be there. Some came for Trail Daze and stayed the whole week until the hairnt wedding and offered their help to make the wondrous event be possible. After much planning, preparation and hard work by many, the happy day finally arrived. It was to be Saturday May, 21, 2011. When I arrived in the early afternoon, there was already many people there. Some of which I had not seen in many years. It was obvious that they were planning on camping all night as there was to be much celebrating to come. Everything had been transformed since I was there a week prior, into a form of magical fantasy land designed for a grand event. There was definitely LOVE in the air ! The trail up the hill to the upper field had been mowed and decorated and the field was also mowed and had rows of canopies and seats with views of the surrounding mountains that made for such a serene setting. There was a long trailer covered with all sorts of food to which I added my famous Trail Beans to. Pirate even brought his world renowned SPAM tray. It was going to be a meal fit for a king, queen, and all their royal friends.

Birdie and Hoppy

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Trail Days – 5/13 to 5/15/2011

This year was the 25th Annual Appalachian Trail Days held in Damascus, Virginia, known as ‘The Friendliest Town On The Trail’. The first one was started to celebrate 50 years of the Appalachian Trail going through the center of town.  I look forward to this event every year as it is the only time I get to see so many of my closest hikertrash friends and trail family. Of course it was not the same due to the recent losses of ‘Okeepa‘ and ‘PawPaw‘ but knowing they would want the celebration to carry on, we did it up right in their honor.

Hiker Parade (Photo by 'Khatmandu')

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