Having been nearly two months since my last outdoor adventure (mainly due to inclement weather), the forecast for a warm and sunny day would make it possible for a last minute trip to be taken on this late February day. It was already noon by the time I called my son Tyler to ask if he wanted to ‘go on a short hike’ ! He was all in so, I figured I would take him to somewhere close by with not a lot of hiking needed to get there and out by dark (which was still around 6pm). Knowing he had not ever been to Martin Creek Falls, I decided to go there as it is a short drive and a short hike and there was some side trails I wanted to explore further that we could use the rest of the time doing. Luckily the ‘Covid Crowds’ were not there as we found only 2 other vehicles parked and we would pass their owners on the trail, both coming out as we went in. It is only about a mile to the falls so it did not take us long to get there. The sun was bright and I did not bother bringing my larger camera that has filters (as I already have decent pics of these falls anyway) so, using my pocket cam made for low quality images.
Happy New Year ! Good riddance to 2020 and high hopes for 2021. I normally try to hike on new years day each year but, this year due to the weather and other obligations, it had to wait a day. This ended up a good thing as there would have been no views on my destination of choice had I not waited. Still working on getting back into shape, I chose another local area to reduce the amount of drive time as well as a short hiking distance but, with enough climbing to get a good workout within the time allotted. For these reason I chose to go to a place I am now calling ‘Bucket List Cliffs’ . The reason for choosing this name has nothing to do with them being super spectacular or of being anything of great importance as most things on ones bucket list would not be so close to home and, would be something really unique or special. These cliffs are not really a bucket list type location yet, they are worthy of experiencing. Well, that and ‘Rats List Cliffs' does not sound that good ! The real reason is that despite the fact that many of my inner circle hiking friends have been there several times over the past 40 years, and driving by them myself for even longer, it seems I had never actually taken the time to go there ! I did attempt to go there back in Sept. of 2014 but, there were some hunters blocking the access point so I chose a different location farther down the mountain instead. It was not until now that I would actually be able to stand upon them.
I have been to Whitehouse Mountain Cliffs many times over the years as it is one of my most favorite places located in what I call ‘my backyard’ however, my son Tyler had not yet had the pleasure of this experience. He was with us on a trip down the spine of the Flint Mountain Cliffs that sit just across the valley from the Whitehouse Mountain Cliffs back in April 2016 so, he has seen the best view possible of them but, we have not taken the time to get him on them until now. It was a brisk Spring morning as we began our trek out of the new parking lot in Rocky Fork. As you may already know, I am not a big fan of the whole ‘Rocky Fork State Park’ thing but, I will agree that a parking area was needed and now there is a rather large one to make it easier for the masses to access this pristine wilderness environment. The creek was flowing nicely as we made our way up the old (and newly graveled) road so, we stopped momentarily to enjoy the popular ‘triple waterfalls’ there.
My name is 'RAT' and I love the mountains and waterfalls of the East TN. area where I live and I hope you enjoy this blog about my outdoor adventures.
