Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Today, we arrived back at Pisgah National Forest. We had spent seven months here last year and couldn't wait to return. The national forest is located in the small town of Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. The town of Brevard is two miles from us. Both the towns of Pisgah Forest and Brevard, as well as part of the Pisgah National Forest are all located in Transylvania County; Halloween is a really big deal here!!
Why is Pisgah National Forest such a tourist mecca?
- multiple high elevation peaks including Chestnut Knob at 6,023 one of the highest east of the Rocky Mountains
- Looking Glass Rock, one of the largest rock monoliths in the eastern U.S.
- over 250 waterfalls, the highest concentration in North America
- one of the most scenic stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway (a national park and national byway) runs through Pisgah
- the Cradle of Forestry, birthplace of America's modern forestry movement
- the Davidson River, ranked as one of the top 100 trout streams in the U.S.
- north fork of the French Broad River, third oldest river in the world
- over 300 hiking, mountain biking and horseback trails
- the premier area for mountain biking east of the Mississippi River
are all located within the national forest.
While here we will be staying in, as well as volunteering, in the forest.
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there is room for four rv's in our volunteer
village |
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Pisgah Ranger Station/Visitor Center. we will be volunteering here three days/week
giving trail and waterfall information to visitors |
After following the "green line" east and then north to the mountains, we were somewhat surprised that Spring was just beginning here. There are small signs everywhere that Spring is on it's way...
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| wildflowers are popping up |
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| trees are beginning to leaf out |
and our resident as well as reclusive, whip-poor-will, along with the frogs are making their presence known each evening.
Thursday, April 5
Today we went for a hike in search of Spring. We hiked Exercise Trail, a 1.5 mile easy, flat loop. This is one of Coopers favorite trails. We hike a few times each week. We pick it up right behind our rig...
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| the Davidson River |
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| the Davidson River campground is to my left |
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| these white blooms reminded me of roses |
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| another view of the Davidson River |
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| bridge over the Davidson River |
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| playing in Avery Creek |
Following our hike, we decided to take a ride up the mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We are fourteen miles from the Parkway; our elevation is 2160. The elevation is 4550 when we reach the parkway. Along the way we stopped at
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Looking Glass Falls. by far the most popular falls here. no need to
hike to these falls, they're located right along US-276 (the main road
through the forest). this is a popular spot for weddings |
We continued up the mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we stopped at...
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| Graveyard Fields. very few signs of Spring here!! |
The expression "April showers bring May flowers" holds true here on the Pisgah. This area is a temperate rain forest; approximately six feet of rain falls here each year. April and early May are the best times (in between raindrops) to hike on the Pisgah. Lack of crowds, cooler temps and spring wildflowers all add to the experience.
Thursday, April 12
found us in search of Cove Creek Falls. Cove Creek trail combined with Caney Bottom trail makes for a nice 4.2 mile loop. However, we were in search of the falls, so we skipped Caney Bottom...
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| best way to start off a hike |
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| heading down a forest road to the trail |
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| we saw quite a few of these small cascades |
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both trails begin here ~ we followed Caney Bottom to Cove Creek.
notice the "blazes" on the posts? follow the blaze to ensure you're on
the correct trail. it's all uphill from here |
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| Cove Creek group campground |
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| notice the blue blaze? we're on the right trail |
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| yay! we reached the trail head ~ now we follow the yellow blaze |
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| following the yellow... |
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| looking back down the trail |
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| made it to the falls |
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| the trail took us to the top of Cove Creek Falls |
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| another view |
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| we really want to find a way to the base of the falls |
After a descent of 85 feet, we came upon...
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| Cove Creek Falls. beautiful falls. the photo doesn't do it justice |
The base of the falls was a great place to enjoy the view and some snacks!
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| Coop was in need of a snack and a rest |
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| truly a beautiful place |
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| Cooper thought so too! |
After ascending the 85 feet back to the trail, heading back down the trail was very easy. What goes up, must go down. We had a nice gentle hike back down the trail. Once we reached the parking area, we found a "casual trail". This trail led us to Whaleback Falls. The locals head here to swim.
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| Whaleback Falls |
Monday, April 16
Yesterday it rained all day, 11 hours straight. Today is much cooler, but no rain.
After being cooped up all day yesterday we decided to take a hike. All of us needed a good leg stretcher. We decided to hike up to Grassy Road and then hike back Sycamore Cove to make somewhat of a loop. These are not popular trails; there are no waterfalls or vistas to be seen from the trails. They are, however, good trails for bird watching.
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and we're off. we had about a half mile hike to the trail head, up hill
all the way |
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finally! the trail head. we continued climbing
for about .75 of a mile |
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| wild flowers |
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| trees are beginning to leaf out |
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| the trail has begun to level out |
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| interesting vine on this tree |
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| it's all down hill from here |
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| looking back up the trail |
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| where's there water, there's Coop |
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| unlike Coop, I prefer not to get my feet wet |
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| a small cascade of water |
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| Coop was pretty tired when we got back!! |
Til next time,
Dawn, Ron and Coop
