Wednesday, August 1, 2018
August is a month of transitions. Today is our last day working in the Visitor's Center. We are changing "jobs". We will be out in the field checking road side campsites (there are 57 campsites scattered throughout the forest. These campsites are free and are on a "first come, first serve" basis). We are looking forward to it as one, it will allow us to be outdoors and two, we will be able to explore parts of the forest we have not be able to explore. Today is also Aaron's last day as head of Visitors Services. He is transitioning to a new job in maintenance which will allow him the opportunity to work outdoors as well.
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| Aaron, the King of Visitors Services |
Saturday, August 4
After a couple days of rain, today is sunny. We decided to hike the part of Sycamore Cove that we have not previously hiked...
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| and we're off! |
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| we're heading up Thrift Cove to Grassy Road to Sycamore Cove |
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| it was HOT! |
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| we made it to Grassy Road. falling limbs are common during rains |
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| Ron began to clear the trail |
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| he worked |
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| and worked! |
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| voila!! the trail is cleared! |
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| we saw quite a few of these - commonly known as tent worms |
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| looking through the underside towards the sun |
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| this tree would make a great sling shot! |
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| we made it to sycamore cove trail. from here you can hike to the right or the left on the trail. we've always hiked on the right side of the trail. today, we're hiking on the left side of the trail |
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| this part of the trail takes us up and over a ridge line |
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| thankfully, it's a gradual uphill! |
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| we made it up and now we began to head down |
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| looking back up the trail |
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| a fun hike! best of all, we didn't see another soul on this hike!!! |
This was a difficult hike in that it was the first hike we've taken without Cooper. He loved Sycamore Cove; he loved running up and down the trail. He loved playing in the streams. We miss him.
Wednesday, August 15
Once a week, usually Wednesday, we drive by Stonebridge Falls while checking campsites. Today we decided to stop and take a couple of pictures...
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stonebridge falls is only 20 feet high. I really like it because of the pools that are carved
out of the rock formations |
Friday, August 17
Schools have started. Yet, the forest remains very busy. Today we took a beautiful ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Cherokee. Our main goal was to visit Mingo and Socco Falls...
Our first stop was at
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| less than half a mile to the falls, but my oh my, there were a lot of stairs!! |
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| view looking over the stair railing |
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| taking a break before climbing the last leg of the stairs |
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well worth the climb. located on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, Mingo
Falls is a narrow, almost vertical waterfall with over a 100 foot drop |
Our next stop was Socco Falls. Socco Falls is also located on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
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it was quite a scramble to get to the viewing platform. there is another waterfall here (you can
see a glimpse of it to the left under the tree). the two waterfalls join together at the bottom
of the creek |
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| both falls join together in this creek |
All for now. Till next time,
Dawn & Ron
