Saturday, July 27, 2019

Glen Falls

From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other.

—Sherlock Holmes, who would later have his own waterfall moment in Switzerland

Glen Falls is actually a series of three major waterfalls along the East Fork of Overflow Creek in the Nantahala National Forest near Highlands. The trail joins the top falls where the creek has already begun a steep slide down the rock, then drops over a distinct ledge.

[Here it comes...]


[...and there it goes.]



Seen from below, the top falls resolves into a glorious cascade.




The middle falls is an even more complex wedding-cake cascade.




The lower falls, by comparison, is smaller, simpler, but in some ways more "user-friendly"—certainly safer to explore.





And from here, the creek keeps tumbling on down toward the piedmont.



As attractive as the waterfalls are in toto, some of my favourite photos (most of these shot by Jessa) are close-ups of the timeless interplay of water and rock.










Particularly eye-catching are the spots where the water has eroded round potholes in the rock.



Jessa also spotted some herps along the trail: Desmognathus (I think) and Bufo.



A few bonus photos to round things out...










Thursday, July 25, 2019

Whiteside Mountain


We've been here before.

The trail...


...will show you epic mountain vistas...



...and small scenes of quiet beauty.



The trail...


...will put you between a rock and a hard place...


...and give you a soft bed to lie on.


The trail...


...will introduce you to the slowest of hikers...




...and the fastest animal in the world, the peregrine falcon. (Okay, not in the picture, but glimpsed from here at Fool's Rock.)


The summit, of course...


...is the summit...




...but also a garden of moss and lichen...




...and of wildflowers.












Hit the trail.