Dry Falls

This is Dry Falls on the Cullasaja River near Highlands, North Carolina, but in this picture it could be the Garden of Eden.

And what's Eden without a serpent, right?

When we first spotted this eastern ratsnake, it was doing an uncanny impression of the road up here—look at a map of US-64 if you don't believe me. Ratsnakes are known to be excellent climbers, and this long specimen was no exception. ("Map" photo by Ellie; all others in this post are Jessa's.)

While the ratsnake drew attention from many visitors to the falls, we seemed to be the only group to appreciate or even notice salamanders. We saw two, both apparently Desmognathus. The first posed for a portrait, lord of his muddy lair. The second and smaller of the two was in a spot so dim it was difficult to get good photos; I include one as much for the tiny fernlets as for the 'mander itself.

Larger ferns are much in evidence here in Eden as well, as are columbine, jack-in-the-pulpit, and more—not to mention mosses everywhere.

But back to that waterfall—this is a post about a waterfall:

A previous visit.