Old Dan Walking

To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below:

Mountain Bridge Wilderness(Opens in new window)

 

Approximately 8 miles of walking around Upstate South Carolina’s Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. The walk included segments of Coldspring Branch Trail, Coldspring Connector Trail,  Frank Coggins Trail, US 276, and Rim of the Gap Trail – October 30, 2010

 

Editors Note: Apologies to those that are used my typical journal entries with technical descriptions of the trails I walk on. Today I wanted to try something new. For those that need it, there are several great sites (and guidebooks) out there that have good descriptions of today’s trails. (Google: Rim of the Gap Trail) Thanks for your patience; I’ll try to get back to the regular program the next time I’m out on the trails. Thanks –Old Dan

Editor’s Note Part Deux: More inline pics to be added later.

 

Fall 2010 is disappearing quickly so it was time again to shake off the rust and get outside for a walk. My Halloween Eve destination was a third trip to Upstate South Carolina’s Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. The Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area is a beautiful gorge and its surrounding forests on the edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment, showcasing towering cliffs, waterfalls, and pleasant creeks and trails featuring occasional fields of gargantuan boulders. On the west end is Caesars Head State Park and on the east end is Jones Gap State Park.

I’ve mentioned this before but if you’re looking for a really nice place to take an autumn afternoon drive or motorcycle ride, I’d highly recommend the South Carolina Scenic Highway, also known as SC Hwy 11. The road traverses the entire northwest corner of the State and is situated right on the edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment, the place where the eastern mountains end and turn to rolling hills. It is one of my favorite drives, right up there with the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Pacific Coast Highway. (ok, maybe not as grand as those two, but nice none the less) The last Saturday morning of October was perfect for a drive to the mountains from my home in the Midlands.

Changing plans on the fly

I was battling Young Dan in my mind all day today, the version of me that still thinks he’s 25. I’d planned to start my hike on the Rim of the Gap Trail at the lowland eastern side of the MBWA in Jones Gap State Park, but the gorgeous weather made me change my mind…

Old Dan: “We should really start on the east end at Jones Gap. Then we’d be doing our uphill in the morning like you always prefer. “

Young Dan: “What do you mean me? You mean YOU always prefer downhill in the afternoon! But that view of Table Rock from Caesars Head is your favorite, and there’s no way you’d backtrack your lazy butt back up there after you finish walking. I don’t want to miss that view today geezer.”

Old Dan: “Hey McFly…have you looked at the elevation profile? Of course you haven’t…you’re ‘Mr. Wing It’, right?”

Young Dan: “Oh come on…I’ve dragged your sorry butt up much higher mountains than these in the Smokies before.”

Old Dan: “Brilliant…do you know what those profile lines that are really close together mean? Of course you don’t, why bother with the details, right?"

Young Dan: “Right on dude...just go for it. Ha…you passed up the turn for Jones Gap State Park, so now you’re listening to the REAL brains of the outfit, huh?”

Old Dan: “I know we’ll both regret this, you’ll see.”

Young Dan: “Just step on it dude and quit your whining. Man, this road is awesome..don’t hurl man!”

So Young Dan won and I decided to catch the morning view from Caesars Head. Hard to argue with YD's logic at this point because the view was worth the few mile detour. So after a quick look at the view I continued a mile up US 276 and pulled into the Raven Cliff Falls parking area. It was only 10 AM but the parking area was already full. Here you must register your hike and pay your $2 to use the Parks, so I obliged and then was on my way for the first missteps of the days. I accidentally walked a few tenths out the Tom Miller Trail before realizing my intended trail, the Coldspring Branch Trail, started a few feet further down the parking lot.

Young Dan: “Nice job dude….you blew that 30 minutes.”

I returned and got going on the correct (orange blazed) trail, which turned out to be mostly an old logging road. It climbed through rhododendron tunnels through a pine/oak forest and the nice colors of Fall before reaching the intersection with the old familiar Bill Kimball Trail. I did the upper part of this trail on an icy day back in March, and since then they’d replaced the trail sign at the intersection with a shiny new one. I continued on Coldspring Branch Trail for a few more tenths of climbing before reaching the Coldspring Connector Trail. Just 0.5 miles to knock out this little trail…no problem, right?

Young Dan: “Oh (huffing, puffing)….is that what those lines on the profile map being close together means?”

Old Dan: “Yep (gasping, huffing, puffing)…I don’t (huff) want to hear (puff) another %$^@$%$ word out of you the rest of the day.”

Young Dan: “Word.”

So after a wicked climb I reached the intersection of the Frank Coggins Trail. Remind me not to do that little 0.5 demon of a trail again.

Old Dan: “We’re bailing out. No way I can do Rim of the Gap Trail and do all that climbing on the return trip this afternoon, I’m already whipped.”

Young Dan: “Word.”

So both of us were soon bailing out down the Frank Coggins Trail, a 0.5 mile gradual uphill walk connecting back up with US 276. ‘We’ emerged right at the Caesars Head Visitors Center and then took a right for a 1+ mile road walk back to the parking area.

From there I had to shuttle myself over to the flatlands at Jones Gap State Park to restart the walk from the other side of the MBWA.

(Part of) Rim of the Gap Trail

Today was not going well…I drove on over to the Jones Gap State Park entrance to find a line of cars and Park Ranger.

Elliott (Jones Gap State Park Ranger): “You’ll have to wait here..the Park is full. We’re letting one car in as one car leaves.”

Young Dan: “Brilliant job Einstein….this is so choice!”

Old Dan: “Just shut up and listen to the game.”

About an hour later I had moved my way up the queue and got to enter the Park as a car left. Finally! Rim of the Gap Trail was my destination when I came here to walk in March, but ice had closed the trail on that day. Today it was a different issue. It was already late, so I knew with all the missteps I would not have time to do the whole trail. When this sort of issue hits, I have a hard time just enjoying my time on the trail. I need to focus on the fact that it’s a gorgeous day in the woods and good Lord willing I’ll get to come back someday and finish the job. Heck, it gives me an excuse to come back. It didn’t matter though, unfortunately I was miffed.

So the yellow-blazed Rim of the Gap Trail starts on a left turn just after the start of the Jones Gap Trail. It begins with a sharp climb that doubles back above the entrance road, climbing through a field of very impressive boulders. At one point there is a cable to help with a very steep section. The forest is ablaze with the yellows and golds of late autumn at the low elevations. Soon I come upon the intersection with the white-blazed Pinnacle Pass Trail. This trail can be used for a nice loop that connects with Rim of the Gap Trail. I’ll try that one next time.

Switching back to the right from here the trail climbs through a slick areas of rocks before turning sharply left at a spot where a nice white pine stands in the center of the trail. From here you enter an enclosed tunnel of laurel and rhododendron and relentlessly climb, sometimes crossing shallow creeks. Views of the other side of the Gap begin to appear through the trees. The granite face on the opposing ridge is impressive, with a huge chasm running down its length. Climbing continues. I stop in my tracks as I round the ridge and hear the call of Falcons. The rare and endangered Peregrine Falcon is said to nest here, and it sounds like they are just a few feet away. They must hear me because the calls cease.

Voices in my head

I continue climbing but the voices are getting louder. Not the falcons, but rather Young Dan in my head:

Young Dan: “What do you mean you’re going to turn around soon? We’re not even half way!”

Old Dan: “Have you forgotten Palmetto Pass? With these new leaves on the ground…we’re going to lose the trail pretty easy in this low light. I’m beat too.”

Young Dan: “Low light?! Huh? It’s not even 4 PM…come on man!”

Old Dan: “I’m not taking any chances because I don’t know how long it will take to get back down the mountain. We’ve been climbing for several miles.” (not really…even though it seemed that way)

Young Dan: “Man, that's bogus! I do this under protest!”

Old Dan: “Suit yourself, but we’re going.”

Back down the mountain ‘we’ went..and as it turned out YD was probably right. I had a lot of daylight left when I made my way easily back down the mountain. It’s hard to judge when you’re relentlessly climbing, but I probably had enough time and light for at least another 2 or 3 miles. Oh well…next time.

Young Dan: “That was lame man…we could’ve done the whole loop. Totally lame.”

Old Dan: “Get used to it..because I get more lame by the minute. Trust me, you’d be the first one crying like a baby when you’re stuck out in the woods in thirty degree weather.”

Young Dan: “No way man. Hey…close those windows dude, that wind is cold!”

Old Dan: “Exactly!”

Low elevation on this 8 mile walk around the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area was around 1450’ at the Jones Gap trailhead and high elevation was about 3000’ at Caesars Head. The walk included enough climbing to work out some of the rust, probably somewhere around 2200’ in overall climbing.

 

For pics of this walk, click the link below:

Mountain Bridge Wilderness(Opens in new window)

[caption id="attachment_1226" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jones Gap State Park Visitor Center"]

[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Jones Gap Trail(Opens in new window) 11.5 mile (approx.) out-and-back walk in South Carolina’s gorgeous Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. The walk started and ended at the Jones Gap trailhead in Jones Gap State Park and included Coldspring Branch Trail and Bill Kimball Trail – March 7, 2010 Ah Spring…. Well, not quite, but the forecast on the first weekend of March called for clear skies and 60 degrees, so you know the trails around all Appalachia were going to be busting at the seams with winter weary hikers. I also couldn’t resist. After a day of long overdue yard maintenance on Saturday, I hit the road Sunday morning to knock some winter rust off my hiking legs in South Carolina’s Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. Because of the one day up and back I chose not to go all the way to the Smokies and instead stay closer to home. Destination today was Jones Gap State Park, the east side of the mountain bridge. In November I walked the west side of the bridge on the Raven Cliff Falls loop at Caesars Head State Park. [caption id="attachment_1246" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area"] [/caption] As I have learned through experience the past couple of years it is wise to have a Plan B, especially when hiking in the winter. Today would be no exception as my planned walk along the Rim of the Gap Trail would have to be scrubbed due to icy conditions. As hard as it was to believe on a day like today when it would eventually reach 60 degrees, slush, snow, and ice would become a problem later on. Jones Gap State Park sits in a cool gorge between high mountain ledges on three sides, and the sun doesn’t penetrate the north slopes. This means that despite the low elevations by Smokies standards it still will take a while before all remnants of this colder-than-usual winter are gone from around these parts. [caption id="attachment_1227" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Middle Saluda River"] [/caption] Plan B – Jones Gap Trail The Jones Gap Trail follows the Middle Saluda River upstream through the heart of the 11,000 acre Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area to connect Jones Gap State Park on the east to Caesars Head State Park on the west. After a nice walk through the manicured grounds and big hemlocks of the Visitor Center area and around the remnants of the former Cleveland Fish Hatchery, I started westbound and uphill on the Jones Gap Trail. I could tell I was in for a treat as the exceptionally scenic and big boulder strewn Middle Saluda River tumbled down just to the right of the trail. The wide and well graded trail passes through impressive boulder fields and reminded me of my day on the Middle Prong Trail in the Great Smokies. I continue gradually uphill on the blue-blazed trail and eventually pass primitive streamside campsites on the right. All of the campsites have a fire ring and a large flat area for tents and you can get to them without too much effort, making the spots ideal for backpackers that enjoy the camping part as much as the ‘getting there’ part. Many of the sites were filling up with young families on my return trip. Continuing on I notice the low elevation valley is filled with rhododendron, pine, and mainly healthy hemlock trees. I see some evidence of the Hemlock Wooley Adelgid on downed limbs, but it appears that the serious infestation hasn’t quite arrived in these parts yet. Unfortunately it is just a matter of time. [caption id="attachment_1232" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Jones Gap Falls"] [/caption] About 1.5 miles up the trail I come to the short spur that leads to very picturesque Jones Gap Falls. This fall is either 40 or 50 feet high, depending on which website you believe. The fall flows nicely today over the striated rock so prevalent here on the edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment. After a short break I continue on up the Jones Gap Trail, enjoying the gentle grade and wide, easy walking. The Middle Saluda never leaves the trail for more than a short time, and there are many cascades and mini-falls to stop and enjoy along the way. There are also some very impressive new footbridges to stroll across. Before long I reach the intersection with the Coldspring Branch Trail and the familiar full color map that graces every major intersection in this Wilderness. [caption id="attachment_1228" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A cascade of the Middle Saluda"] [/caption] Saying goodbye to an old friend on Coldspring Branch Trail Orange-blazed Coldspring Branch Trail moves southwest and away from the Middle Saluda River, traveling uphill beside…you guessed it…Coldspring Branch. After a quick downhill and another of those impressive new bridges the going gets steep. For a short while it is real steep. When I stop to take a breath I notice the homes sitting perched on the ridgetop of the canyon wall to the south. What nice views into the gorge they must have. Around the bend thankfully the steepness subsides a bit, and the first of several semi-tricky crossings of Coldspring Branch appears. Just after the crossing I notice the snow on the north face, and on the trail it begins to get thicker in spots. [caption id="attachment_1231" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Slush along the trail"] [/caption] Continuing uphill through the dense rhododendron tunnels and snow, I occasionally slow to tackle the tricky crossings. The snow isn’t too big of a deal but it does cause me to slow down and watch my step. On the last big creek crossing I get careless and lose my concentration for a split second…down goes Frasier! Smash. Ouch. R.I.P. Kodak Easyshare DX7590, A.K.A. Kody (2005-2010). Parts of my old friend now lie beneath Coldspring Branch. Trying to move too quickly through the many crossings and probably getting cocky with each success, I failed to take the proper pause to survey the best route and it wound up costing me. My back takes another big hit and my arm suffers a decent bloody scrape, but fortunately it is not deep..just enough for other hikers to have some pity on the old man. It’s another reminder that anything can happen out here in the woods at any time no matter how experienced you are. Just a split second is all it takes. Another hard fall and another bullet dodged for me, but I’m not sure my back is going to take many more of these. Turning back on Bill Kimball Trail I eventually complete the climb up Coldspring Branch Trail and reach the Bill Kimball Trail intersection where I rest and enjoy a conversation with a local couple and their dogs. (yes, I like talking to dogs too) After a rest I continue on pink-blazed Bill Kimball Trail, a ridgetop beauty with nice winter views of each side of the canyon walls through which the Middle Saluda cuts. (you’ll have to take my word for it…remember, no camera) Here I top out at around 3000’ elevation amongst a pleasant white pine and hemlock forest and then switch back onto the north face to start a very steep descent back to the floor of the gorge. The north face, however, is still covered in a very thick layer of snow and ice. That fact combined with a very steep descent and the earlier mishap means it will not be a lollipop for me today. I decide to abandon here, turning around and retracing my steps the way I came in. With nothing new to see the return trip is a long one, but I eventually reach my car bloodied, bruised and minus one friend but happy to have spent a beautiful day in the stellar South Carolina mountains. [caption id="attachment_1224" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="JGSP is a real gem"] [/caption] Low elevation on today’s 11.5 mile out-and-back walk was around 1400’ at the Jones Gap trailhead and high elevation was around 3000’ on the Bill Kimball Trail. I’m not sure how much overall climbing I did, but I presume it was around 2000’, enough to knock some of the winter rust off of me. I highly recommend a visit to our stunning state parks in the Upstate of South Carolina. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the waterfalls, forests, and mountain views that you find there. The trails that I’ve seen so far are also very well maintained like we spoiled Smokies hikers are accustomed to. 8) For pics of this walk, click the link below: Jones Gap Trail(Opens in new window)

[caption id="attachment_913" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Stunning Raven Cliff Falls"]

[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Raven Cliff Falls Loop in Caesars Head State Park(Opens in new window) 8.4 mile lollipop walk to view gorgeous Raven Cliff Falls in Caesars Head State Park, South Carolina. The walk started and ended on the Raven Cliff Falls Trail and included Gum Gap/Foothills Trail, Naturaland Trail, and Dismal Trail – November 1, 2009 Where do I start with this Sunday’s walk? The perfect weather? The beautiful views? The stunning colors? The spectacular raging creek? The amazing waterfall? The awe-inspiring wall of rock? Sounds a lot like one of my typical Smoky Mountain weekend walks, right? Nope…not this time, because to get all those adjectives on this day I didn’t even leave my home state. Thanks to the Saturday Halloween festivities I would wait for Sunday to walk on ‘Fall Back Weekend’. I appreciated the extra hour due to the end of Daylight Savings Time so I could take advantage of one of those long days, with a ‘drive up-walk-then drive home’ plan. Thanks to the rock slide on I-40 and the fact that I’ve completed almost all of the trails in Cataloochee, the closest Smoky Mountain area to my South Carolina home not impacted by the slide, I chose to stay in my back yard. My choice was the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area at the very edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment. [caption id="attachment_908" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gorgeous view of Table Rock Mountain from the overlook"] [/caption] The Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area sits on US 276 at the North Carolina/South Carolina state line and encompasses about 50 miles of trails and two South Carolina State Parks, Caesars Head and Jones Gap. For me to get there meant a drive on one of my favorite routes, SC Hwy 11, also known as the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. This is one beauty of a road, traveling the gorgeous rolling Carolina Piedmont parallel to the front range of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I spent a lot of time traveling this road on weekends in the late ‘80s while in college at Clemson University, probably to put off studying. I was happy to be back this way again as a strong cold front finished rolling through and clearing out the air and the overnight rains. Driving up the mountains on twisty US 276, it was tough not to slip and slide on the wet road covered with a thick layer of fresh fallen leaves. It would be foreshadowing of a tough day on the trail. Around 8:45 AM I reached the closed Visitor Center atop Caesars Head and stepped out to the stunning overlook in 25 mph winds, and immediately felt like I would freeze to death. I’m telling you it was brisk! Raven Cliff Falls Trail and Gum Gap/Foothills Trail [caption id="attachment_915" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Something I\'m not used to as a Smokies walker"] [/caption] I got the idea for today’s walk from author and hiker/blogger extraordinaire Danny (Danielle) Bernstein’s excellent first book Hiking the Carolina Mountains. This book has a plethora of fantastic information on 57 Carolina day hikes, and it includes lots of facts that I would need to get to and complete my walk today. Being spoiled by extremely well documented and well maintained Smokies trails that I could get to and from with my eyes closed, it was nice to have this book to help with an area not so familiar. The first essential information was the location of the Raven Cliff parking area another 1.2 miles north of the Visitor Center. By 9:30 I would have my $2 fee paid and my hiker information sheet filled out and deposited in the box and be on my on my way down the wide carriage path on Raven Cliff Falls Trail. For the lesser-traveled State Park trails it is necessary to fill out an information sheet and deposit the white copy in the box, then put the pink copy in when you return safely at the end of the day. That saves the Rangers from having to come and get you when you don’t return by nightfall. That should’ve been my first warning. Raven Cliff Falls Trail is an extremely popular moderate 2.2 mile walk to a new covered observation deck overlooking the beautiful falls across a gorge. Initially it is a wide path that according to Danny used to carry lodge guests to view the Falls in the early 20th century. At this time in the morning I’m alone on this popular trail. Just after passing a Park maintenance building the trail ducks around a ridge and begins to climb modestly along a ridgeline among oaks, pines, hickory, and sassafras. To the left through the trees are occasional very nice views of the Carolina Piedmont. About a mile in the trail changes character as it switches sharply right and descends through a thick laurel patch on a nice wooden staircase. After a short walk through the tunnel of laurel the trail flattens out and before long reaches the intersection with the Gum Gap/Foothills Trail. Here I see one difference between my Smokies and this State Park, with a full color copy of the entire trail map posted at the intersection complete with a “You Are Here” annotation. Here I take a right and begin to follow the blue-blazed Gum Gap/Foothills Trail around the north side of the falls gorge instead of continuing on Raven Cliff Falls Trail for the remaining few tenths to the observation platform. I figured I would go counterclockwise around the loop instead of Danny’s recommended route of going clockwise. Reason? Well, I figured I would save the highlight of the big Falls view until the end of the day. That decision would very nearly turn out to be costly. (see mistake #2 later) Gum Gap Trail is a mostly level cruise through a dry ridge pine-oak forest. A few tenths in I turn sharply left and begin to follow a muddy jeep road through a forest of white pine. A few streams cross under the road here and I begin to heat up as I walk quickly along the flat road, dodging mud puddles. Now heating up, I stop and drop a layer while listening to the stream tumble under the road. At one low spot in the trail a water diversion channel is filled with yesterday’s rainwater. Before long I reach another full-color map at the intersection with the pink-blazed Naturaland Trail on the left. Nightmare on Naturaland Trail [caption id="attachment_909" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The cable crossing of Matthews Creek"] [/caption] Naturaland Trail travels the south end of the Wilderness Area and crosses the Falls below Raven Cliff. The west end of the trail is a nice fairly gentle climb amongst brilliant fall colors, with views back toward Caesars Head appearing at one point. Here I begin to notice the very loud roar of Matthews Creek, and eventually swing around to the left to parallel it as hemlocks appear on the north facing slopes. The wide creek is really raging, dropping on several large cascades as I begin to walk directly beside it. I sense the Falls are nearby as the water picks up speed. I’m frustrated that there isn’t a good spot to photograph the beautiful roaring creek. Soon I reach the skinny suspension bridge that goes directly over top of Raven Cliff Falls. Wow! Raven Cliff Mountain drops suddenly away as the Falls tumble 400 feet down beneath me. On the opposing ridge are gorgeous Fall colors, from which I will have a direct view to photograph the Falls later today. After a thousand photos I amble across the bouncy and somewhat scary bridge and then stop for a brief lunch of trail mix and water. [caption id="attachment_912" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The suspension bridge from across the gorge"] [/caption] Now it’s time to discuss those mistakes I mentioned earlier. Both would be highlighted on the section of Naturaland Trail I was about to travel, which now abruptly drops about 900 feet in elevation from this point at the suspension bridge to eventually end up at Matthews Creek below. Mistake #1 was when I left home today without my proper hiking gear. All of my gear was safely tucked away at base camp in the Smokies, so I had to walk today totally ill prepared…a real recipe for disaster. Here’s the rest of the recipe:

- One ounce of incorrect footwear

- Two teaspoons of no GPS

- One cup of steep gradient

- One unfamiliar boulder strewn path

- Two bushels of fresh fallen leaves

- One gallon of fresh rainwater

- Three cups of no cell phone reception

- One helping of nearly deserted trail

- Two cups of mud

- One poorly balanced non-hiking bookbag

- A pinch of barely visible trail blazes

- Two liters of no emergency supplies: water treatment stuff, matches, headwear, first aid kit, compass, extra clothing, etc.

- Combine with mistake #2, a downhill on the steepest, rockiest, most leaf-covered trail section

Mix well and bake for about 3 miles. Makes one humble pie. [caption id="attachment_918" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ladders lend a helping hand on Naturaland Trail"]

[/caption] You get the picture..it definitely wasn’t pretty. I can honestly say two things about this section of the trail. Number one is I am incredibly sore from doing full squats after slipping at least 30 times on the leaf-covered boulders, and number two I am genuinely thankful to be here writing this story today unhurt. I fell hard on a sharp pile of rocks once and thought for sure I broke my tailbone. I have a nice large bruise to show for it, but fortunately missed real injury by a few inches. Combine that with all the previous disaster ingredients and like I said…I’m happy to be unharmed. Learn from my stupidity. Anyway, although this was by far the toughest downhill I’d ever done I guess it wasn’t all bad. At a few points on the trail crews have installed handy ladders to help with the steep sections. One huge highlight just down the trail from the steep section was a 120 foot high semicircular wall of rock called the Cathedral. The Cathedral was composed of sheared-off layers of striated rock all cleanly stacked up like a pile of sheetrock at the neighborhood Home Depot. After this high point though I continued on and had several occasions when I really thought I had missed my turn and was lost. The trail was difficult to follow and slow going thanks to the poor footing, but eventually much to my relief I reached Matthews Creek and my first experience with a thin parallel cable crossing. We’re definitely not in the Smokies anymore Dorothy! No whimpy little footlog bridges here! I am relieved nobody was there to capture my terrified expression as I slinked across Matthews Creek on the skinny cable dangling a few feet above a swift cascade. (bottom cable for your feet , top cable to hang on for dear life!) After I survived I could pause and laugh a bit… Continuing on the trail ducks back into the thick forest of rhododendron. This short flat section takes you across a few feeder streams and eventually to the intersection with the purple-blazed Dismal Trail. The aptly named Dismal Trail and the stunning overlook [caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View of the falls from the Dismal Trail"] [/caption] I was never so relieved to see a Dismal Trail in all my life! Thank God, 1000 feet straight up, this I could handle! If you’re going in this direction though, the Dismal Trail is aptly named, climbing relentlessly up the front range of the Blue Ridge opposite Raven Cliff Mountain. The highlights of this section were a few big trees, the one spot where I could see Raven Cliff Falls across the ridge, and the fact that it was over. Out of gas mostly due to the nervous energy of the Naturaland downhill, I’m sure I didn’t set any records on this uphill. Soon I let out a big sigh of relief when I saw the backward trail map and the intersection with the trail I started on this morning, Raven Cliff Falls Trail. [caption id="attachment_911" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Raven Cliffs Falls from the observation platform"] [/caption] Just a quick and thankfully flat 0.2 mile spur away was the very nice covered Raven Cliff Falls observation platform. From here I sat with the mass of humanity and took dozens of shots of the gorgeous Falls across the ridge, bragging to everybody that would listen about how I was standing on that faint suspension bridge across the gorge a few hours earlier. It was stellar, and I soon forgot my two mistakes. Forgot them until the next day that is...when my extremely sore quads would remind me. After a nice break I walked the easy 2.2 miles back to the parking area, now busting at the seams with outdoor enthusiasts. I finished the day with an ice cream from the Visitors Center and a few more pictures from the stunning Caesars Head overlook…could it be any better? I love my Smokies like no place else on Earth, but my first real hike in my South Carolina mountain back yard was a real treat, and I’d recommend it to any of you looking for a nice change of pace. Bring your gear with you though, ok?! ..and go buy Danny’s book too! [caption id="attachment_914" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Views into the South Carolina Piedmont"] [/caption] Low elevation on today’s 8.4 mile lollipop walk was around 1900’ at the Dismal Trail/Naturaland Trail intersection and high elevation was near 3100’ on Raven Cliff Falls Trail. According to Danny the walk included about 1950’ of overall climbing. For pics of this walk, click the link below: Raven Cliff Falls Loop in Caesars Head State Park(Opens in new window)