Autumn at Fall Creek Falls (picture heavy)

[Mistwalker]

Today I got up at 5:00am and drove out of my county through the next one and into the next going over Walden's Ridge and up onto Cagle Mountain to go hiking at Fall Creek Falls. I hadn't been there in over ten years but it's still just as beautiful as I remembered it. I took a couple of hundred photos but am only posting thirty or forty of them here.

On the way in I saw some deer grazing at the glof course, they may as well be pets as I got within a few yards of them and they never did more than look up at me and then went back to grazing.

Then I stopped by the lake to take a few shots before all the morning mist burned of

Then I passed what looked to be about an eight point buck grazing

Then on to the woods as the sun rises over the gorge

I love this little stream, it's a great place to sit and relax early in the morning

There is iron in the water

Lots of Holly Trees

Then on up the trail catching another peek at the gorge

This is a couple of shots of Rocky Point and from where I took sveral of the photos

this is a rock formation and the trail out at rocky point

Looking back at the fall

The view from Rocky Point

Another hiker came out to the point and was kind enough to take this picture for me

Then back to the trail

over to Cane Creek

One of the things I found at Piney Creek was this hornets nest

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The fall at Cane Creek . Two shots of the same waterfall The fall you are looking down at falls 85 feet

More cool rock formations

then back on the trail again over to the Falls at Fall Creek. This falls here are 256 feet.

Then over to Piney Gorge to see the view from there

I love this view of the valley

then on the trail again...down some stone stairs

by a bowl in the stone

To an overlook where a lot of Yellow Poplars grow

and here at this overlook is where my hike comes to an end, it's getting near sunset and time for the long drive back home.

I hope you all enjoy the view as much as I did, it's been years since I enjoyed a hike as much as this one. I covered roughly ten miles over rough terrain in just under eight hours, I am tired and I am going to go rest now...maybe fall asleep with a smile on my face.

 

[weaver]

You picked the perfect day for a hike, thanks for sharing your pictures. The colors were at their best, much like it is here today. Soon all the leaves will be on the ground and the trees will be bare. Also a good time to hike and see falls like that.

I guess I'm about 300 miles East by Northeast of you, I will have to make a point of hiking that valley someday.

 

[woof]

Thanks indeed for sharing the photos. The hornets nest is interesting, we saw a couple when we were in Colorado in october and wonderd what they were.

 

[wicca]

Thanks for posting those photos Mistwalker, very beautiful. Mother Nature putting on her free annual show for us, and all we have to do is as you did, take the time to appreciate it. Wicca.

 

[Gill]

WOW , absolutely stunning.looks like the kind of country i dream about,like the backdrop from last of the mohicans.

 

[Snufkin]

Superb photos.
I Take it you were in a no hunting area, as you're not wearing any blaze orange.

 

[alpha_centaur]

Away to book a plane ticket now, you should be on commision with the tourist board.

 

[Nagual]

Very lovely pics there, certainly breath taking to look at, I can only imagine what they'd be like to view in person!


Nag.

 

[Mistwalker]

Thank you all, I am very glad you enjoyed the photos, I sure loved being there to take them. No.., definitely not a hunting area this is protected land only for my favorite kind of stalking, lol, looking for pictures. Hopefuly soon I'll be able to afford a decent camera.

There are a lot of hornets..., very large hornets in this area but that was the only nest I noticed.

I wanted to combine some bushcrafting in with this hike but it had been ten years since I was there and I didn't want to stop moving long enough to make even a temporary camp..., lol, just drank water, ate a candy bar and kept moving. The next pics will be more in the way of bushcraft.