Hiked to Baskins creek falls with the association for training (getting paid to hike!) on the Tennessee side of the Park. Met up with the group around 9 or so and headed towards the trail head. The trail descended into the woods on soft path of humus and damp leaves. My favorite type of weather for hiking was here; rain threatening, clouds hanging in the sky, smells of the woods hanging heavy in the air. Flame azaleas(Rhododendron calendulaceum) and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) were blooming. A pleasant surprise was hiding a little off the trail, Pink Lady Slippers(cypripedium acaule) were blooming in a small cluster. The second time I've seen them this year, much to Cat's disgust. We continued to progress through a pine oak forest with laurel beginning to bloom all over.
After taking some photos, we continued down the trail while it unfolded in the rich green of late spring. Taking pause at a trail junction, we started down to the falls, through loose rock and gnarled old roots from trees hanging onto the hillside through sheer tenacity. Coming around a corner of rock, the falls unfolded before along a large cliff of thunderhead sandstone, falling onto stone twisting its way back into to under brush.
A large cliff extended to the left with a tight cascade of water falling through a crag in the wall onto emerald colored moss. Absolutely one of the most beautiful waterfalls I think I've seen in the park. As an added bonus, two small groups of Jack in the Pulpits (Arisaema trphyllum) were blooming on a shady ledge near the falls.
I
want to take cat back here sometime soon. It was an absolutely beautiful area and the hike wasn't too bad. A little earlier in the spring, there would probably be alot of early flowers blooming and a little higher flow on the falls. The hike out was pretty uneventful, as was the drive through Gatlinburg and the rest of the way home. Going to places like this is a continual reminder of how diverse and wonderful the mountains I live in are. Despite living here and seeing it day to day, the beauty of it all still takes my breath away. Sometimes I like to think I chose to be here, at others, I think the mountains chose me. Ever since my first trips here as a child, I was mystified by the endless folds of ranges that I saw when my family would drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Later trips as a teenager and with Cat, I always felt like I was leaving something important when we would go back to Georgia. Life is not easy here, sacrifices have been made for us to live here, as well as adjustments to live 10 minutes from the gas station and 25 from the grocery stores and restaurants.
For me, the mountains seem to challenge me on a personal level. Forcing me to examine everything from my belief system to my footprint on the earth. The desire to have a more simplified life is sometimes easier to think about than to put into practice. At this point I am just happy to be able be able to work on these aspects of my life, as opposed to sitting in Atlanta just existing.
raining over the past few days and flows would be good. I was right, they were. Mingo can be a little difficult to find. It is off of Big Cove Rd. on the Cherokee reservation. It's past the KOA campground on the right near the Mingo Campground. The trail head is in a small parking lot across the river with stairs leading out of the lot.
Ah, the stairs. This is a short trail, only 2/10ths of a mile to the falls. In that short distance, there are 158 stairs. The good thing is that the trail is short, so even if you had to stop every few minutes, you'd still make it in under 20 minutes. After coming to the top of the stairs, the trail ambles along a little longer until you come to a footbridge that crosses the creek at the base of the falls. Mingo Falls is about 180 ft cascade, not a high volume fall, but impressive from the height. Water flow was good, so the falls looked full, they would definitely be affected during low water.
