A trip to Franklin, NC

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 06:49 AM

This 'little' waterfall is visible from the road as you travel down us64 and is located in Cullasaja Gorge. The roads here are very narrow and more than once I was a little afraid that my big old Avalanche was not going to fit by oncoming traffic. The area through here is stunning as the river winds its way through the base of the gorge.

This is a nice view from the road side. As we started the 300 foot descent into the gorge to get to the base of the falls, the rain started to mist a little bit. As this was an unimproved trail, we gave up about 100 foot down and started back up to the car. I will be travelling to this falls again!

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 06:51 AM

During the course of the drive to Highlands, there are a number of scenic pull offs on the road. This one we passed by initiailly, but something in me said to turn around and go back. No mean feat in a big old pickup and narrow roads. This small, unamed falls had a really nice pool at the base and there was a gentleman there fly fishin. During the 15 minutes or so we were stopped here, he pulled out at least two of what looked like brown trout.

It looked like a really good fishing hole that was right off the road.

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 06:55 AM

Dry falls has an interesting name.... How can a water fall be dry and still be a water fall? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, in this case, it is not the falls that are dry, but the fact that you can hike behind the fall and stay relatively dry. I was real disappointed that they had that particular part of the trail closed for repairs so you could not get behind the falls. Maybe another trip is in order??

The hike down to this fall is about 150 feet on an improved trail (read paved for the most part and railings to keep your self from getting hurt. My wife and I call these tourist trails!) Once at the bottom, the tempature dropped an easy 10 degrees from what it was on top of the hill because of all the condensation in the falls bowl. This area had really interesting flora and fauna because of the constant humidity!

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 07:02 AM

Bridal veil falls was somewhat disappointing, but is similiar to all other falls by this name. Long, thin and transparent. The roadway used to route underneath this falls but a sizeable chunk of the mountain side decided to fall on the old road bed. The engineers deciding that the entire face of this particular mountain was somewhat unstable rerouted the road a fair distance away. Another interesting part of this particular falls was the fair of barn swallows who had created holes in the limestone for their nest. I, for one, had never seen anything like that and at first mistook the holes in the rock for man made. It did not take long to realize my mistake as literally dozens of birds were flocking to them. (At least until I got my birding lense out of the case, then they disappeared!)

And a photo of the falls. To the left, you can see a small part of the cliff face that had fallen.

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 07:05 AM

At this point, we had been on the road for a good 3 hours taking in the various stops and side hikes. So, we were ready for a little lunch. Unfortunately, I left the camera packed in the car so did not take any photos of Highlands. I will say that it is a very nice little mountain town that my wife and I strolled through after lunch. A number of very nice little shops adorn main street and it felt like drifting back into the 1950's. Folks were really friendly and glad to have visitors there.

I did take one shot coming into town that I will share. This is a dam at the end of town that forms this incredible lake. While there, the lake was a calm and clear as glass (That changes later as we were fighting thunderstorms trying to get back to Franklin, more on that later!)

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 07:10 AM

This was our eventual goal for today. Whiteside mountain is a vertical precipice that soars about 2000 feet above the valley floor. It shear cliff sides are home to a group of peregrine falcons that come here to nest in the spring and summer months. Being somewhat of an avid birder, we were hoping to get up to the nesting areas. The trail is about 2.5 miles and loops around the mountain. A number of birds call this place home, including both the peregrin and the scarlett tanager. So, armed with 25 pounds of camera gear and 2 liters of water we sett off. About 1/2 mile into the trail, the heavens opened up and started to drop a ton of water. At this point we had a decision to make, do we keep on the trail and hope for a break in the weather, or do we head back. Discretion being the better part of valour, we headed back to dry clothes and safety. I cannot stress enough, that if you are not prepared for the weather, don't be out in it. For this particular trip, I was not prepared for this amount of rainfall!!

Well, better luck next time. Maybe I can get back up about memorial day??

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 07:17 AM

Because of the continuing rain, we decided to call it a day and head back to civilization. Which was no mean feat in and of itself. The rain and fog had set in nicely and made the drive back somewhat harrowing. But we did make it.

As a side note, we ran into a really neat shop outside of Highlands called the "wee Scotland and Ireland shop". Apparently the building that this shop is in used to be a building in Scotland that was transported whole into North Carolina. A nice little place to visit!

Finally from this trip, what photographer goes without taking macro shots as well as landscape shots. Here is some of the flora from the area...

Bluets

Trumpet vines (humming birds love this!)

Rhododendron

Mountain Laurel (one of my favorites!)

Lily of the Valley

I have no idea what this is, I just liked it.