I will admit that Pete is right it has been way too long since I was hiking. This was my first hike of Spring and it had been a month since I had been on any public paths. Anyway, I decided a good place to get back into the swing of things was a trip to Squibb Creek Falls on Thursday. This would be my fifth trip.
I started out where most hikes at Horse Creek at the back of the recreation area. Starting up the road it was left across the bridge and into the Sampson Mountain Wilderness. After passing "my cabin" before the first Creek crossings. If you know this trail there will be 14 more before reaching the main falls. I say that because, like Margarette Falls Trail, there are a lot of smaller cascades on the trip up. One thing that slowed me down a bit was having to cut out some blowdowns. While I probably could have plowed though, I had my mini-saw and it would make it easier for me and anyone coming behind. Also, bears are active because I saw plenty of signs on the way up.
Finally, I made it up to the 20-foot falls. As I have said, while Margarette Falls is more impressive, Squibb Creek is still impressive and I like the hike better (unless I go on to Bailey Falls). One incredible thing, while it had been Spring-like for a few days there was still some ice on the falls.
After enjoying the falls it was an enjoyable trip back. I also had the trail mostly to myself. However, that wasn't all for the day...next up the Scarlett Oak Trail.
I knew about this trail from the Cherokee National Forest (CNF) book, but after all of my trips to Horse Creek, it wasn't until my trip on Thanksgiving weekend last year that I noticed the sign for it. Since I had done almost 10 hard miles to Coldsprings Mountain I was doing it then. The last time I had a chance there was an aborted attempt at Old Forge, but I decided to go somewhere else.
So, since it was on my way back I decided to stop and do this loop trail. The Scarlett Oak Trail is across from the entrance to the Horse Creek Campground within the site of the recreation area sign. The trail sign says this is a two-tenths-of-a-mile loop. I thought that sounded short and I was right. Having done enough trails I figured it was at least a half-a-mile and, according to the CNF book, it is. Another mistake was on the second sign as it rated this trail more difficult. I went left at the start which took me anti-clockwise on the trail. While it had some uphill (about 250 feet in elevation gain) the CNF Guide might be closer to the mark describing this as easy. Oh, and the other side of the loop was about the same. At the mid-point with a bench and a nice winter view. Overall, it was a good finish to a good day...
Good Post !
ReplyDeletewood texture