I had the good fortune to meet new friends Greg and Donna Evans and get up for a hike.
Kenny was supposed to go also, but Gabriel came down sick. He encouraged me to go ahead.
You don't want to break plans with new friends. He and Nana Debbie took Gabe to the ER
at Childrens Hospital while I went ahead. The drive took longer than the hike, but the company was great. It was fun getting to know them. I look forward to the next adventure with them. They took me to see a population of Kentucky Lady Slippers. I had searched unsuccessfully for them for a few seasons. It was quite a treat.
They are an endangered species so I'm not even giving out the general location of the hike. Just to say thanks to them both for including me! I hope to return the favor for them many times over. I got to see something special. I got to make not one but TWO new buddies. People of great character and with a wonderful spirit of fun. Thanks to you both!
Gabe turned out to have something called adenovirus which had him sick for five days.
He recovered fully and quickly. I went by the hospital and relieved Kenny of duty to go
get lunch while I stayed at the ER with Gabriel. The doctor discharged him soon after I arrived. Thankful he is all better now.
Below are the best few photos of the orchids. We found them in abundance.
Our brave and handsome son-in-law was deployed to the desert with the military for
a couple months. We tried to keep busy and help one another with kids. Our daughter and grandkids are also brave and beautiful. It is hard on all of them. We figured fresh air, exercise, and togetherness would be good for us all. Crystal wanted to get out and do a family hike. You didn't have to twist anyone's arm to get us all to want to go. Michael hiked to Court House Rock with the Lindsey and Nix factions of the family a year or so back. Kenny and I have been multiple times, but it is one of the premiere Spring wildflower hikes in the Smokies. It is also a dramatic rock formation, a nice view, and a side trip to a waterfall on the way!
Hickory King Branch sliding down the mountain like a white ribbon
Above and below grandson Michael age 9 is trying to herd Gabriel age 21 months and keep him
out of the road and traffic nearby. Tessa is helping.
Michael reminding Gabe yet again stay away from the road.
above Granddaugther Tessa age 4 is keen to have her photo taken amidst the lovely white trilliums!
We got together on Good Friday during Spring break to hike it.
We took two vehicles and parked at the pull off. It is an off trail hike and follows old road bed
for part of the way. It involves un-bridged creek crossing near the start. It is a little tough to
get started just because there is no official route. Michael recalled a route he'd taken last with the family, but they missed seeing the falls altogether. I don't think anyone knew they were nearby.
We stepped into the woods initially to see the first flowers of Spring along the road. We were very excited about the waves of great white trilliums, yellow trilliums, hepatica, rue anemone, and fiddlehead ferns we could see. Our eyes were hungry for all that beauty and color after a long, cold Winter. I was good with whatever route, but knew it was not smart to start up the right side.
Mere moments and the family was turned around complaining and wanting to listen now.
We started again with Hickory King Branch to our right. We climbed the bank and hit the old road bed following it toward the stream. We climbed over and under blown down trees. We passed a shepherds hook beside a tree not far off the road! Who put that here? Why did they put it here?
This area of the woods shows evidence of the Chimneys II fire from a couple years ago. You can see how little leaf litter and vegetation on the ground . The base of the tree is scorched in this photo.
black metal shepherds hook by a tree at the start of our
Court House Rock off trail hike.
Miss Tessa aka Curky Locks with her warm, sunny smile!
Photo of a white violet. Tessa asked me to especially take a photo of this flower.
You know I did it. It is a good reminder to me not to grow jaded. ALL flowers are beautiful.
Pawpaw Kenny totes Gabe at the start of the hike. We figured it might be best for him to have the baby until we got across the creek. Crystal leads the way with Tessa & Michael between.
I'm the sweep.
Heading down toward the stream. You can see there is the start of a "trail" here. Court House Rock is not an official trail on the park maps, but it is heavily visited.
Kenny starting across the branch with Gabriel. Ba ba... the bottle factored in heavily on this trip.
We all took turns keeping up with it and handing it to Gabe.
Kenny helping the rest of us across the stream. Gabe aka Little Bear looks on from the backpack.
Pretty cascade right where we crossed.
Michael found this hike fun and super easy. You can see we're on somewhat of a trail now still. Above us are the remains of an old rock wall.
Michael investigates the 'cave" along the branch. It was used to keep settler's
food cold. I call it the refrigerator.
I noticed this name and another carved into the rocks that I had failed to see before.
Looks like it says C.A. Barber 1827.
The trail went ever upward and mercifully used switchbacks. I took Gabriel and started carrying him now. It made the hike much tougher. I am not good on uphill anyhow.
We decided to stop and rest briefly at the view. I did not get very close since I had the baby on my back. It is a good view even if it is partially obstructed by small trees.
View from the overlook on the way up to Court House Rock.
We struggled a little bit with way finding. Despite having visited the same spot many times it was quite a long time between visits for us. Consequently we had to do some thinking on the way to continue once we got up to the Andy Quilliams home site. The trail continues up toward Quilliams Cave which we did not plan to try today. I had the feeling that was wrong, but it took Kenny, Dana, and Michael to sort it out. We turned and went out across the home site and exited the back corner picking up the manway again. It goes in a generally north east direction. We soon came to a turn marked with a cairn. We proceeded upward on another part of the manway. Again the manway keeps going toward Quillams Cave direction... but we knew the rock had to be above us to our right.
We watched closely and spotted a very tiny, hard to distinguish track off to the right. It cuts through the heath thicket and trends upward. We quickly realized that we were on the right path.
I made up my mind I'd include these directions and struggles in the trip report. It will be useful in the future! Next trip I'll probably be the same. "I've slept since then." At last we made it!
The family arrives at Court House Rock. It is a dramatic monolith in the forest.
The kids and Crystal climbing up on a portion of the rock. We are all stoked we found it!
Michael climbing around on the rock. He is getting so tall and long legged!
Crystal holds Gabe and Tessa posing for a photo.
Gabe had to have a dry diaper in the woods at Court House Rock!
We had a snack at the rock and looked all around. We did not tarry too long because we wanted to see the waterfall on the way back down. We also were getting hungry. We had packed a lunch and planned to have a picnic at Chimney Tops picnic area.
Back down the mountain we headed and made it to the falls. We passed only one set of hikers on the way up as we came down. We made sure they benefited from our struggles and gave them directions to the rock and the falls. The falls was running great today. We all enjoyed its beauty.
Quilliams Falls without any people in the frame. it is about 20 ft high.
We took the old road grade back to the vehicles. We enjoyed seeing lots of Spring flowers.
They were nowhere near peak. We were all glad to see the cars and head toward our Picnic lunch.
We barely got to eat before the sky opened up and the rain poured down on us all. We were tired, but happy as we headed home. All in all a successful family outing. I look forward to many more such trips. Hopefully with Adam along. We missed him.
*Notes to self* I spotted Boyd Hopkins turn at the "ironing board rock" before Court House Rock.
It leads to a dramatic off trail route along the cliffs of Sugarland Mountain. I loved seeing his photos of that trek. It was for sure not something we needed to attempt with kids.
Below is a short, pretty video of Quilliams Falls shot a different Spring trip I did solo. I forgot to shoot video today. :-(
