View of Laurel Falls
Camping Trip and Hiking with Cathy & Curtis
Kenny & Dana Koogler
Curtis & Cathy Boyette
Friday Oct. 30 thru Sunday Nov. 1, 2015
Pictures are here starting with frame 317
We wanted to fit in what would probably be our final camping trip for the season.
We wanted to visit Cathy and Curtis. I wanted to work on my CMC Waterfall 100 goal.
The original plan was to have all day Friday and Saturday most of Sunday to camp, hike, visit.
Kenny called me on Thursday afternoon from work. He was distressed. He was not going to be able to take Friday off work as planned. I told him to relax it would be ok. I was not upset.
He said we'd just leave after he got off work Friday. I always have a plan B and plan C.
Plan B was to go later as he suggested. Plan C was to forget the camping trip this weekend and
go day hiking Saturday to Doc Rogers Hospital site along the Benton MacKaye Trail, but it didn't come to that.
We got set up Friday in the campground at Adventure Village in Cherryfield.
It was dark so I helped Kenny as much as I could. We did not do anything Friday evening, but got up Saturday morning rested and ready to start. I called Cathy after breakfast and they were on the way! I was very excited to have Kenny finally get to meet her husband Curtis.
They got married in June. He had moved to Mills River and gotten a job where Cathy works.
Their new life had taken off and was going well. My sister in Christ had answered prayers!
The hoped for spouse and married life! This would be our first time hiking together as two couples. I was very pleased and felt this was going to be great. I was right! We met at the campground. We exchanged greetings and introductions. Kenny and Curtis hit it off immediately. We decided to go to Stillhouse Falls nearby. I needed to hike to that one and it was going to be nearby and a challenging one. Cathy had been before back six years ago.
We car pooled from the campground since we did not know what the parking situation would be like. Big thanks to Beth Bradshaw for the assistance with directions and to Bernie Boyer as well! Good thing I had chatted with Beth about it since Cathy had one of my style moments. Just because you have been before doesn't insure you'll find a place again.
She was sketchy on the place to start. Beth's directions were dead on and once we got going
Cathy started recalling the previous trip.
Stillhouse viewed from the far side.
Kenny was amazing. He acted like he had been here before. Thanks to him we made a loop hike out of it today. He was exploring and hoping to find Elmo's Falls, but between his explorations and checking google maps on his smart phone......... He figured out that would be a separate trip. He was not wanting to bushwhack down the stream to find it after all. He determined we would come up from the other way at a different time. We had a beautiful hike. It was fun too. Curtis is hilarious to hike with. He is very fit and makes all this stuff look like a piece of cake. He loves Cathy and it shows. He is a great addition to our family and we feel blessed! Thank you Lord! The Fall colors here were pretty, but the trail is mainly rhodo and hemlocks down in the deep gorge.
Cathy and Curtis at Stillhouse Falls. We hiked about 1.5 miles loop hike at this place.
Once we got back to the vehicle we decided to go with Cathy's suggestion of Whitewater Falls. They had promised to help with Trunk or Treat at their church and needed to be done around 4 pm today. We hit up Whitewater Falls and ate our lunch there at the picnic grounds. It was nice. The men were really hitting it off. Everyone was enjoying the day. The Autumn colors and the views here were awesome! We had only been to Whitewater Falls once before and it was Summer then! Glad we chose to do this.
Tons of color just standing in the parking lot.
View out from the parking area.
Top part of Whitewater Falls
Below is a short video clip that shows the colors better.
Once we got back to the vehicle we decided to go with Cathy's suggestion of Whitewater Falls. They had promised to help with Trunk or Treat at their church and needed to be done around 4 pm today. We hit up Whitewater Falls and ate our lunch there at the picnic grounds. It was nice. The men were really hitting it off. Everyone was enjoying the day. The Autumn colors and the views here were awesome! We had only been to Whitewater Falls once before and it was Summer then! Glad we chose to do this.
Below is a short video clip that shows the colors better.
Whitewater Falls
We continued down to the viewing platform and beyond toward the Whitewater River.
Below is a short video of Laurel Falls aka Waterfall on Corbin Creek
The video shows the size and colors of the falls and the forest better.
We enjoyed the hike and began our trudge back up the hill toward the parking lot.
It was not as bad as I thought it might be. Hiked about 2.04 miles here. All downhill on the way in and all uphill on the way out.
We were hot and sweaty and out of time. It was 4 pm by the time we got done.
We headed back to the campground and parted company with Cathy & Curtis. I realized after I had showered and gotten cleaned up that I left my pocketbook in her car. Along with it was my cell phone. I had never committed her cell phone number to memory. I left a message on the house phone answering machine. It began to rain so Kenny said he did not want to grill out. He wanted to go to town to get something to eat. We headed to Brevard. I was looking up the address for their church on Kenny's phone when it rang. It was Cathy! She wanted to know if I was missing anything? I laughed and told her I realized I had left my purse in her Explorer. She suggested
we go do our thing and we'd meet up at 8 pm for dinner together. Excellent!
We did our errands and shopping and met them later. We ate dinner at Lonestar Steak House. It was great. We had a terriffic meal. Good food. Great conversation. Lots of laughs. Curtis looked at Kenny and said he believed the leaving of the pocketbook in the vehicle was PLANNED!
I told him yes it was and that I'd do it again if it worked out this good!
It was late when we left them. We headed home and got some love and some sleep.
It began to rain in earnest over night, but in the morning it died down. We fixed breakfast and watched the news and weather. We would have a break of a few hours in the morning where it would not rain! We hit out to do something quick and close by. I had waked during the night knowing what we needed to get up to today. We had wanted to find Fisher Falls. Today would be the day. I said a little prayer for our success and we headed out. We had figured out it was below Raven Rock Falls, but we found a potential easier way to get to it. We found it easily.
It was about 1/2 mile one way on a good trail. It was most worthwhile and we just did get out of there before the rain began. The Lake Toxaway area was gorgeous and ablaze with reds, oranges and golds. Beautiful leaves and a chance to stretch our legs before heading home.
Leaves coat the Toxaway Trail
Top chute of Fisher Falls
Most worth the stop and short hike to see.
Below is a video of the chute above, the main falls, and a 10 ft lower drop.
Fisher Falls would be a good combination with Raven Rock Falls for a short day of easy hiking.
We got back to the camper in time to eat lunch and pack before the rain set in.
It is always good to go and good to get home. We winterized the camper and cleaned it out for the year. It was a successful trip and we had fun and didn't wear ourselves out.
I sure enjoy your treks since my health keeps me on more level ground these days. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara for taking time to read and comment. It keeps me motivated. I've got some more upcoming adventures later this week and weekend! Lord willing.
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