Big Sink Winter Visit 2021

Abandoned truck in the woods near Big Bottom WMA

Big Sink Winter Visit 2021

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Saturday January 9, 2021

Pictures are here Big Sink Winter 2021 Pix 

Big Sink Info on Tennessee Landforms 

  Kenny and I took off on Saturday to go ride the RZR.   I had not been riding in months.  Neither one of us was exactly sure where we wanted to go or what to do.

We knew we wanted to go riding and it was going to be somewhere in the Cumberland Plateau.   We sat down one evening and discussed it.  I realized that the upcoming Saturday was the first day that Big Bottom WMA would be accessible again. Hunting season officially ended on Friday.   Though we'd been there so many times it had been quite a spell between visits. We'd never been there in the snow.  We figured today a snowy ride in the plateau would be beautiful. 

      We've had a cold, wet snowy Winter that has been more like true Winter!  It was supposed to stay cold today.   It was 29° when I woke up and never got above about 35° all day.   We drove out to Crossville and on out Lantana Road to Mooneyham.  We figured the Caney Fork would be running too high today to safely cross.  Best thing to do would be to come in on the high side of things and go from there.    

Below -- the first photo is the spot where we parked. The rest are just photos of the snowy area and the trail where we started down into the sink.

   We arrived to find that the warden had not taken the signage down yet.  We went ahead and chanced that we were correct about the dates.  It was bitterly cold and snowing.   The forest was hushed and beautiful.   We never saw a soul all day long.  That was nice to have no crowds to contend with.  It is one of the reasons I've grown to dislike some of the areas we ride.   Lots of people.  

Above: a view of the thick stand of pine trees. coppery needles mixed with snow.

 

  We unloaded the machine and packed all our stuff on the back.   We headed out and when we came to an intersection through the snowy woods we decided we'd do something different.   We would go a different route.  We started DOWN the trail we usually come up and out.   It is steep and difficult. Kenny figured it would be simpler to go down it and get that out of the way first thing.   Coming up it with that amount of snow and ice would probably mean winching.  Trying to get out on the trail that steep and even hook up the winch cable could have been quite an ordeal.    

    It was fun going down it.  A rollercoaster ride through the fluffy, powdery, beautiful snow!  Dramatic scenery all around us.  Steep cliffs and beautiful evergreen trees laden with white powder.   I had on a  heavy, puffy camo coat, gloves, hood, scarf to stay warm.  I was toasty.  At least I was until I got a big glob of snow down my back and into my pants.  Somehow those heavy branches we were sweeping against dropped a shovelful of snow on me that managed to go down my neck, back and behind.   Brrrr!  Thankfully I am hot natured and dressed warmly.  It dried up in no time.  

    We crawled down the hill slowly.  A roll over in places would have been a catastrophe.  The worst spot would have been like taking a spill down the side of the bluff near Car Hauler in in Pickett.  We made it past the crux and with that over with the rest of the descent was pretty routine.  It seemed like no time at all we were down at the bottom.  I could hear the falls of Big Sink on our left.  Huge mossy green boulders stood round.   

Above and below-- Big Sink Falls top view is from in front of it to the right

bottom view in front and slightly left of it.  Lots of small limbs  blocking the view.

Above and below some photos show what the terrain is like at the back of the sink.  Very rocky.

Mossy boulder near the waterfall

Our RZR in the snow

Mossy boulder from another angle

Piece of equipment we found nearby

The metal says this piece of equipment... whatever it was .. was manufactured at Sidney Tool co. in Sidney, Ohio. 

 Click the link above to go to a history page for the company

   We walked around and enjoyed the sight and sound of the falls.   It is a feature that gushes from the bank at the rear of an ancient sinkhole.  It flows year round, but in Summer it dries up pretty significantly.  

Below is a video of Big Sink Falls 

    Once we had checked out the falls Kenny walked over to the point where Moore Branch flows down from plateau level.  It was running, but not well enough to come over and merge with the swallet at Big Sink Falls as we have seen it do in the past.   It was thus not worth climbing up into the hills to view the pretty pools and cascades along it.  The boulders in this stream making climbing up it extremely difficult especially on the left.  They also are so large that they mostly dwarf the flow of water and make the cascades along it look insignificant.    We had said if we came back and it was running good we'd climb up the right embankment which is a bit more manageable and look for more falls.  

     We proceeded down the middle of Big Sink and before long came to a snarl of downed trees that had to be cut and moved out of the way.  It was the only place today that we had to do so.   That is where we encountered the neat old iron artifacts.  I had not noticed those before.   

        We got going again and the forest along here was glorious. Copper beech leaves clung to the trees giving the woods a flash of color in an otherwise white or gray world.   

We passed the mossy stack of stones that are a remnant from the chimney of a former dwelling here. 

Above: We arrived at the actual black tear drop that marks "big sink" on Tennessee Landforms.  I crawled into the "mouse hole cave". This is the view looking back out of it.  

some new breakdown stone in Mouse Hole Cave. You have to squeeze back in that hallway to emerge in the main part of the cave.  

Broken stone chunks in Mouse Hole Cave.  

Swallet in Big Sink.. this sometimes has water flowing and going down into the ground at that hole across the way.  In Spring one year we crawled down into it and got to see the underground stream.

Above: can you see why I call it Mouse Hole cave?  it is in the perfect shape of a mouse hole cut into a stone bluff! 

Below is a video of Mouse Hole Cave and the heart of Big Sink.. the swallet that is the actual center of the sinkhole and the marking on Tennessee Landforms.  

Above and below.. snowy woods, but less snow and not quite as cold down in the sink. At least we are out of the wind down here.  

     We visited the swallet, the mouse hole cave and then proceeded on down the main trail toward the abandoned cabin.  Today we found tracks from another ATV that looked to have been made that morning.  The cabin door was open so it looked like the person or persons here had used it as an overnight shelter maybe?  

Above : The view of the end of the cabin through the snowy branches was charming.  It may be just a shack, but it is still pretty to me.   It never ceases to amaze me that this was built down deep in this isolated hole in the earth!

Below is a view of the entire thing in the snow

Below: the RZR in the snow

Below: the trail through here is very pretty any time of year.  I liked the big cedar tree.

Below: one of my favorite scenes of the day... snowy landscape in a quiet forest. One of my all time favorite poems has been set to music by Loreena McKennitt.. Snow by Archibald Lampman.  It reminds me of that when I see these type scenes.

  Once we'd visited the cabin we continued down the sink toward the next stop.. Little Sink Falls.  Two streams merge into one and then drop a short distance over a low, wide falls that is sheltered partially under a massive boulder.  Once over the falls the stream does not pool, but disappears almost immediately into a swallet in the earth.   We planned to stop here and fix lunch  and do some exploring.  

Homemade chili and cornbread for lunch. 

    I had made chili and cornbread to bring with us.  We brought the backpacking stove and heated it up.  A nice hot picnic lunch in the shelter of the boulders here. Out of the wind.  The day had warmed up some.  A good hearty lunch of hot food helped us replace some of the energy expended in the chill today.   Kenny went off to explore up the two streams.  I took the time to get some photos of the falls.

  I walked between the split in the boulders like some mossy wallpapered hallway.

The slope beside the boulder is gradual down to the falls.   Trees had fallen from clear across the trail, down across the stream bed, and landed next to the boulder. It was necessary to go down between them to reach the falls.  I took photos and video from all angles. I got beneath the overhanging boulder right by the falls.  The lighting is great here for photography, but every time I am here I climb under then get uneasy thinking how I'd be mashed like a grape if that boulder ever shifted.  It is the size of a small house.

Fallen trees came from across the creek, across the trail, and up on the far slope and landed here on this side like two guardrails!  I am down between them for this shot. 

     Below: Little Sink Falls from beneath the boulder

Below a video of Little Sink Falls

Below is a view of the huge rock that over shadows this pretty falls.

Below: looking out from beneath the boulder at the falls I was seeing the base of a massive beech tree coated in moss. 

Above: This is Little Sink Branch.  

  We have explored up it all the way to plateau level.  There are no falls along it.  It is a neat trail. Very dramatic scenery and rock cliffs, boulders and forest.   The stream is subterranean with large boulders in it.  The map shows that the trail at the top should connect with Long Rock Road, but when we reached the top we found in reality that was not the case.  I wonder if it did connect at some point in the past? 

     Once we'd tired of hanging round Little Sink Falls we piled back into the RZR and proceeded on our trip.   We headed on toward the next spot.. Mill Hole to see the sinkholes of water and perhaps some waterfalls.   We found the other sinkholes to be devoid of water and Lynnie Gal Falls was not flowing either.  It is hit or miss.   As we pulled alongside Mill Hole we could hear it roar from the brink of the sinkhole.    We headed down in there through the woods.  It is a deep sinkhole 

  I asked Chuck Sutherland how they arrived at the depth measurement for Mill Hole? or ANY sinkhole for that matter?  He explained it and I will try to share it here with my limited understanding.    

Below: a view standing on the low edge of Mill Hole... looking across to the higher side.  I take this photo about every time I come here hoping to illustrate the topography, but it never can capture it adequately.  One of the things that has helped impress on me how deep and large it is... is going down in it. Then going around it to the high side and being up there.  It is scary.

   

    When you stand facing Mill Hole you are going to have to approach and enter it from the low side.  Before you and around the other half of it are extremely high, steep walls.   Sheer cliffs for the most part.   So using the LiDar data they extrapolate an image that lets them see if this were a 3D bowl in the ground ...at what point would water begin to flow over the lip of it were it filled... and whatever that depth is... that is the depth they assign to the sinkhole.   

   Mill Hole is 117 feet deep.  Standing down in it .. I find it hard to believe that is all the deeper it is.   I think it is the scale of the walls around and the dramatic setting. Twin waterfalls flow out and down and form a short stream.  It flows perhaps 400 feet across the floor of the sinkhole then percolates into the ground disappearing like so many other streams in this area.   A grist mill once sat down in here powered by the water from the underground streams and waterfalls.  A road gradually spiraled down into the sinkhole permitting horse and wagon rigs or trucks to bring grain in and out.      

Above: the road down into the sinkhole. See Kenny way down there ahead of me? 

   Today we walked down the old road until it ended and then continued climbing down over the bank to the falls to see them.  They were not as impressive as we have seen them in the past, but they are always pretty.  

Above: I am standing below the falls at the point where the water flowing from each of them merges into one stream.  

Below is the stream continuing across the floor of the sinkhole. Look how clear it is!

Standing below the falls.  

Above; mossy stump and boulders nearer the base

Below: an isolation shot of the left falls 

Above: gazing into the pool of water at how clear and light blue tinted it is.  I saw no life in this water today.  

Above another look at the various colors and textures of rock in the short stream flowing off into the distance.  

Above is a photo that illustrates the position of the falls relative to one another. They are side by side. Can you see Kenny in the middle?  It is good that he is in there for scale.   Makes him look tiny! 

     We enjoyed the falls here. I stuck around and explored a good bit.  Just soaking it up.  I began to get cold at last and was ready to leave.   Kenny and I got out of there and by the time we made it back up and to the RZR we were ready to head home.   We were both growing cold and tired.   We had a fair amount of riding to navigate back out of here.  I got the feeling Kenny was unsure exactly which path to take to get us back to the top.  It wasn't long til he got his bearings and had us climbing up and out of there.   While the day had warmed up and there was little snow left in the bottom of the hole.. we began to feel the chill return as well as the snow on the climb back out.

     Before long the snow was everywhere again.  The wind had picked up and the air turned significantly colder.   By the time we arrived at the truck we were more than ready to get warm and leave.  It was a fun day and a tiring one.  It was great to see some beautiful scenery, have a little adventure, get some fresh air and sunshine.  It was good to have some time just the two of us.   We're a good team.

   I helped him load the RZR and strap it down.   We were satisfied with our day.

Spring will always be my favorite season down in that area, but Winter was pretty also.   You get a different look at things when the leaves are off the trees.  

       

Below is a video of Mill Hole in Winter from our trip. 

Big Sink in Springtime

Blue Cohosh closeup. See the sweat bees? They are 

pollinators for this plant.  

Big Sink in Springtime 

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

Sunday April 9, 2017

Pictures are here starting with frame 67

BIG SINK PIX

Here is a link to a page I have put on the front of  my blog
It contains directions how to access this area from either side.
Big Bottom WMA Access Points

    We woke Sunday morning with a plan  stuck to it.  I had been wanting to see Big Sink in the Spring.  I just knew it would have great wildflower blooms.  I also hoped the falls would have more water  since our drought conditions are improved.  We did not get in a hurry.

We took time to fix breakfast and enjoy coffee and conversation.  Kenny got out and inspected the job site which is  within walking distance of the camper!   We packed  lunch and headed out for Big Bottom WMA..  It is on the south side of the WMA. We approached from here because it does not involve fording the Caney Fork.  Spring water volumes might wash you away.   The area is in rural Van Buren County.

         We got parked, unloaded ,and set out on the trail.  The day was perfect. Sunshine and blue skies. Warm temperatures with a light breeze.  The air smelled good and the views were clear.  Driving out across the plateau seeing those pretty green pine trees ,and smelling their fragrant needles is a treat for both eyes and nose.  I began seeing clusters of lavender birdsfoot violets growing along the road.  I also saw one or two clumps of white birdsfoot violets! I had previously only seen that color  at Pickett State Forest.

 The start of a bluebird day! Heading out Flowing Well Road .

White birdsfoot violet.


    We continued out Flowing Well road.  The only things blooming were the violets we'd seen, redbuds, dogwoods, and a few vernal iris.  Our elevation dropped and  there were more flowers and greenery.     The forest here is always pretty. The advantages of seeing an area with leaves off the trees is that you can notice things usually hidden during leaf out.  Down around Shop Gap we began seeing rue anemone, and purple phlox and some Christmas ferns and a few buds on the trees.


Vernal iris

         Shop Gap is interesting. It is shaped like a saddle.  The trail for ATV's goes off the left side of the saddle while the hiker path goes off the right!  Both are rocky and rough.  If you go down Graveyard Ridge Road access and stay straight you come out at Sally Gap which is a single track path.  We got to the bottom of Shop Gap and followed the ATV trail down to the Caney Fork .  It follows the river and in a couple places you can see the river below. Eventually you are at river level and can walk over to it.   We stopped at a particularly pretty area along the river. I always like to stop here and see the color of the water, the rocky bluffs and the moss that lines the banks. Today the moss on the tree trunks and banks shone an almost neon green.  The sun shined down through the forest canopy warming the day.  The wildflowers grew in profusion on the sandy river bottom land.   Golden ragwort grew on the far shore as far as the eye could see.  The trees were just beginning to have some green leaves and leaf buds.  Dwarf crested iris and phlox grew on the banks. Butterflies of black and yellow flitted by.  Today the Caney Fork was full and aquamarine.  Worth the stop for sure.

 Beautiful Spring day along the Caney Fork 

 Close up of the banks of the river.

 Golden Ragwort

  Dwarf Crested Iris 

       
     Once we took in the river view and soaked up some sunbeams we continued toward our main destination.. Big Sink.   We had to pass another sink hole on the way. It is to the left of the trail heading in and easy to spot.  It has a waterfall that  only flows part of the time.  We named it Lynnie Gal Falls for a much loved relative who passed away a couple years ago. I miss her terribly. We all do. Especially at times like Easter, Christmas, Halloween. Teresa was special. Her dad Lloyd called her Lynnie Gal.  He was a mess and so was she.  I can hear her laugh even now.  Sure enough the falls was flowing!  The sun rays and green tree leaves and wildflowers made it such a sight for sore eyes.  I had thought it had a real big upper part to the falls so today we hiked up there to see. It does have an upper cascade, but it is not large. 
It is  another 10 foot drop.

Here is Lynnie Gal Falls  and you can click on the link to see a video.

     Once we were satisfied with our stop at Lynnie Gal Falls and that sinkhole we moved on toward Big Sink.  Kenny asked me if I wanted to go right to the main part of it or did I want to see it all?  I wanted to see it all.  I'm glad I did!  It is all pretty!  Big Sink is 1.6 miles long, 123 feet deep, and 0.5 miles wide. It is  rectangular.  It reminds me of a box canyon out west.  We wound through the woods only missing our turn once. We passed a burned out old car sitting back in the woods. It has been there a long time.  You have to wonder  how it got there?  Why was it set on fire?  The trail  does not run neatly from the  mouth of the sink  along its bottom ,and out the other end.  We had to do some maneuvering to see it all either on foot or ATV.  You have to go round to the mouth  and come in. You  go back a fair ways then   have to back track and take a higher trail that runs along the rim. It goes back down to the bottom of the sinkhole just above Little Sink Falls.  There are some interesting views of the rock formations and the beautiful slopes of the sink from this vantage.

     

 One of the very first sights to greet us at the mouth of Big Sink were slopes covered  with trilliums!  Below is a photo of one just aging to pale pink.

 Trillium grandiflora turning pink.

 The sun shining  into the forest is beautiful.  You can see the trail winding through the woods.

 Once you get to this boulder you have gone as far as you can on this path.  You must back track and go up to the sink rim.  The boulder is topped with purple phacelia.

Here is a closer view of the phacelia.

  The map shows another trail heading away from Big Sink toward Dodson and the river. 

We finally found it today. We did not fully explore it, but will need to .   We jumped up a wild hog while ambling down this side trail!  We came upon the lap of a fallen tree.  Something began to rustle and out ran a hog! It is not the black Russian wild boar sort we usually see. This hog was a feral hog and brown! If you take a domesticated hog and turn it out in the wild within a fairly sort time it will revert to feral.  I have seen these on television, but until today had never seen one for myself!  He took off to the west and we did NOT follow him!

We also found that the trail headed west along the top of the ridge, but again we did not continue. It needs to be looked at because 1.  It may provide an alternate route to explore Big Sink and Little Sink Branch.  2. The Cal Topo map shows another structure where this trail dead ends on the rim of the sinkhole.  Checking satellite images I cannot see any man made structure there. 

 Above: Moore Branch just above its confluence with Little Sink Branch and Little Sink Falls. See the trail coming down to the creek on the left of the frame?
Below: Little Sink Branch

        We back tracked and got onto the trail at the rim to continue.  Across from us were slopes lined with mostly second growth sized trees leafing out.  Every so often we could see spots on the opposite side where it appeared a trail was over there.  Some of these may represent remnants of old logging roads, but I do want to check to see if there isn't a trail along the far rim.  I believe there is at least part way.   The trail turns down to the sink floor again at the confluence of Moore Branch and Little Sink Branch. Just below the confluence of the streams is Little Sink Falls.  It is about fifteen feet high. I am not sure if it flows year round. I think it does, but I imagine there is far less water in Summer.  A trail continues up Little Sink Branch. We have checked it out before. It is shown on the map  coming back out on Long Rock Road, but we found it dead ended.  It was a beautiful trail, but very rocky and rough.  No waterfalls down Little Sink Branch.   It is an interesting area because of the beauty of the forest and the towering rock formations.

    

Dwarf Ginseng was found  around Little Sink Falls. 

  It was noon when we got to the falls at Little Sink Branch. We pulled over and sat down and enjoyed a view of the falls. We sat on a boulder underneath a rock overhang and listened to the water.  We had a shady spot, but the sun was bright all around us.  Purple phacelia was on the rock above us.  The falls did have more water today. It was even prettier than  expected.  It gathers the flow of both streams and empties into the ground at the right.  Today there was enough water to make a small plunge pool.   On the far side there are massive boulders that form another small rock grotto.  I had forgotten my tripod this camping trip. I had bright sunny conditions to add to my frustration in trying to get good pictures.  I tried getting in different spots in the shaded grottoes to see if that would help. It did a little bit.  

Little Sink Falls Click the link to watch the video.

   Kenny had wandered down below Little Sink Falls on  an old road bed.  He came back saying "You need to walk down where I just was! Come see?! " I went with him and he was right.

The rocky shelves above us were coated with purple phacelia.   The entire scene was like something out of Paradise.  Prairie trilliums, southern red trilliums, toothwort, Canada violets, yellow violets, blue violets, dwarf ginseng, ferns, redbuds, dogwoods, all blooming .

 Above and below.. slopes lined with purple phacelia.

 It was such a beautiful spot we took plenty of time to absorb it. It is hard to tear yourself away from places like this.  Only the anticipation of what lay ahead motivated me to keep going.

Finally we climbed back in the RZR and motored on up the trail.  It is interesting to me how my mind edits hikes or rides.  It leaves out stuff. I guess I just cannot remember it all.  The ride was prettier and longer than I had imagined.  You'd think a sink 1.6 miles long end to end would be quick.  It is what is contained in that space that makes it count.  The forest down here is incredibly beautiful. I did not want it to end today.  Luckily there was more to come.  Soon we came to the biggest oddity in this sinkhole.  The house.  An old house still sitting in the bottom of the sinkhole.  Unoccupied for a very long time.  It is fascinating. I'd love to know the history of it.  Paper white narcissus bloomed in clumps near it.  It appears to have been someone's home long ago.

   We did not tarry long here. It is intriguing, but a little less so now that we knew it was here. 

It was just shocking to see the first time!  It will be interesting to see if we find more home sites down here.  Black tic marks on topo maps are supposed to indicate structures. 

      We pushed onward and soon began to see moss covered rock piles. More signs of human occupation.  We passed the mossy old chimney remains and the tater hole from under the house. A new sink hole... a small one had opened up a short distance behind it. I do not go in or near that sort of sink.   It is unstable and can swallow you up if it gives way.  Big Sink has been stable for many centuries I'd guess.  I did see yellow kerria blooming near this spot today.   I was less interested in the history of the people here than I was in seeing the natural features.  All of these things lay nearer the way point given for the heart of Big Sink. The area here is so much like White Oak Sink in the Smokies.   Wildflowers grow and bloom in profusion.  Purple phlox , cream violets, dwarf larkspur in deep purple, pale purple and even two pink ones! I have never seen pink larkspur anywhere before . Not a nursery as an ornamental and certainly not in the wild.  

 Above and below dwarf larkspur in purple and pink.

    Kenny went   to the center of the sinkhole.He began exploring the caves. I meandered around for awhile just enjoying the scenery and flowers.  Mayapples were all around like tiny green umbrellas.   The deep purple swatches of larkspur were really striking.  Now and then you'd have a lavender one thrown in. I was stunned when I saw the pink ones.  Naturally I had to get plenty of images of those!    The flowers continued on into the core of the sink.  Mayapples, dwarf larkspur, violet wood sorrel, ferns, lots of squirrel corn and dutchmans breeches all around the caves and the slopes.  The soil in the sink was very loamy and soft.   Moss clung to everything.  Kenny was nowhere to be seen.  He hollered for me to come on down. He had gone in the swallet that drinks up the stream flowing here during high water.  You could hear water down in the cave.  It was squishy and muddy and I swore I was not going in there.  Kenny kept telling me what was in there. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and I went in.  I had no light, but he had a couple.  He came out far enough to light the way for me. I got filthy, scratched and bruised up, but I didn't care. I was not going to miss out.  No bats in here.  Only some spiders and camel crickets.  The underground stream was very cool. So were the rock forms and chambers of the little cave.  

 At the center of this frame is the mouse hole cave.   This is down in the very core of Big Sink.

 Inside the swallet cave. One of the two chambers.

 Underground stream in the cave

Glad to be coming back out into the light! I was filthy dirty.  

   We crossed back over to the mouse hole cave. I had enjoyed going in this odd little formation the first time.  I was tickled to get to see it again.  It is even prettier in Spring.  Everything is green and mossy and covered in vegetation.  The rock forms are gray and convoluted. Kenny crawled in once more exhorting me to "Come on Down! " like some game show host.  I took a few photos of the Dutchman's Britches growing around the opening and went in.  It is a tight squeeze at first, but it is only a short distance until it opens up.  It is a single chamber shaped like a cone.  I have lost twenty four pounds since I was there last so it was easier to wriggle through this go round.  Once inside the cave we could see four bats way up in the ceiling.  We did not linger too long. We did not want to hassle them.  

 Dutchman's breeches growing outside the cave entrance.

 Mouse Hole Cave entrance

      We satisfied our curiosity about the caves at the core of the sink. It was very cool to finally get to see the inside of a swallet. It was a first!  We still had another waterfall at the back to see and possibly more falls up Moore's Branch. The stream there is so pretty coming down Moore's Branch, but it is really hard for me to call that a "waterfall" when the stream is dwarfed by the massive boulders.   I expected the wildflower display to be good, and was not disappointed.   Typical of some other sinkholes in the great Smoky Mountains and Cumberland Plateau.. this sinkhole contains lots of flowers including Virginia Bluebells!

 Virginia Bluebells in profusion at the back of big sink. Above this were shelves of purple phacelia , canada violets, and dutchman's breeches.  Butterflies, dragonflies, and bees darted in and out of the flowers.

 Some sort of swallowtail butterfly on Dutchmans Breeches

 Nice example of Southern Red Trillium at the back of Big Sink.

Trout lilies grew on the slopes around Big Sink Falls.

     We finally came to the back of the sink. The trail continues, but it leads up and out from this point.  We stopped to check out the beautiful Big Sink Falls.  Kenny went up Moore Branch, but I did not. It had a little more water than last visit, but it wasn't enough to motivate me to crawl up there.   I enjoyed sitting at the base of the falls and basking in negative ions.   
Southern Red trilliums, rue anemone, trout lilies and other beautiful wildflowers dotted the rocky terrain around the falls.  Moore Branch flowed down joining with the water coming off the falls. All of it disappeared into the ground at the base of the falls.  Interestingly enough there is another stream coming down beside the trail that we took when leaving.  It does not make it to the bottom of the sink. It enters the ground before it gets there!

              The afternoon was  warm.  A breeze was stirring.  The new green growth of Spring was all around us.  It was a really fine feeling to have gotten a chance to see this through.  Quite often I have things I say I want to do, but it never materializes.  It is not hard to change my mind into going elsewhere because there are so many things I'm interested in.   We were both glad we picked this today and kept to it.   I am filling up my mind and heart with the beauty of such days.  Hobbies and interests like we participate in are hedges against the night.  Everyone should have those in place.

   

Big Sink Falls.. a vertical composition.

Horizontal orientation of Big Sink Falls.  

   We followed the trail up and out of the back of the sink.  We encountered enough blown down trees and laps of trees we missed the trail in one spot.  Kenny got very annoyed, but he wrangled us out of there.   We came up on plateau level. He took off in the opposite direction of the truck.  We rambled around for awhile. We saw turkeys.  We saw a few wildflowers.  We rode along the rim of Big Sink before you get to Moore Branch.  We also saw some of the springs that make up Moore Branch.  Finally I had enough and called haw on him.   We headed back to the truck.  We passed two turkey hunters on the way out.    We had a perfect day.   Tired. Dirty.  Happy.  Ready to go back to the camper to rest and get clean. We would dream of the adventures of the next day.  

Below is a video of Big Sink Falls.