June 8, 2015 - Abram's Falls

I don’t know if it was Andy or Kathy who got the bright idea of mounting the umbrella on the front of the car to dry, but it sure is funny looking.

Yikes! The couple in Site 11 showed us this monster spider on the tree next to their campsite. They said it had been there for days. They thought it was going into that knot-hole. It was so big, it looked fleshy. I don’t think I could sleep knowing it was so close. I would have to be checking on it every few minutes to make sure it was still on the tree.

Kathy perused the hiking trail book and we chose Abrams Falls Trail clear on the other end of the park. It did not look too steep on the graph in the book. It was a long drive, which meant stopping for lunch on the way, which meant Mellow Mushroom. Kathy picked the Holy Shitake pizza. It had mushrooms, garlic, cheese, and a spiral of aioli. It was fabulous.

Abrams Falls is a popular, five-mile, moderate hike. Spence had reminded us before we left that it is also where many people get hurt tripping over roots and rocks. I hadn’t thought of it before, but he was right. We regularly hear of  twists, breaks, and sprains at Abrams Falls on the radio.

The first thing I did was get in line. Kathy was not too far behind me. There were two doors, but only one of them could open. We hoped that didn’t mean someone had died behind the left door.

 

I turned around to see what Andy was up to. He was smirking because he had watered a tree along the road on the way there and didn’t have to wait in line.

It was a nice trail, but we did have to watch our step. Andy was doing fine until we got to a log bridge and he decided that he was not steady enough to cross it. He told us to go on ahead and he would wait at the car.

I spotted some Sweet Shrub (or Sweet Betsy) along the trail. It has been gone for weeks in Big Creek.

 

Kathy and I posed for each other on the log bridges.

After a while, I was glad that Andy had turned back because the trail had more rocks and roots as we gained elevation. Most of the trail was easy walking, but there were a number of rough spots. He would not have been a happy hiker.

This ridge is the halfway point, according to the trail book.

 

Here is where the trail goes through a notch in the rocky Arbitus Ridge.

I went first and waited for Kathy to cross so I could get a picture of her crossing over.

Abrams Falls was worth the hike. It has a twenty-five-foot drop.

There is also a large, deep pool beneath the falls. The book says not to swim there because of the swift undercurrent and there have been several drownings in it. If I recall correctly, the sign at the beginning of the trail warned that there have been seven deaths at Abrams Falls and warned us not to be the next one.

I can’t figure out how to get Photoshop to connect the pictures, so you’ll have to do it yourself.

 

Here is one more broad view of the falls.

It was already clouding up and Andy had set a time he expected us to be back. It was not enough time and we hurried back. I should not have hurried quite so much as it was getting darker. I was out of control and tripped on a root. My face hit another rock, but I was fine when I wiped the dirt off my cheek. I walked slower after that.

We were more than half way back to the parking area when the rain started. I put up my umbrella, that had been serving as a walking stick, at the first drop. Kathy kept using her umbrella as a walking stick and got soaked. It was a typical Smoky Mountain deluge. We met Andy somewhere after the first log bridge. He knew we were close because the couple just ahead of us told him we were right behind them.