August 14 & 17, 2011
The first few photos in this set are from our short hike to Grotto Falls the Sunday after we arrived in Gatlinburg. We were both really tired from driving, so we opted to do a relatively short, easy hike. The trail wound up the mountain through the woods & it was really enjoyable. It was also really cool to be able to walk back behind the waterfall!
The majority of these photos were taken on the Big Creek, just over the border of North Carolina, on August 17th. After about a mile of hiking, we got off the trail and hiked along the creek. There were countless crystal clear, deep pools of water, small cascading waterfalls, and giant boulders. It was like a much larger, much less populated version of St. Peter's Village (which we love). It took us a really long time to navigate the creek since there was no distinct trail to follow, so it was really late by the time we reached Mouse Creek Falls. On the way up to the falls, Anthony jumped into the largest of the scenic pools along the trail, the Midnight Hole.
[ Home – Login – All Photos – Photo System by Encodable ]