Little Stony Falls

 Young people are so positive and forward looking. And these five young people are followers of Jesus with a happy, but serious outlook, on doing life. It was a privilege and joy to take a little hike with them.

I do look out of place, gray hair and all (1), but we need more inter-generational interaction for the sake of both. We can, do, and did learn things from each other.

Enough philosophizing and making excuses. The trail to Little Stony Falls (2) is a 2.6 mile, moderate (3) hike through a lovely gorge. Only a few times do serious cliffs appear in this 400' deep holler. The trees are mostly young to middle aged and there is no real thick underbrush, allowing for a profusion of wildflowers along the path. As seen in this next photo, the cliffs shed boulders over time.

Though hard to see in this picture, the roof is sandstone and the underlayer is limestone. I took the picture because I wanted to remember the curious pocket-like projections on the limestone. I thought that it would be very easy to climb until you reached the roof.

Blue Flags grew in clumps of a half a dozen to dozens on boulders and between them.

Across one of the bridges was a ~30-foot waterfall upslope. I had to check it out, as did two of the guys.

Electronic zoom makes the water of the falls look like digital noise, but you get the idea.

Trillium grandiflorum

Some of the Flags had white stripes and others, like the one below were purple. I wish that I knew the other flower. The sinuous root and sand suggest the creek-side location of the garden.

The creekbed is quite different from most of them in East Tennessee. The bed is divided into platy shelves separated by pools, many of which would make excellent swimming holes.

I was pleasantly surprised by both the height (4) and flow of the falls.

You feel as though this must be quite a bit lusher during wet periods.

View from the top

A happy couple taking in the mist.

 

From down below, they took this picture. Between the backlighting and the day pack that I was wearing, it appears as tough Sasquatch was haunting the falls.

This little gem looked like the best example that I observed, until I looked back at the picture and saw the poison ivy sprouting over it. Thus is the tarnished creation we live in, full of beauty, revealing the Creator, and full of things gone awry because of the Fall. But don't blame the good Creator for things like blood sucking mosquitoes, for who knows what benefit and difference of operation they had before the Fall. Denature the protein in a poisonous snakebite, and it becomes a nutrient. We live in this world with the beauty and the spoilage of the world in nature and in people. Look for the beauty but don't pretend there is no oil that can get under your skin and cause irritation.

1. A silly side thought: My presence raised the average age from 24 to 31. The median age is 22.

2. Less than 10 miles outside of Dungannon, VA

3. Total: At 5.2 miles, it would be easy if it were not for two jaunts through boulder fields away from the creek, presumably to avoid creekside cliffs.

4. Little Stony Falls Height? Little Stony Falls | Hiking | Things To Do - Scott County Tourism 24' or 40'. I rather think that it is closer to 40, if not 45', check out the picture of Sasquatch.