Gorges State Park

 A name should be descriptive, right? There are certainly some deep gullies in Gorges but no cliffs.

This mushroom is about the size of an eight-inch salad plate, and it looks like it could hold some water, too.

The fins must have spored out millions of offspring.

I arrived early on Tuesday afternoon. We set up camp, ate two meals, jawed a lot, and started a fire in the fire pit. The next morning after breakfast, we went off to hike a short distance to Upper Bearwallow Falls. It could be seen at a distance from a viewing platform. That was not satisfactory for me, so I told my oldest brother and his wife that I would go to the base of the falls. They said that they would wait.

My bushwhacking brought me perhaps 50 yards below the falls we had seen. I broke out of the Rhododendron-Doghobble-Mountain Laurel thicket at the base of this beauty.

Staying off the slickest rocks, I progressed upstream. Here is the top of that first falls.

It is perhaps 6 or 7 feet tall. Does that count as a waterfall?

How about 5 feet tall?

This is the one, Upper Bearwallow Falls by name. Is it even a cascade, or should it be called a water slide?

As I say, steep sided and lush from all of the rain.

I don't know how many falls there may be above this one, but the one below it was certainly not Upper Bearwallow Falls in reality.

Having found a place to safely cross without danger of sliding down several waterfalls, I started back downstream before cutting up the near slope toward the trail. In the next picture I walked down the dry streak to near the top of named Upper Bearwallow Falls.

I forged upslope obliquely towards the trail, reaching the trail just 30 some odd feet above the observation deck and just as my sister-in-law had started up the trail toward the vehicle- great timing. We spied several interesting mushrooms. I don't remember seeing one before that the fins open upward.

We turned one over in order to confirm that the fins were on top. The brown root looking structures are not mycelium but merely pine needles grown into the fungus.

I tried to identify this next striking specimen, but I just don't seem to have what it takes to identify mushrooms.

They come in all shapes and sizes, colors and showiness.

The next thing is a tough little oak gall with larvae still squirming inside when I cut it open. How would you like to hatch and eat your way out of that confinement. It galls me to think about it.

When we arrived at the truck, my relatives drove on to the Visitors Center. I took the trail over the rise, surprised to see an observation deck.

The powerline clearing afforded a good view of the lowland lake and ridges. This park was acquired by concerned citizens who bought it from Duke Power, hence the powerlines.

Along the road on the way back to the campground were several seeps with a good variety of wildflowers. According to my sister-in-law, this one is a Downy Lobelia.

I had never seen this one before.

I bought a new backpacking tent recently. Anyone like to backpack with me? It still looked slight compared to my brother's La Casita.

The next morning, I set off for Rainbow Falls, 150 feet tall. It is the most visited falls in the park as the worn trail attests.

The mist supports a lush wildflower bloom.

I enjoy asking neighbors if they would like their portrait taken. Now and then they offer to return the favor.

I love splash zones for being so intense and drowning out everything else.

The falls upstream appears to invite sliding into the pool below.

The side view seems to confirm the draw to slide. I would have considered it on another day with hiking partners and sunny weather rather than rain.

Following is the "falls" that set me to really thinking about the waterfall concept. The slope doesn't appear to be more than 30 degrees. It only falls in the sense of going down but so do most streambeds and rapids especially.

On the way back up I went onto a short side trail to a pond. It was a quite remote setting and shrouded in a moderate rain shower.

I returned back at camp to see my older brother and his wife newly arrived, but I immediately went to the showers. They were surprised that I was not totally soaked since they had navigated a torrential downpour incoming. We had a pleasant crockpot dinner and conversation through the evening.

Needing to be at work the next afternoon, 2 1/2 hours away, I ate breakfast, packed up and left the next morning. I did stop to see Whitewater Falls, just a 1/2-mile walk off the highway. Again, the conflict between waterfall, cascade, and slide appeared. This "waterfall" is said by many to be the highest east of the Rockies at 411 feet. However, it appears to be two waterfalls separated and extended by several cascades to me, whereas Fall Creek Falls in the State Park by that name is 256 feet of free-falling water.

You can see several trunks of dead Eastern Hemlocks in the previous picture, but framing the scene at the overlook were two Carolina Hemlocks. I wonder if the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid did not attack this variety or just not these two specimens?

A good way to end the memories with a picture of Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain. It speaks to me of rich temperate forests where God has graciously placed me to explore. I have surpassed 50 years of exploration now and have never grown bored of it. Variety, peace, challenge, beauty, and more keep me coming back. If God's tarnished Creation is this beautiful and fascinating, how much more must the Creator Himself be? I looked forward to seeing for myself one day.