- Joined
- Oct 26, 2000
- Messages
- 6,104
When I got off work Tuesday morning, I drove up to TN to Savage Gulf, which I've been meaning to check out for over a year, but hadn't gotten around to. Not a bad drive at about 3hr, and now I see I'll be up there a couple of more times in the near future.
On the way to the Stone Door entrance, I stopped and did the Greeter Falls loop, a short loop with several waterfalls, and opportunities to ramble down in the ravines. In the afternoon, I visited Laurel Falls by the Stone Door ranger office, and walked the mile to the Stone Door and the Laurel Gulf overlook before camping at the Stone Door campground for the night. It was 27F when I got to the Greeter Falls parking area, and it went to 17F last night. Aside from a group camped in another part of the park, according to the ranger I had Savage Gulf all to myself.
This morning, I set out to do the Big Creek Gulf and Big Creek Rim trails, intending to spend the night at Alum Gap. The hike is only 10.2 miles total, including the side trail to Ranger Falls, and to and from the Stone Door. In spite of intentionally wasting a couple of hours, multiple trips down to the creek and climbs back out when glimpsing rapids or small falls from the trail, and it taking several tries to successfully cross the creek to access the Ranger Falls trail, I was still at Alum Gap by lunch time(that's quite an uphill up to Alum Gap, though!). So it became a dayhike, as from that point I'd seen everything there was to see, and only had 4.2 miles of flat hiking on the plateau left.
I could spend the rest of my life along Big Creek down in the canyon, though! May have to add some pics of the creek later...
From the Greeter Falls loop:
Upper Greeter Falls
Lower Greeter Falls
I don't know what this one is called. Have to get off the trail down in a ravine to get to it...
Upper and Lower Boardtree Falls
Upper Boardtree Falls
From behind the Stone Door ranger station:
Laurel Falls. I went down to it twice, since some moron took the battery out of my camera, and had it charging up in the car after the Greeter loop
From Laurel Gulf Overlook:
The Stone Door. I went up and down this twice yesterday, videoing it, then deleted both videos because my memory card was running out of room-still has stuff from 6 months ago on it...
'Course I had to go down it again this morning, starting the Gulf trail.
From the Big Creek Gulf:
"You can't get to Ranger Falls right now." Huh? "The creek is too high, you can't get across around there."
Translation: "Noone else will be at Ranger Falls."
Well, there was noone else out there, anyway, though a guy signed the dayhiker register this afternoon.
Notice anything about that pic? This is one of those "disappearing falls" that flows into a sinkhole, and goes underground, so there's nothing going downstream from it. There was ice on the rocks over 75ft+ away from the spray freezing, though it was most obvious right around the falls.
I assume this one is a seasonal fall, flowing into the creek at a gorgeous little spot that I may upload some more pics of later.
Chockstone that caught my eye.
Cascade nearing the top of the canyon. Drops hundreds of feet to the creek, and would make a great little cascading adventure with some rappel gear(I have a plan-someday!).
Would have stayed and done the Savage Falls Day loop in the morning, but I have to work tomorrow night, and may get some overtime working evening shift, so it will have to wait.
What a wonderful place! I loved that Greeter loop and the Big Creek Gulf. Can't wait to hike the rest of the park:thumbup:
On the way to the Stone Door entrance, I stopped and did the Greeter Falls loop, a short loop with several waterfalls, and opportunities to ramble down in the ravines. In the afternoon, I visited Laurel Falls by the Stone Door ranger office, and walked the mile to the Stone Door and the Laurel Gulf overlook before camping at the Stone Door campground for the night. It was 27F when I got to the Greeter Falls parking area, and it went to 17F last night. Aside from a group camped in another part of the park, according to the ranger I had Savage Gulf all to myself.
This morning, I set out to do the Big Creek Gulf and Big Creek Rim trails, intending to spend the night at Alum Gap. The hike is only 10.2 miles total, including the side trail to Ranger Falls, and to and from the Stone Door. In spite of intentionally wasting a couple of hours, multiple trips down to the creek and climbs back out when glimpsing rapids or small falls from the trail, and it taking several tries to successfully cross the creek to access the Ranger Falls trail, I was still at Alum Gap by lunch time(that's quite an uphill up to Alum Gap, though!). So it became a dayhike, as from that point I'd seen everything there was to see, and only had 4.2 miles of flat hiking on the plateau left.
I could spend the rest of my life along Big Creek down in the canyon, though! May have to add some pics of the creek later...
From the Greeter Falls loop:
Upper Greeter Falls
Lower Greeter Falls
I don't know what this one is called. Have to get off the trail down in a ravine to get to it...
Upper and Lower Boardtree Falls
Upper Boardtree Falls
From behind the Stone Door ranger station:
Laurel Falls. I went down to it twice, since some moron took the battery out of my camera, and had it charging up in the car after the Greeter loop
From Laurel Gulf Overlook:
The Stone Door. I went up and down this twice yesterday, videoing it, then deleted both videos because my memory card was running out of room-still has stuff from 6 months ago on it...
'Course I had to go down it again this morning, starting the Gulf trail.
From the Big Creek Gulf:
"You can't get to Ranger Falls right now." Huh? "The creek is too high, you can't get across around there."
Translation: "Noone else will be at Ranger Falls."
Well, there was noone else out there, anyway, though a guy signed the dayhiker register this afternoon.
Notice anything about that pic? This is one of those "disappearing falls" that flows into a sinkhole, and goes underground, so there's nothing going downstream from it. There was ice on the rocks over 75ft+ away from the spray freezing, though it was most obvious right around the falls.
I assume this one is a seasonal fall, flowing into the creek at a gorgeous little spot that I may upload some more pics of later.
Chockstone that caught my eye.
Cascade nearing the top of the canyon. Drops hundreds of feet to the creek, and would make a great little cascading adventure with some rappel gear(I have a plan-someday!).
Would have stayed and done the Savage Falls Day loop in the morning, but I have to work tomorrow night, and may get some overtime working evening shift, so it will have to wait.
What a wonderful place! I loved that Greeter loop and the Big Creek Gulf. Can't wait to hike the rest of the park:thumbup:
