Moore Cove Falls

Cascade Lake CG
Pisgah Forest, NC

I started the morning a little earlier yesterday.  The water on the lake was so smooth and it was quiet.  Except for the humming birds.  I know at least one cg host has a feeder.  They’re hungry little things.

We decided to go to Moore Cove Falls.  The weather was perfect, low humidity and about 80 degrees.  I packed a picnic lunch and refilled the humming bird feeder.  While I was doing that, our cg neighbor came by to say that she has enjoyed the little birds too.  She has been full-timing about four years now in her Lazy Daze Class C MH.  She’s a senior citizen and is on oxygen but seems quite happy.

We drove over towards Brevard and Hwy 276 past the Ranger Station.  There is a little pull-off on the right side of the road right at a bridge.  This is where the trail to the falls begins.  It’s about 7 tenths of a mile one way…up.  That’s the Suki by the road.

 

We saw a lot of fern and moss on the trail.  You can hear traffic for a while but then birds and running water are the only sounds.

 

It was so peaceful with a small creek right beside us.  Mostly “down” beside us.  It is only about 4 feet wide and that is what the falls is on.  I wasn’t anticipating a very big waterfall.

Little one-person bridges crossed it several times.  There were a couple of big rock outcroppings along the way.

It just amazes me that a big tree or in this case, a beautiful rhododendron bush can grow out of solid rock.  What a great root system.

I sure wish all the trail was this nice, but about half of it had steps, stones, or roots to trip you up.

We finally got there, and it was worth it!  That’s me in the bottom corner.  It’s a 50 foot fall even though it’s a small creek.

The greatest thing about this waterfall is walking behind it and looking up through the water at the blue sky and trees.  Small plants are hanging on for dear life in the rock.

It’s almost like a cave behind the falls.  There is this one really neat rock formation about the size of a car jutting out but touching anything.

I’m not real sure what Gin was thinking about, but she may have been dreading the walk back down the trail.  This is her last hike for quite a while.  Her legs are killing her.

We slowly started our descent back to the Suki.  This is a popular trail.  Many people passed us going up and coming down.  They all seemed to be in a rush to get to the falls but didn’t go slow enough to enjoy the journey.  A little bit like life for some folks.  We stopped to look around and even enjoyed breathing the clear air.

We decided to have our picnic at Sycamore Flats.  It’s a nice public day use picnic area of the Pisgah National Forest.  There is a Forest CG close by, Davidson River CG, that has no hook-up on most sites.  We’ll keep it in mind when we are full-timing in this area.  This picnic area is beside the river and is a popular place.  The squirrels are almost tame.  This one was fun to watch.  He kept burying the same nut over and over.  Notice how he pats it down with his paws.

We made it back to camp.  Smudge had stayed home this time so I walked her as soon as I got there.  Gin took a well deserved nap on the couch and I snoozed a bit in the lounge chair outside.  It’s made for lounging ya know.  After supper, Gin built a nice campfire and we sat outside until the stars came out.  You just don’t know how many there are if you live near a city.  Oh, the coconut marshmallows were a perfect ending to the day.

We plan to take it easy today around camp and perhaps paddle on the lake some.  It’s another perfect weather day so we may just sit outside and enjoy the clear mountain air.