Another Day Trip

I so enjoyed our little day trip to the mountains again this past weekend.  How I love the Blue Ridge!  We found another waterfall that we had not hiked to before.  It was not a hard hike, but was on one of those paths less travelled although we did meet two groups that were hiking to the same falls.  I guess with internet access it is a lot easier to find these places.  Anyway, we hiked to Rufus Morgan Falls.  It was not the most beautiful falls I had ever seen, but nevertheless, it was an enjoyable hike and a very pleasant day.

Directions:

From intersection of US 64 and US 441/23 travel west on US 64 for 5.9 miles to the "Wayah Bald" sign and turn right onto Old Murphy Road. Travel on Old Murphy Road for 0.25 miles and turn left onto SR 1310 and drive 6.5 miles to FR 388. Turn left and drive 2.0 miles to parking area.

Rufus Morgan Falls is about a 50 feet high cascade.

We left this location and headed towards Waynesville, entering the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is always one of my favorite things to do.  We saw some gorgeous scenery that day.  In fact some of the scenery looked just like the background of this blog.  I could have sat there all day taking it in.  It was just the most amazing feeling, kind of like eating your favorite dessert or candy, you know, you put in  a mouthful and just let it sit there a while making sure you get all the flavor and just savoring it, trying to let that taste last as long as possible.  I enjoyed this scenery just as much-I just wanted it to last forever.  It sure makes me think about God and His goodness and His mercy and for all the creation He has given us to enjoy.  There is no way one can honestly deny The Great Creator!  And to think that He loves me!  How Can It Be that God would love a soul like me?  How can it be!

 

We ended the trip at Looking Glass Falls which is right off of Hwy 276 between the Blue Ridge and Brevard. Usually it is pretty crowded, but since it had been raining hard, there was now only one car in the pull off.  It was still raining lightly so we got out the umbrella and headed down the steps to see the falls.  It was very pretty after the heavy rain.  It really made a nice end to the day. 

More of the Mountains!

 

The mountains are my favorite place to go!  I love the ocean too, but mountains “top” it for me   We don’t travel far, especially with gas prices, but we did get away for a few days to the Tennessee Mountains.  We try to take as many scenic routes as possible.  So after a few miles on I40 through the  mountains, we got off in Newport, TN.

We took a scenic route along Douglas Lake before arriving in Sevierville, TN.

We had rented a cabin a few miles from Sevierville that we found on VRBO.   It was nice and clean and we were please.  It was semi secluded up on a mountain and had a pretty view.  Cabin and views are below.  Yikes!  Snake in the road while walking – not poisonous, whew!

We drove into the Smokey Mountain National Park one day, enjoyed the views and streams.  We hiked up to Clingmans Dome which is a steep, 1/2 mile hike, but well worth the views.  There are lots of resting places on the way.  To me, hiking down is just about as hard as hiking up. 

Views from Clingmans Dome

 

On our way out of Clingmans Dome, we saw a few cars stopped in the road and realized they were watching a bear.  We were able to get a quick snapshot and a little video.

           

Look Rock Tower – This is a paved 1/2 mile hike to a tower with beautiful views.  It is located on the Foothills Parkway off 321 N out of Townsend, TN.  It was a beautiful day and we were the only ones there.   If you are interested in a Web Cam of Look Rock, there is one HERE.

Look Rock Tower Hike

We took a little detour off the parkway after leaving the tower and ended up on this road.  The GPS eventually navigated us back to civilization.

Butterfly Gap Road

Because we still had time and we were close we decided to go on to Cades Cove and enjoy the scenic ride.  We didn’t see any wild life this time maybe because it was the middle of the day.  But we still enjoyed the peaceful ride and the beautiful scenery.  Many hikes were closed due to recent storms.

Cades Cove

It was a wonderful getaway.  I love the beauty of God’s Creation.

Isaiah 44:24  Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;