Posts Tagged ‘Waterfalls’

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Watery Wednesday # 23

February 17, 2009
Wetumpka Falls, Tullahoma, Tennessee. February 14, 2009.

Wetumpka Falls, Tullahoma, Tennessee. February 14, 2009.

This is my entry for Watery Wednesday, a weekly meme that features scenes from around our watery world.  To see more pictures, or to join and post pictures of your own, click HERE.

There isn’t a great deal of water in this picture (which can be enlarged), but I am posting it since it is the latest waterfall that Betsy and I have added to our waterfall ‘collection’.  Wetumpka Falls is the 301st waterfall in our collection.

Sunday I wrote about Pond Falls, which was 300th in our collection.  Wetumpka Falls was a footnote in our waterfall book and is located about half a mile from Ledford Mill.  We went right past it the first time we tried to find it, but spotted it the second time.  It can be seen from the road if you know where to look.  Wetumpka Falls might be small, but it’s a nice start to our second 300 waterfalls.

In trying to find more information on Tennessee’s Wetumpka Falls, I found two more waterfalls with the same name — one in Alabama and one in New Jersey.  So it looks like we have a couple of more waterfalling trips to make.

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Scenic Sunday # 31

February 15, 2009
Pond Falls at Ledford Mill, Tullahoma, TN. February 14, 2009.

Pond Falls at Ledford Mill, Tullahoma, Tennessee.February 14, 2009.

This is my entry for this weeks’ Scenic Sunday.  To see more pictures from our beautiful world, or to join in the fun and contribute your own pictures, click HERE.

Betsy and I just got back this evening from our Valentine’s Day trip.  For the second year in a row we have gone waterfalling.  This year we managed to see six new waterfalls.  Saturday started out rainy in southern Tennessee, but it cleared up enough to make hiking very enjoyable.  We had one moderate-length hike and several short hikes in our search for these six waterfalls.

The waterfall in the picture above is the 300th waterfall in our ‘collection’.  It is Pond Falls, one of two that can be seen from the Ledford Mill near Tullahoma, Tennessee.  This falls is formed by overflow from the retention pond that supplied power for the mill.  The Ledford Mill is a gristmill built in 1884 and is listed on the National Historic Register and on the Tennessee Heritage Trail.  Restored in 1996, the mill is now both a museum and a bed and breakfast.

Betsy and I were delighted to add this pretty little waterfall to our collection.  We are also looking forward to adding more waterfalls to our collection in the weeks and months ahead.

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Watery Wednesday # 20

January 27, 2009
Spruce Flat Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. January 25, 2008.

Spruce Flat Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. January 25, 2008.

We’re still in the grip of winter here on the Plateau — gray skies, rain and ice, but no snow for now.  So I thought I would stay with winter for Watery Wednesday.  The pictures can be enlarged if desired.

Last January Betsy and I hiked to Spruce Flat Falls in the Smoky Mountains.  Spruce Flat Falls is behind the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, not far from the Townsend entrance to the park.  The institute sponsors workshops and programs throughout the year and there are signs pointing the way.

The hike to the falls was not bad  — a little under a mile.  The trail was fairly steep near the trailhead at the institute but it soon leveled off.  It was a good day for a hike — crisp, but not particularly cold.

When we got to the falls we were delighted to find water, snow and ice.  It was quite a visual delight.  The falls actually contains three steps — the picture above shows the main portion of the falls.

Water and ice at Spruce Flat Falls. January 25, 2008.

Water and ice at Spruce Flat Falls. January 25, 2008.

This second picture shows the water and ice of the falls in a little more detail.  Spruce Flat Falls was a very nice addition to our waterfall collection.

To see more of our watery world, or to join by posting your own pictures, click HERE.

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Ozone Falls and What We’ve Missed

January 8, 2009
Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Betsy had a great idea yesterday.  The heavy rains had stopped and, although there were still sprinkles and an occasional snow flurry, she suggested that we go see Ozone Falls.

Ozone Falls is the nearest ‘major’ waterfall to our house.  We’ve been there several times  — a couple of times when there wasn’t much water going over the falls and once when there was a great deal of snow and ice around the falls.

Yesterday, as the picture above shows, there was a great deal of water going over the falls — much more than we’ve ever seen.  But the big surprise for me was something I hadn’t seen before.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

I hiked down to the vantage point I’ve visited before, but this time there was enough water in the stream that I could see rapids below the falls.  Since there were no leaves on the trees I could see a way to get to the stream below the falls, and so I set off down the side of the cove.  I hiked down to the stream below the falls and found a second, smaller fall below the main one as shown in the picture on the right.  I had no idea it was there.

Since I was now most of the way down into the cove I decided to go a little more further downstream and found several additional small falls and cascades.

I reluctantly left the stream and started to climb back up out of the cove.  For some reason it was much harder climbing up than it was walking down, but I think my new discoveries were worth it.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

As I said, Betsy had a great idea!

Betsy has more about our trip to Ozone Falls.  You can read her blog click HERE.

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Watery Wednesday 16

December 30, 2008
Upper Cove Creek Cascade, Wears Valley, Tennessee. December 30, 2008.

Upper Cove Creek Cascade, Wears Valley, Tennessee. December 30, 2008.

Tuesday was a beautiful day here in eastern Tennessee, so Betsy and I decided to drive over to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to check out some waterfalls.  We haven’t been over there since late October and we hoped that the rains of the past couple of weeks would have replenished some of the streams in the mountains.

We visited several falls that we had seen before and then later in the afternoon drove through Wears Valley.  We drove along Cove Creek for a short

Secret Falls, Wears Valley, Tennessee. December 30, 2008.

Secret Falls, Wears Valley, Tennessee. December 30, 2008.

distance, and, seeing a fair amount of water flowing, stopped to walk along the creek.  We enjoyed the cascade shown above and then noticed a small sign pointing to Secret Falls.  Secret Falls was unknown to us, so we just had to investigate.  A short walk led us to the pretty little waterfall shown on the right.

It was as close to a perfect day as we could possibly get — cool temperatures, a brilliant blue sky, and the sound of rushing water.  What more could a person ask for?

To see more of our trip to the Smokies check Betsy’s blog HERE.

To see more  pictures on the Watery Wednesday meme click here or on the logo below.

waterywed2c

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Posted in Waterfalls | 23 Comments »

Waterfalls Have Water!

December 29, 2008
Water tumbling down the escarpment near Grandview, Tennessee.

Water tumbling down the escarpment near Grandview, Tennessee.

Betsy and I traveled to Chattanooga yesterday to spend some time with son Jeff and grandchildren Landon and Avery.

To get to Chattanooga we took the back way down off the Plateau and on the way we saw something that we haven’t seen in a couple of years — water coming down the escarpment.

We’ve been in a severe drought in this part of Tennessee for the past two years and most of the waterfalls and cascades have been dry or nearly dry.  However, we’ve had quite a bit of rain over the past two weeks and our rainfall total is now close to normal for the year.  Lakes and streams are higher than they’ve been for quite some time.  It’s a good time for waterfall enthusiasts!

Betsy and I were so excited to see water cascading down the escarpment that we stopped on the way back home to get the picture above.

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Watery Wednesday 15

December 23, 2008

fallcreekfalls020421There’s water going over the falls, so I hope this will qualify as an entry.  Betsy and I collect waterfalls and this is the one that started it all.

This picture of Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee was taken April 21, 2001.  A day trip to Fall Creek Falls State Park was our first big date.  Betsy and I had gone to dinner a couple of times, but that was it.

This date turned out to be a big one.  I hadn’t even held Betsy’s hand before then, but I did as we walked in the park.  I even got my first kiss before the day was over!

Fall Creek Falls is one of five major falls in the park.  It has a drop of 256 feet, which makes it one of the falls with the greatest vertical drop east of the Rocky Mountains.  As you can see, it drops into a huge sandstone amphitheater.

That date to Fall Creek Falls not only led to our marriage, but also to our waterfall collection.  We’ve now seen a total of 287 different waterfalls and are still finding more to visit!

To see more pictures on the Watery Wednesday meme click here or on the logo below.

waterywed2c

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Posted in Waterfalls | 22 Comments »

We Got Some Rain!

December 11, 2008
Water going over a falls down the hill from our house.

Water going over a falls down the hill from our house.

I’m happy to report that the front that brought all the wind I mentioned in my last post actually brought us some much-needed rain.  It started to rain about nightfall Tuesday, and as far as we can tell it rained all night.

When Betsy got up to put out her bird feeders Wednesday morning, she could see and hear water running down the edge of the fairway behind the house.  We also had water running down the roadside ditch in front of the house.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen either of those things happen.

We saw the  waterfall  in the picture above as we were on our way to the grocery store (Senior Discount Day at Kroger!).  This little waterfall is down the hill from our house and has been dry for months.  It sure looks a lot better with water!

All in all I have to admit that the rain makes all the aggrevations caused by the wind very worthwhile!

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Bushwhacking to Find Waterfalls

December 9, 2008
George bushwhacking in the Ozark National Forest, Arkansas. December 2, 2008.

George bushwhacking in the Ozark National Forest, Arkansas. December 2, 2008.

As most of you know, Betsy and I ‘collect’ waterfalls.  We’ve visited 287 different waterfalls and cascades since 2001.  (Our first ‘big’ date was to Fall Creek Falls State Park where we saw five waterfalls.)

Most of the waterfalls we’ve visited have been reached by maintained hiking trails or by roadside overlooks.  But we are aware of many more waterfalls that require bushwhacking — something like ‘leave the trail when it makes a sharp left and head straight down the hill’.  We’ve been reluctant to follow such directions.

But most of the waterfalls listed online or in the books we own now have GPS coordinates.  And since we think so highly of the GPS receiver we have for the car, we decided to get a hiking GPS unit to help us find those elusive waterfalls.

While we were in Arkansas last week we identified three waterfalls that involved some bushwhacking and set out to visit them.  We knew we wouldn’t find much water, but if we found the waterfalls we could go back at a time when there was more water.

The first thing we did at each site was mark the location of the car so we could find our way back.  We then followed the GPS and found the waterfall in all three instances.  Perhaps we’ll be able to add to our collection!

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A Visit to the Quiet Side of the Smokies

November 28, 2008
George at Greenbrier Creek, November 3, 2008.

George at Greenbrier Creek, November 3, 2008.

I’ve mentioned before that Betsy and I went to Cosby in early November to belatedly celebrate Betsy’s birthday.  I finally got a photo page put together with which to  share our memories.

We rented a cabin for three nights, and since we went in November rather than August, we practically had the place to ourselves.  The cabins on either side of ours were empty.

When we planned our trip we hoped to do some hiking and waterfalling, but although we got some hiking in, we did not see much in the way of water in waterfalls.  Our drought has been just too severe.  We found Noisy Creek Cascade, but there was almost no water in the creek.

We did find a couple of surprises, however.  For the past three years three of Betsy’s grandchildren (two from Texas and one from Florida) have spent a day in the Smokies near Greenbrier campground.  We’ve seen pictures and video of them playing in the creek and we found the spot they visited — Greenbrier Cascades.  Although there was water in that creek, both Betsy and I resisted the temptation to go swimming or tubing (it was just a little cool!!).

But the nicest surprise was at Serenity Falls.  There was a little water coming over that falls, but there were also three rental cabins on the creek.  One of the cabins was at the very base of the falls with a deck that extended over the creek.  It didn’t take us long to decide that we wanted to go back there in the early spring and spend at least one night in that cabin.

Although our  outdoor activities didn’t go exactly as planned, our stay was very relaxing and enjoyable.  To see more of our Cosby trip click HERE.

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