Thursday, June 2, 2011

IT was Memorable!

Sometimes I amaze myself how Stupid I am--honestly.  Last year I took off trippin' out west and made arrangements to travel with my sister on Memorial Day to Zion National Park..we had a super trip...but OMG it was so crowded and honestly I never gave it one thought that it was a holiday weekend--


WELL wouldnt you know I did it again!! And this time I was in TN, we were invited to join most of our family back in TN where we all originate from to help my aunt Jean celebrate her 70th birthday!! GREAT I love Fall Creek Falls Park where the party would be held at picnic shelter #1, So I booked rooms at the Inn for 2 days--WE decided to take the dogs on their first big car trip...they get an A- for barking at every single stranger they saw (which was everyone) but honestly, people are crazy they run at strange dogs with their hands outstretched, you could almost hear the dogs thoughts.."OF ALL THE NERVE I DONT EVEN KNOW YOU."..lol they cringed and gave that look like they were aghast with indignity...

                                                                My Second Cousin Bumpy






Fall Creek Falls SP is such a beautiful place with all the waterfalls, rocky gorges, and the lake so its a wonderful place to go at almost any time, Except I will add Memorial Day--omg crowds is the word...



When we arrived the parking lot was jam packed--people everywhere, screaming kids by the dozens, dogs n cats, and just about everything--and it was 99 humid degrees in the Dense Shade, and the Cicadas were singing SO LOUD I wanted
 to slit my own throat to be rid of the noise, worse than water boarding I'm sure!!
So I went looking for the ranger to get his permission to drive the service road as he had told me I could-- Found 'em and he said "no"...too busy, if you come back tomorrow no problem (hmmmm) but today cant do it--GRRRR of course no use to argue so we found a shady picnic table for Mom to sit at and do a little 
people watching while the dogs and I hiked the trail to the waterfalls--


Meanwhile since we were in the area I decided to stay an extra day and go see Burgess Falls near Sparta, TN. Its about an hr north of Fall Creek Falls and back the way we have to drive anyways to get back to I-40 for the drive home...so I phoned ahead and booked a room in Crossville TN for the night--I called the park a week ahead and asked if I brought my Mom who has mobility issues could we drive the service road up to the waterfalls so she could have a look, "SURE NO PROBLEM"..so that was the plan







The trail was ok the dogs were getting pretty hot and I was already soaked thru with sweat-we had a rest while waiting for the viewing platform to clear off a bit so we could elbow our way  up for a look..





Like I said there are 3 falls each one bigger than the one before.  The trail is 1.5 miles round trip or one could walk the gravel road back and its a wee bit shorter, I guess, because I saw a lot of people chose to do that...But I stuck to the trail with the dogs, gravel is not the best surface for them to walk on...Check out the hanging pink tongues--they usually don't like to get in the water but this TIME they did..

 There is the lower, middle, and upper falls...along the Falling Water River these shots are of the lower section...







The Middle Section 






And finally the Upper section and the Main Attraction --a short video




And then we hiked down a spur trail that took us to the Top/Brink of the falls--ITS quite a chilling experience, I am not afraid of heights (well to an extent) but this one got me a little--I tied the girlz to a tree so they didn't accidentally push me over~


 -Back on the viewing platform this is a pano of the gorge and the main falls-








The falls is 136 ft high, and its a real beauty.  There is a trail to the bottom, but I didn't take that one I was pretty tired and the dogs were already pulling their leashes in the direction we had come!
One last look and back we went....WHAT a view eh? I certainly am glad I didn't pass up the chance to see this spectacular waterfall!! TN is a beautiful state, its wild and rugged and my birth state, I plan to do more exploring of in the future, just in this general area alone there are no less than 10 state parks and natural areas!!




back at the parking and picnic area....Mom didn't even notice the cicadas since one of her hearing aides quit working, and she had made friends in the picnic area who had shared food and water with her and was asked to join a family cookout (people are GOOD AT HEART) she accepted a bottle of cold water, a trail mix bar, but declined the burger cookout since neither of us are meat eaters.  But how nice that they offered eh? 

One ranger was hosting a demo with LIVE Snakes, MOM certainly wanted no part of that she is extremely afraid of Snakes...so we by-passed that one---We had a wonderful trip--- but next yr

I'M making a note on my 2012 Calendar on Monday, May 29th.... that will read:

Remember the last 2 yrs? STAY HOME AND GO NEXT WEEKEND!!! 

HA HA HA

PEACE





10 comments:

  1. Now that's an absolute paradise,crowd or no crowd!

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  2. A great trip Sondra; what a fantastic place.
    I have the same problem with crowds...........I don't like them lol
    I love hearing the sound of the water rushing over the falls.

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  3. Now that I don't go to work, long weekends aren't anything but an annoyance! LOL I would always forget about them until the last moment. I sure don't like traveling on a long weekend ... traffic and people everywhere. I've learned to make a note of them now and make plans around them.

    Water is such an amazing force. Lovely falls and well worth the hike up I think.

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  4. Hi Sondra...your coming up as the corner pop up and are you can see I am here YES!!
    I don't know now if the ones who have been commenting can though time will tell this riots GGRRRRR

    I love this post beautiful water falls just love the sound of it!!
    Amazing place and sites, but mark your calendar for next year...I hate crowds too!! Crazy people lol!!

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  5. Sondra...typo lol not riots but rot!!
    I still can't comment on Keith's!!

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  6. Oh man you had me cracking up! I've made the same mistake many a time with holiday weekends... They are my worst nightmare. I can't believe you did so much hiking when it was 99 degrees! One of my dogs was panting till 11:00 last night because it was a high of 70 yesterday! Beautiful waterfalls, I love love love the panorama.

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  7. You are so right. It was a real hassle finding a place this year. I used to LIVE for those long weekends. Now they just are trouble. But I do love to see families out enjoying nature.

    That is one beautiful park! Great pictures, as always!

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  8. Sondra, You weren't that far from me in GA. I must visit that Park. Wonderful photos and video...dang I got a wee bit dizzy just watching it.:)
    I'm not fond of crowds either. You are right there are many good hearted folks around.

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  9. What a gorgeous place! I'm still in awe of that waterfall. Wonderful shots.

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  10. I'm in love with these views. Just simply lovely things. Magic. Remembering I live in a desert, these are better than magic.

    RYN: Oh, you make me laugh. We are comfortable just up from the beach, but at the ball park, it was flat out cold. It's always cold. G was clad in leather and leather and he was still cold when he got home. LOL

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