Friday:
We left friday from work at 2 and stopped by my apartment to pick up a wooden spoon and some mushrooms that I had in my fridge (thought they'd be good in the quesodillas we had planned for dinner). We got on the road with our packs and gear ready to go! The drive took 3 hours because we hit some Nashville/memorial day traffic. When we got close to the ranger station the scenery got very rural, winding mountain roads, and lots of cows. So we listened to some bluegrass because it fit the area. We were super concerned that the campsites would all be filled by the time we got there, being a holiday weekend and all but surprisingly there were no other cars at the ranger station parking lot. We decided to stop by a subway to pick up dinner and carry it in to the campsite. We got all gear on and got the car keys situated (hide a key under the subaru) and filled out our backcountry permit. We then headed out and did a simple 1.5 walk to the Savage Falls campsite. We set up our tent and sat down to enjoy our subway sandwiches. After our dinner we walked down to the Savage water falls and went exploring during the last two hours of light. We then quickly discovered that the ticks are out and in full force. I pulled about 4 ticks off me as I was laying in my sleeping bag.
Saturday:
Slept in lazily until 7 30 am and then we enjoyed breakfast of cereal bars and dried fruit. We headed back down the trail to the Savage Falls and filtered some water for the days hike. We hiked out to Hobb's cabin on the north rim trail and knocked out an easy 6 miles my lunch time. We enjoyed gorgeous overlooks into the gorge and also saw a snake skin on the trail. When we arrived at Hobb's cabin there was a group of "young" men who had gotten there and staked out the cabin. It was a dad and his 12 year old son and then three other men around 35 years old. They apparently used to be very active but age was catching up with them and they were laying out on the porch on their sleeping pads playing chess and cards. We set up our campsite and came over to be join them. They kept us laughing all afternoon and we read the journal that was left in the cabin for campers to sign in and leave some thoughts about the area. It had two years worth entries and we were very entertained by reading it. We left our own entries and names and stories. Later in the evening the park ranger came by to check our permits and warned us about rattle snakes. yes. thats right. rattle snakes. HUGE rattlesnakes. This area is known as rattlesnake point. I about fainted and had nightmares about rattlesnakes at night. A large group of boyscouts then joined our camp site (and so peace and quiet was lost), I was the only girl in the entire site, and therefore felt like I needed to walk extra far in the woods to pee. I (of course) wasn't thinking about it, and was wearing my hot pink rain jacket as I was walking into the woods to squat and then realized hot pink was kind of give away that I was the girl trying to use the bathroom. We enjoyed our quesodillas with chicken and cheese and mushrooms for dinner and smores for desert.
Sunday:
Another lazy morning of getting up at 7:30 but on edge because of the warned rattlesnakes. Luckily the sky was cloudy and threatened of rain (not the weather that snakes like) so I was not too concerned about them. Our trail for the day was the connector trail which took us down the gorge and then back up to the other side. Our destination was Stone Door Ranger Station, a cool 9.1 miles away. The trail going down was rough, it was just a bunch of rocks, and we had to hop from rock to rock going down the gorge. We got to cross some cool suspension bridges which always made me giggle as we bounced up and down while crossing them (it was like walking on the moon). We had lunch - me with my tuna and my partner with his peanut butter and honey on a pita. We made it to the stone door around 1 pm. The stone door is this crevice in these massive stones that are part of a cliff. There are 150 stone steps that lead you to the top and to some amazing overlooks (and the ranger station). When we got there it was breathtaking and really made the 9 miles worth every step. We took several pictures and spent about an hour just sitting in awe at the vistas. We met a tour group of elderly people as we walked to the ranger station/ camp sites/ parking lot and they were amazed that we walked 9 miles by noon and carried everything we needed in our packs. As we were walking and talking, I heard a rattle coming from the right side of my body and I called my hiking partner over to check it out. It was a rattler about 3 ft. from the trail. It was decent distance from us so we showed the people on the tour and they whipped out their cameras to capture this pissed off rattle snake. I hate snakes and had been dreading them all day, but when I finally saw it I was fascinated! We got to our campsite and set up our portable home. We relaxed and read books and ate plenty of trail mix. Dinner was macaroni and cheese with chicken and s'mores!
Monday:
We decided to do a day hike on Monday to Greeter falls which was 4 miles from our campsite. We emptied my pack and only carried necessities like rain gear, water, beef jerky, and trail mix and our books. We headed out to the falls and within 2 miles we crossed paths with a black snake on the trail who refused to let us pass (he was very comfortable laying there) and so I had to walk over him! The first falls we came to were broad tree falls and we explored around them. Then we continued to Greeter Falls which was another mile away. We got to the falls and went to check out the upper falls first. We climbed down into the basin and cooled our feet in the ice cold water and then sprawled out like lizards on the boulders and soaked up the sun while reading our books - its a vacation after all! We spent 3 hours at the upper falls being lazy and then hiked down to the lower falls where there was a deep pool from the falls. I encrouaged my partner to jump in with me for a swim (because lets just be honest, we both were starting to smell) and it was the coldest water I have ever been in. The water took the air out of my lungs, it burned! But it felt great after 5 minutes. We headed back to our campsite around 4 30 and then had the 4 miles to walk back. I hadn't been drinking enough water and had been laying in the sun so I got dehydrated on the way back so I took a nap when we got "home". Dinner was red beans and rice and summer sausage.
Tuesday:
We knew it was going to be a long day, we had to get back to the car which was on the other side of the state park. We had a 14 mile day ahead of us - going down the gorge and then back up as well as walking the rim. We got up at 5:30 and ate breakfast on the stone door overlook as we watched the sun come up. We walked and walked and then walked more. By 10 am we had walked 7 miles. To be honest, I was in the zone and in my own head thinking about things trying to distract myself from the 1.5 uphill hike that lead us straight up the gorge that I don't remember too much of the walking. We did see some pretty waterfalls and we'd stop and take off our shoes to give our feet a break. We saw a skunk and I think my heart skipped a beat. We also saw a racoon and heard other rattlers. We made it back to savage falls by 2 pm and stopped to play in the falls before returning to the car. I was so sad, I didn't want to leave! About 20 min after we left the parking lot the sky opened up and it absolutley got nasty outside, so luckily we weren't out in it. We got home and ordered a massive pizza and demolished it and I was asleep by 9 pm.
It was such a great trip and I hope to do more this summer!
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