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Owen571 
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 4:45 am |
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When I got off work Tuesday morning, I drove up to TN to Savage Gulf, which I've been meaning to check out for over a year, but hadn't gotten around to. Not a bad drive at about 3hr, and now I see I'll be up there a couple of more times in the near future.
On the way to the Stone Door entrance, I stopped and did the Greeter Falls loop, a short loop with several waterfalls, and opportunities to ramble down in the ravines. In the afternoon, I visited Laurel Falls by the Stone Door ranger office, and walked the mile to the Stone Door and the Laurel Gulf overlook before camping at the Stone Door campground for the night. It was 27F when I got to the Greeter Falls parking area, and it went to 17F last night. Aside from a group camped in another part of the park, according to the ranger I had Savage Gulf all to myself.
This morning, I set out to do the Big Creek Gulf and Big Creek Rim trails, intending to spend the night at Alum Gap. The hike is only 10.2 miles total, including the side trail to Ranger Falls, and to and from the Stone Door. In spite of intentionally wasting a couple of hours, multiple trips down to the creek and climbs back out when glimpsing rapids or small falls from the trail, and it taking several tries to successfully cross the creek to access the Ranger Falls trail, I was still at Alum Gap by lunch time(that's quite an uphill up to Alum Gap, though!). So it became a dayhike, as from that point I'd seen everything there was to see, and only had 4.2 miles of flat hiking on the plateau left.
From the Greeter Falls loop:
Upper Greeter Falls
Lower Greeter Falls
I don't know what this one is called. Have to get off the trail down in a ravine to get to it...
Upper and Lower Boardtree Falls
Upper Boardtree Falls
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Owen571
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 4:46 am |
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From behind the Stone Door ranger station:
Laurel Falls. I went down to it twice, since some moron took the battery out of my camera, and had it charging up in the car after the Greeter loop.
From Laurel Gulf Overlook:
The Stone Door.
From the Big Creek Gulf:
"You can't get to Ranger Falls right now." Huh? "The creek is too high, you can't get across around there."
Translation: "Noone else will be at Ranger Falls."
Well, there was noone else out there, anyway, though a guy signed the dayhiker register this afternoon.
This is one of those "disappearing falls" that flows into a sinkhole, and goes underground, so there's nothing going downstream from it. There was ice on the rocks over 75ft+ away from the spray freezing, though it was most obvious right around the falls.
Less obvious than the ones that are white with it near the falls, but the rocks have a clear coat of ice all the way back to here.
I assume this one is a seasonal fall, flowing into the creek.
Chockstone that caught my eye just around the corner from the falls.
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Owen571
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 4:48 am |
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Cascade nearing the top of the canyon. Drops hundreds of feet to the creek, and would make a great little cascading adventure with some rappel gear(I have a plan-someday!).
These are from the Rim trail, on the way back.
A tree.
Another tree.
Would have stayed and done the Savage Falls Day loop in the morning, but I have to work tomorrow night, and may get some overtime working evening shift, so it will have to wait.
What a wonderful place! I loved that Greeter loop and the Big Creek Gulf. Can't wait to hike the rest of the park.
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1006
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 10:23 am |
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nice... i love that place. the water's very high, it looks like. where was that mystery falls? do you remember? i'd say it must be a wet-weather drainage but that looks like a pretty substantial falls.
i highly recommend that you check out the Collins Loop next.
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| Post Number: 5
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| Post Number: 6
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Owen571
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 10:46 am |
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I was looking for that sink. The trail description said the creek flowed into it, so I was 
The mystery fall is just a few minutes before Boardtree Falls coming from Greeter Falls. Checked the properties on my pics, and my last pic of it, and first pic of Boardtree are only 9 minutes apart. I could hear it, but not see it, and went down a slope. Lots of down and rotted trees and loose earth over rock that I was careful not to slide on and disturb. It wasn't bad, but probably not for kids or the accident-prone.
Collins Loop is what I was going to do next. Thanks!
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cgaphiker
Hen Wallow Falls
Group: Members
Posts: 11005
Joined: Apr. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 12:58 pm |
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Me and a couple of friends did that same loop a couple of Easters ago. The spiral staircase floored me when I saw it. 
Beautiful place!
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| Post Number: 8
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Owen571
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 1:25 pm |
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I'd read about the staircase last year, but had forgotten about where it was, so it was a surprise for me. I started laughing when I saw it, it was just...unexpected.
Here it be!
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| Post Number: 9
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markweth
Group: Members
Posts: 37
Joined: Jan. 2013
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 1:44 pm |
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Great pictures . . . the Cumberland Plateau in winter -- especially at high water -- is certainly a most enchanting landscape.
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Mostly Southeastern Outdoor Scenery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvweth
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