Friday, June 13, 2008

Nantahala National Forest, Western NC

6/12/08 - (this is Christine for the first time, for better or worse). We woke up after a rain storm that sounded unsurvivable in the middle of the night, but were pleasantly surprised in the morning to find that the thick forest cover kept a lot of water out. In fact it didn't even fully put out the "blinnferno" raging in the fire pit the night before. The morning was sunny and warm; a perfect remedy for damp towels and tent. Bob made coffee as he does every morning while I sleep in. I did the dishes the night before. Although we are unemployed, our days manage to fill up with tasks that were unremarkable back in Raleigh. Cooking meals, showering, making coffee, and washing dishes require planning and coordination. (Not that I'm trying to say we're employed in some unfair way to all those who are employed.... we are not.) Anyways, Bob made coffee and we headed out to Rufus Glen Trail. Rufus Glen is an easy 1 mile trail that has rewards worth 5 miles. A cool lush jungle leading up to a small waterfall that you think will do just fine, and then rounding the bend into a huge cascading waterfall that is surprisingly huge. No one is there, and it's so worth seeing. The trail goes right up to the pool and the falls are powerful enough to splash you real good if it's rained recently. Bob and Deefur swam, I sat out b/c I don't like to put my hiking boots back on with wet feet.




Then we hiked out and spent the rest of the afternoon at Creekside Lak Recreation Area whiche was attached to our campground and free to us campers. It's a small swimming beach with a swim out dive platform and a lake trail. Calm and quiet with a few locals (who agreed to sit with deefur while we swam b/c otherwise she cries), a serene view, and a picnic with a fresh tomato we got from a roadside produce stand.




Before going back to camp we made a pitstop at Cullasaja Gorge which is, well I don't know what the hell it is, but it's a creek that falls over some rocks into a very deep swimming hole of sorts. Folks have taken to jumping off the cliffs into this abyss and calling it fun. So naturally Bob (and then me after some internal debate) jumped off. Probably about 20' and we captured the 2 of us on film. I got some hootin' and hollerin' from the local bystanders, which Bob said had something to do with my somewhat unsecured bikini top, but I feel it had to do with my impeccable cannonball. It was an invigorating and fun way to end a good day. We closed the night by cooking cheeseburgers and drinking a couple cold beers.


3 comments:

Ryan said...

This is a great blog, and great inaugural post Christine. I love the pictures and video. I just subscribed to your blog and look forward to keeping up with all the adventures. Keepupthe good work.

ridgeandjenny said...

Hi! You were linked to our close friends Ryan and Cheyney's blog so I hope you don't mind a comment about how jealous I am that you were at Nantahala National Forest. I used to go mountain biking at Tsali once a year for about 4 years from 98 to 01. I love it and miss it. It is gorgeous and even at 15 to 30 mph on a bike, still serene. It's also interesting that you were in our neck of the woods during your tire puncture and replacement episode. Thanks for the great pics!!

glenn said...

That's awesome....even though we've been going there for 7 years, we still haven't got up enough courage to do that jump...this year, we watched a guy do a full gainer off the cliff