Day 4 - Tuesday October 4th

Today we decide to sleep in past sunrise! We pack up and head out around 9am. Today's agenda includes about 15 hours worth of stuff packed into an 8 hour day. We decide to start in highlands NC and work our way back to the resort, and play it by ear rather than the planned list.

After about 2 hours of driving we find ourselves in Highlands NC, Waterfall directions fail to mention what direction we are supposed to take so we decide to follow the Tom Tom... after about 20 minutes on curving winding roads we pass a "Welcome to Georgia" sign... Needless to say we were going the wrong way...Awesome Job Tom Tom!

Finally headed in the Right Direction we reach Bridal Veil Falls. Located along Scenic Highway 64 about 2.5 miles past Highlands. Located right along the side of the road with a turn out, on a normal day you can drive behind the waterfall. However today some dipshit decided to park and take up the entire road to drive underneath! Thanks for ruining my photo-op!!! The drop is about 60 feet, and unless you go after a decent rain the water flow is pretty minimal.



A shot of me behind Bridal Veil Falls



Back on Scenic Highway 64 to Dry Falls, Only about 1.5 miles down the road you reach the large developed parking area for Dry Falls. The sound of rushing water and the smell of overflowing pit toilets greet us! However the smell does not outweigh the beauty of the area!

Dry Falls is a 75-foot waterfall that flows over an overhanging cliff, allowing people to walk behind the falls and stay dry (hence the name). However the day we visited the spray from the fall was pretty heavy and we did not manage to stay dry. Still worthwhile though! Honestly the most beautiful waterfall I have been to.

If you look close, to the left said of the falls you will see me!

A view from behind the waterfall

Back on scenic highway 64 in search of Cullasaja Falls, this is a waterfall viewable from the road. The downside the road that allows you to view the falls is built cliff side, leaving solid rock wall on one side and cliff drop off with a flimsy guard rail on the other. The pull off has enough room barely for us to park. There is a trail behind the guard rail that will lead you down the 250' to view the base of the falls. However all online posts indicate you must be part mountain goat to manage the trail and one slip will ensure certain death! We decide not to channel our inner mountain goat and settle for a roadside photo. Its hard to capture all of it through the trees but It is still pretty awe inspiring! Not shown in the photo is the 200 feet it continues to cascade down below the trees into the Cullasaja Gorge!

Last of the highland area waterfalls is Glenn Falls. Online this waterfall is said to be the "Best Waterfall" in the area. Well Chrissy and I beg to differ! By far the worst hike ever! The supposed 3/4 mile trail was really like 1.5 mile, and does back and forth switchbacks down the side of the mountain. Granted Switchbacks are more enjoyable than straight downhill but this trail still sucked! Keep in mind in the world of hiking the law is "What goes down must come back up"

The hike to the first section was a breeze, gently sloping trails with a nice mix of sand and gravel. 

The first section of Glen Falls, 70 foot cascade

The next section cant be that bad since this first part was a breeze... We continue on to the middle section of Glen Falls. This portion of the trail looses the nice gravel/sand mixture and is slowly replaced with small tree roots and rock stairs

Middle Portion of Glen Falls, 60 foot cascade

After the last stretch we are fairly confident the trail can't get much worse...and we came all this way so we have to go to the bottom portion right? After the first switchback I realize how wrong I am, the tree roots become increasingly larger and start to grow out of the trail leaving that perfect little hole for you get your foot stuck in and face plant... or roll your ankle over top! Lucky for me I had my trusty hiking pole so I managed not to face plant on this one. The switchbacks continue to get steeper, the trail starts filling with more rocks and roots and the end seems to be nowhere near. Finally the bottom portion is in sight. What a waste of time. A tiny 15 foot fall filled with log debris from past storms!

At this point I'm really wishing I had brought along some water, the only thing worse than the hike down is the thought of the hike back to the car...over all them damn roots and rocks! I had narrowly escaped face planting on the way down I hope to be as lucky on the way back. Switchback after switchback after switchback (you get the idea) we finally start joking that we can see the car! At this point I'm not sure who has less motivation Myself or Chrissy? Finally the switchbacks start to slope less and the trail is becoming better maintained telling us we are close! I've never been so happy to see my car before! Never...I repeat Never hike to Glenn Falls! Or if you do don't hike past the middle portion!

Last waterfall of the day before heading back to the resort is whitewater falls. This waterfall is right near the North/South Carolina Border near the town of Transylvania NC. Upper Whitewater Falls is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies, falling 411 feet. The trail is a slightly inclined 1/4 mile hike and is paved. The trail is full of "popper" weeds and we take plenty of time to stop and enjoy! You can view a good portion of the falls from here, but for a full view you must go down 154 steps to the outlook below.

Time to call it a day and head back to the resort, the "plan" for the day has about 5 miles more of hiking trails on it but none of us are in any mood to do any more hiking after Glen Falls!