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May
26th - This was a nice 5-mile hike just
outside of Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee in Johnson
County. Our good friends Jimmy Humston and
Ryan Davis joined us for this one, and we had a
great time.
After
a long Jeep drive from our house in Piney Flats we
found the trailhead, which is CNF Trail #51. A
lot of descriptions I've read about this trail say
it is a "moderate" hike, but we all felt
like it was very easy with only a gradual
incline. My GPS said we climbed about 800 feet
in the 2.5 miles to the falls. The blue-blazed
trail was well maintained and there were many
creek crossings along the way, with a few foot-bridge
crossings (I lost count, but I think there were six
bridges). We made good time and kept a quick
pace hiking up even though we got caught in a
thunderstorm.
The
falls were two-tiered and very pretty... I would
guess the lower falls were about 40 feet, while the
upper one was about 25-30 feet. As it always seems with waterfalls, photos do not do them
justice.
It was still raining when we arrived,
so we hung out under a rock ledge for a while until
it slacked up. After the rain stopped
completely, we took some photos and climbed up to
the second tier. From there we rested, played
some cards, and talked for a while before making our
descent.
We
ran quite a bit on the way down, and made it back to
the Jeep in good time. After our drive home we
finished off the day by grilling out and talking by
the pool.
(Click
all images for larger photos)
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