Escaping the Heat Part III

After we left Carolina Hemlock we drove over to see the Black Mountain Recreation Area which is just a short drive down 80 back toward the Parkway. We've stayed there a number of times in our trailer and just wanted to take a look. It was relatively uncrowded there, despite the fact that it has a great swimming hole that is generally popular with the locals on warm summer days.

We toyed with the idea of hiking over to Setrock Creek Falls, but decided that we'd seen that waterfall so many times that we ended up passing. So we turned back toward 80 and headed for the Parkway to hike to see Crabtree Falls. We'd hiked to it once, when we were first married, but it had been well over two decades since we'd been.

As it happened, Carole decided that the trail was too rocky for her, so she turned back and returned to the parking lot while I pushed on. I was impressed with the trail--there are some impressive stands of hardwoods along the way and the forest is relatively clear because of ice and snow damage to the smaller trees during the past winter.

The one-mile hike took me to the falls, which is an impressive one. It's well worth the hike if you're in the area and I recommend it, despite the fact that you won't find any solitude there. It's a good waterfall with relatively easy access, so there's likely to be a crowd there when you visit. I stayed long enough to take a number of photos and a couple of videos, then I turned around and headed back to the parking area. I showed Carole the pictures I'd taken of the falls, and in short order we pointed the truck back toward Charlotte and headed home.