Fog in Cataloochee Valley (North Carolina)

On our Maggie Valley trip with friends, Neal and Patti,   we all drove to Cataloochee Valley early on a foggy, drizzly day (October 20).   As you know if you saw my ELK blog posts,  (HERE and HERE),  we went to Cataloochee Valley just to see the elk.

BUT--once we got there,  we realized just how gorgeous this little valley is..  I have about 2 more posts of what all we saw that morning,  but today,  I will show you pictures of this beautiful valley---in the fog (or mist)...

Native Americans were the first people to visit this beautiful valley.  Following Indian trails,  white settlers pushed into the valley in the early 1800's as older settlements on the outside became more crowded,  and family holdings were subdivided among heirs to their smallest limits.  Young adults had to go somewhere else to start a homestead.

At that time,  all of the valley belonged to Colonel Robert Love,  a post-Revolutionary War  land speculator who granted homesteads to those who would settle and improve the land.  The earliest known entries on the part of the Love estate were made by the Caldwells (1814).  By the 1850's Cataloochee was well-populated, but not full.

I kept telling George and Neal that the SUN was going to come out... They laughed at me!!!!!!!  Here's proof that the sun was up there TRYING to break through the fog.... HA HA!!!!

Here's a picture showing some of the pretty color around this foggy valley.   Cataloochee Valley would remind one of Cades Cove ---but Cades Cove is much more popular and easier to get to... BUT---I LOVE Cataloochee and hope to go back many more times.

Finally,  here is one last picture of Gorgeous Cataloochee Valley --taken on Oct. 20, 2010 early in the morning!!!!!    I have two more posts from this valley --which I will post sometime soon.  Have a great weekend,  and I'll be back on Monday!!!!

Hugs,

P.S.  George and I went to Hendersonville yesterday to check on his elderly parents.  We found them in pretty good shape --but Dad seemed tired...  Bless their hearts.  Keep them (and us) in your prayers.  

We also got to see George's daughter and husband who have been in Nashville on business this week.  They joined us for lunch --so that was a great time for all of us.   Kelly and Chuck live in Buffalo, NY --so we don't get to see them as much as we'd like.

Yahoo Falls Hike, Kentucky--Part II

Be sure and check out yesterday's post in order to see Part I (click HERE) from our hike to Yahoo Falls.   Today I will share some of the area around the falls... As I said yesterday,  due to the drought this past Summer and Fall,  there was almost no water coming over the falls.. The picture above shows the waterfall when we were there this time, on September 25, 2010.  This waterfall is about 113 feet tall --and is usually about 8-10 feet wide.  If you look closely,  you can see a tiny bit of water!!!!! ha...... Below are more.

I am on one side looking at the big bowl surrounding this waterfall.  You can see the waterfall on the left side... The trail leads behind the falls.   I was taking George's picture--and all of those other people (whom we did not know) posed also!!!!! ha ha ... George is on the right.

George took this one of me hiking up the trail toward where he was --behind the falls.  The steps going down on the right lead down to the bottom of the falls.  In Summer --people love to swim in the pool at the bottom of the falls.  This time,  there was almost no water down there.

This bowl (overhang) is amazing. Can you see the water?   George is standing almost under where the waterfall is.    IF there was alot of water,  he would definitely be WET standing where he was!!!!  (Those people across the way are still posing for my picture!!!!! Tee Hee!!!)

As we followed the trail around behind the falls,  there were lots of rocks to climb up --when headed up the hill on the other side.   This bowl in the gorge is truly an awesome place to visit.

Here's one final picture of Yahoo Falls---taken by George from the far side.   You can see the brink of the falls here.  When we hiked out---we crossed back over the creek at the brink.  We did not go back up all of those steps!!!!! ha ha

When we go back to Yahoo Falls,  hopefully there will be much more water coming over the falls.  We'll show you the difference then!!!!!!   BUT--as I have said,  this is a fabulous hike  (only about 1.5 miles total) into the gorge,  and we really do recommend it --any time of year, even if there's not much water at the falls.

I have mentioned that George and I have visited about 430 different waterfalls since 2001.  There are some huge ones like Niagara or even Cumberland Falls.  AND--there are the small ones like Yahoo --where the setting is phenomenal.  Do we have favorites???  Probably not--since all are unique and gorgeous--each in its own way!

Hugs,

On another note,  my wonderful friend RUTH lost her husband yesterday.   Jake lost his battle with cancer.   Ruth and Jake have been great friends of George and me --and we are grieving so much at his loss.  May God bless Ruth and the family during this time of sorrow.  IF you have time,  stop by Ruth's blog  (click on her name above) and send some of your love to her.  Thank You.