On Top Of The World

 

Down in southwestern North Carolina is the little town of Franklin. It is nestled in the mountains, surrounded by some of the biggest waterfalls in the state. I found a lovely campsite on top of a mountain – Cardinal Ridge. There were only eight campsites and very secluded.

Imagine this in the Fall

I ran into town to see the Scottish Tartan Museum located in a Main Street storefront. The upstairs was sort of a history of the Scots – their kings, their battles. Downstairs were the tartans, walls and walls of tartans. I'm from the MacGregor clan so of course I made a beeline to “my” clan. I was surprised to learn that there are multiple tartans for each clan – ancient, modern, hunting. All of these tartans and each one of them is unique.

The top row, left four are MacGregor tartans

On the spur of the moment I decided to go to the Rufus Morgan Trail where the payoff is the Rufus Morgan Falls. To get to the trail, you have to drive up the mountain. It is another single lane road where if you meet somebody, it can get stressful – cliffs on one side, rock walls on the other. The nice thing about eastern roads like this as opposed to the western mountain roads is that in the east there are trees that would probably slow down your descent if you, by some chance, went off the edge. It gave me a bit of comfort.

The Rufus Morgan Trail is a one mile loop, or so they say. Remember, I decided to hit this trail rather spontaneously. As a consequence, I had on my good tennis shoes (not hiking shoes), no water and really no idea where the trail goes. I'm such a wilderness expert, aren't I? The trail was challenging because of all of the recent rains there were lots of little waterways that ran across the trail and you had to figure out how to cross them. With that and all the up and downs, it was a fun trail.  Being the trail boss that I am, I couldn't find the trail that actually led to the waterfall.

Not the actual Falls, but pretty

See that sliver of white in the distance? 
This is the closest I got to the actual Rufus Morgan Falls.
They say that Rufus has a drop of 60-70 feet.

Dry Falls,  also known as Upper Cullasaja Falls, drops about 65 feet.  There isn't much of a hike to get to it, it is pretty much right next to the road.  Go down some steps and there you are.  The cool thing about these falls is that you can walk behind them legally.  There are no signs telling you to keep out.

Tiny tiny people, big big falls

Behind the curtain

The Glen Falls trail is 2.4 miles roundtrip down the side of a mountain.  There are lots of switchbacks so it isn't all that difficult.  The falls is a triple drop and the trail winds down next to and away from the falls.  The top and the middle falls are the more spectacular falls.

The upper section drops about 70 feet

The middle section has a 60 foot drop

The last section only drops about 15 feet into a quiet pool. 
 I think in the summer it would be a lovely place to cool your feet off.