Waterfalls in the forest

I really gave myself a workout today. We went to Dupont State Forest and took two separate trails to see the falls. The first trail was quite easy to Hooker Falls. The water falls eleven feet into Cascade Lake. It is about 1 mile round trip. Feeling pretty confident, we crossed the road and started the trail up to Triple Falls. This trail is considerably steeper with a dirt and gravel surface. Ever since I fell on gravel, I am not a fan of that surface, however, I wanted to see the falls. The first part of the trail is not too bad, but then you look up and I mean up the trail. Once you manage to get to the top, with much huffing and puffing, you find you now have to go down 112 steps to the falls. Lucky for me, they have benches at a few places on the way down. It is beautiful once you get there, and well worth the effort. The only bad part is you can't stay there forever, you must climb those 112 steps and then go down that treacherous trail to the base. I very carefully made it back down in one piece. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

HOOKER FALLS




JANICE CLIMBING UP THE TRAIL

ARE WE THERE YET?, ARE WE THERE YET? PUFF, PUFF, PUFF, ARE WE THERE YET?

.....AND A LOOK DOWN THE TRAIL


A FIRST LOOK AT OUR DESTINATION FROM THE TRAIL


JANICE AT THE BASE OF TRIPLE FALLS.


TRIPLE FALLS


THIS TREE LOOKS LIKE IT IS GROWING OUT OF THE ROCK.


After leaving Dupont, Janice remembered another place she had taken her students years ago. The Holmes Educational State Forest has "talking trees". We took another wooded trail up (is there any flat land in NC?) They have posts along the way with speakers that tell you about the tree, its leaves, growth patterns and uses. This trail was only a half mile and beautifully cool in the shade of the trees. Of course, that trail also went up, but no gravel, just tree roots.

HOLMES EDUCATIONAL STATE FOREST