Hiking to Big Branch Falls

One nice thing about being retired is I don't have to use vacation time for a hike on a nice day.  Wednesday was one of those, and we had no plans, so I packed up and hit the trail to go to Big Branch Falls on the North Fork Moorman River in Shenandoah National Park.  I also planned to hike about 1.6 miles past the falls to the hike boundary so I could check that trail off but had to nix those plans, so I will need to come back just to get those few miles.  But this trail is so beautiful that I don't mind at all.  Here is the track, about 8.2 miles round trip, counting the hike up to see the beautiful falls, which are at the red circle.

Why didn't I go all the way to the end?  Four reasons: (1) I hit serious paving on the drive up in two places, which added 50 minutes to the drive. (2) We had made plans to go out at 7:00 so I had a firm time of 5PM to get home by (3) I decided to use thin liner socks, and on my right boot, I forgot to put a real hiking sock over the liner when I put my boots on at the trail head.  Yeah, I know, how does that happen? (4) When I waded across a stream, I knew there would be another stream crossing in about a half mile, so I hiked without socks in my Tevas to save some time drying my feet, putting boots back on, etc.  This laziness cost me when the Tevas wore away skin on two parts of my left foot.  Multiple lessons learned, again, from this hike.

I saw two deer on the drive in.  Other than that, I didn't see any major wildlife on the hike.  I did hear a number of birds, including hooded warbler, Acadian flycatcher, eastern wood pewee, wood thrush, pileated woodpecker, and oven bird.

The first part of the trail, about 1.6 miles, is an old woods road, and it is very pretty.  For about a half mile of this, you actually leave the park.  The mountain laurel were in bloom, and there was the sound of a stream nearly every step along the way.

There are a lot of streams to cross on this hike, about 10 crossings each way.  A few are very easy, most of the others can be rock hopped with care, but two involved wet feet.  Here they are.  Maybe in the summer, these can be rock hopped, but not this time of year.  They came up about mid-calf as I carefully waded across.

After the second crossing, I semi-dried my feet and put my boots back on, regretting that I had hiked over a half mile in my Tevas with no socks.  But from this point on, the trail was gentle and absolutely beautiful as it followed the North Fork Moorman River.  The river ran along trail left, and much of the time, there were rapids and pools.  It was simply beautiful, and all of the stream crossings after this point were fairly easy, although trekking poles always help.

Can the snail read?  Is it snail braille?  I did hear him mutter at one point, "1.5 miles?  You've got to be kidding me!"

I reached my destination, and marveled at how beautiful Big Branch is.

I turned right, and started hiking up to the falls, first to the Lower Falls, which included two pools and a natural water slide....

....and then to the spectacular 30 foot tall Upper Falls.  I stayed here for a while and admired the beauty.

At this point, I considered going to the end but knew I would miss my return time and damage my feet more.  Time to go back.  I had lunch on a bluff along the river, and noticed what looks to be a perfect camping spot on the opposite bank.  On a future overnight trip, I think that I will wade across the river and camp there.

On the hike out, I noticed this old remains of a bridge that I had walked past on the way in and hadn't seen.

This is an example of how the trail follows the river, now on the right for the hike out.

I found this beautiful salamander on the hike out, but unfortunately, he is dead.  I don't know if a hiker stepped on it my mistake or if someone deliberately killed it.  This is known as the red salamander.  I'd never seen one.

Well, foot issues and all, I had a great time hiking here.  I will be back, both to clock the few remaining miles on this trail, and to enjoy the river again, and hopefully, camp out.

LHHT - Birds and Wildflowers and Salamanders - Oh, My!

One of the great things about hiking the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in May was all of the birds and wildflowers, and also some salamanders.  When I hike, I try to observe wildlife to the extent possible.  During this hike, I noted each type of bird that I heard or saw.  Here is my list:

Oven bird, hooded warbler, common yellowthroat, black and white warbler, black-throated green warbler, black-throated blue warbler, yellow-billed cuckoo, Acadian flycatcher, eastern wood pewee, great crested flycatcher, wood thrush, veery, American robin, scarlet tanager, red-eyed vireo, tufted titmouse, black-capped chickadee, eastern towhee, ruffed grouse, common raven, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, whippoorwill, barred owl, turkey vulture, barn swallow, blue jay, blue-gray gnatcatcher, red-breasted nuthatch, and field sparrow.

There was a woodpecker that I couldn't identify, and one other bird that I heard but could not place, and I may have missed a few others.  Most of these were identified by their call.  I didn't have binoculars with me, and only saw a few birds that I could identify without them.

As to wildflowers, these were pretty spectacular.  Here are some photos:

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Red trillium

Yellow lady slipper - only seen once during the whole 76 miles of hiking

Pink lady slipper

Wild geranium

Violets

White trillium

Pink trillium

Yellow star grass (ID by my friend, Dick Dreselly):

May apple

As to salamanders, we saw two kinds.  The red eft, a juvenile and terrestrial stage of the eastern newt (which is aquatic as an adult), was very common, especially during the first three days of the hike, which were fairly wet.  We saw them many times.

Best as I can figure, this is a northern slimy salamander, out and about in the trail because of the wet weather on the final day of the hike.

Rose River Falls

Last Friday, I had the day off and it was going to be a little cooler in the mountains, so I headed to Shenandoah National Park to hike the Rose River Falls loop - actually, more of a lollipop than a loop, strictly speaking.  It is 6.5 miles and passes by two nice waterfalls: Dark Hollows and Rose River.  It's my first hike back up there since running into the bear, and I carried bear spray with me this time, since I was alone.

This hike is a good workout, and as I inexplicably forgot my trekking poles at home, it was harder than usual on my knees and hips, especially the steep downhill sections.  And my right ankle still hurts a lot, so I just went at my own pace and did the best I could.  I would have held a group up for sure.  Here is a track of the loop, arrows showing that I hiked counter-clockwise.  The Rose River Falls is marked by a purple star.

Other than the waterfalls, there is not a whole lot of scenery on the hike - it is mainly a walk in the woods.  I kept alert for wildlife, and saw a number of animals of the smaller, less spectacular types.  I thought of doing a "What am I?" for a change, but the animals that I saw were small and hard to identify.

Here are some photos along the way of my trek, starting with the first hints of fall:

I am not sure what this flowering shrub is, but I call it pretty:

Maybe not as pretty is this orb weaver.  I don't know the species, but its rear legs reminded me of candy canes.

I felt really bad for this baby cedar waxwing along the side of the trail.  It should be in a nest with parents.  I hope very much that its parents were around somewhere, but saw no sign of them.

This is Dark Hollow Falls.  It is only about 3/4 mile from the trail head, and you have to drop 500 feet from there to get here.

I don't know if this waterfall has a name or not.  It was a short way below Dark Hollow Falls.

This little fellow is a white-spotted slimy salamander.

There are two parts to the Rose River Falls.  The Upper Falls, shown here, drops about 25 feet.  The light was not right for a great photo.  See the log in the upper left?  I watched a young man walk out on it, rocks behind him and shallow pool in front, and dive in.  I was convinced that he would break his neck, because the pool could not be five or six feet deep at its deepest spot.  But he was okay.  The Lower Falls drops about 40 feet but is supposed to be quite steep and dangerous to reach, so I passed.

After a sharp climb from the falls, I reached a mellow woods road that dropped gradually for a mile or so back to just below Dark Hollow Falls.  From there, it was the steep slog back to my car.

Along the Dark Hollow Fire Road, I spotted this red admiral, and

this red-spotted purple.  (The red spots are not really apparent with this one).

Here is one more wildflower that I need to identify.  Pretty!

The last wildlife of the hike was this red-backed salamander.

Great hike!  Pretty forests and waterfalls, and lots of interesting animals, even if they were on the small side.  I hope that the poor little cedar waxwing will be all right.  By the way, it is against the law to collect animals in national parks unless you have a special permit, plus I had no way to carry the little bird safely.