Hiking Otter Falls
Sep. 11th, 2024 05:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerBlue Ridge Trip '24 #19
Seven Devils, NC - Thu, 5 Sep 2024. 11:30am
We got going earlier today than yesterday. It wasn't hard since we didn't leave our hotel until about 11am yesterday. Today we were out by 10. Maybe by tomorrow we'll leave actually early. 🤣
Our plan for today is to hike a bunch of shorter hikes. Put together they'll make a pretty full day. Though while our first hike, at Otter Falls, is short in distance— it's just over 1 mile round trip— it's steep, with a climb of 300' back up on the way out.
Otter Falls is in the oddly named town of Seven Devils. It's odd because why give a town a name like that in such a religious state? I mean, this is a state where there are "JESUS SAVES" posters on every second telephone pole along the highway. OTOH, Seven Devils is clearly a WealthyPeople CountryClub town. Instead of old farmhouses and aging double-wides close to the road the houses here are all bespoke country mansions set back from the road, and every street other than the main one is marked "private drive". Wealthy people don't care if it their town's named for satan's cohort. Religion is the opiate of the masses, not the 1%.
Wealthy people also can afford to have nice hiking trails in municipal parks right in their town. Though this one also has a big signboard with all the donors' names up at the entrance. Wealthy people can afford nice parks.. but they demand recognition for funding them.
We followed the maze like trails down to the bottom of the canyon. Here we reached the main branch of the creek and started walking back up it. First I paused at the lowest cascades (above). though.
Walking up the creek is always better than walking down it. Walking up you see all the falls and cascades. Walking down, it's too easy to miss beauty because often it's hiding behind you.
There aren't too many cascades to Otter Falls. After all, the whole hiking trail is just over a mile, and most of that is the down and back up part. We spent time at the all the cascades and lace falls along Otter Creek.
As you can tell from the gray sky in the background of these photos the weather was a little grim. A heavy fog hung over the mountains around us in Boone. The forecast showed no rain for today; just this fog hanging over us until noon or 1pm. The thing with enjoying waterfalls, though, is that foggy/cloudy weather is actually okay. It creates a cozier ambience around the creek. And the clouds/fog also keep away the crowds. We were able to enjoy these falls entirely to ourselves even though once we returned to our car there were already two other cars of visitors starting down the trail.
Seven Devils, NC - Thu, 5 Sep 2024. 11:30am
We got going earlier today than yesterday. It wasn't hard since we didn't leave our hotel until about 11am yesterday. Today we were out by 10. Maybe by tomorrow we'll leave actually early. 🤣
Our plan for today is to hike a bunch of shorter hikes. Put together they'll make a pretty full day. Though while our first hike, at Otter Falls, is short in distance— it's just over 1 mile round trip— it's steep, with a climb of 300' back up on the way out.
Otter Falls is in the oddly named town of Seven Devils. It's odd because why give a town a name like that in such a religious state? I mean, this is a state where there are "JESUS SAVES" posters on every second telephone pole along the highway. OTOH, Seven Devils is clearly a WealthyPeople CountryClub town. Instead of old farmhouses and aging double-wides close to the road the houses here are all bespoke country mansions set back from the road, and every street other than the main one is marked "private drive". Wealthy people don't care if it their town's named for satan's cohort. Religion is the opiate of the masses, not the 1%.
Wealthy people also can afford to have nice hiking trails in municipal parks right in their town. Though this one also has a big signboard with all the donors' names up at the entrance. Wealthy people can afford nice parks.. but they demand recognition for funding them.
We followed the maze like trails down to the bottom of the canyon. Here we reached the main branch of the creek and started walking back up it. First I paused at the lowest cascades (above). though.
Walking up the creek is always better than walking down it. Walking up you see all the falls and cascades. Walking down, it's too easy to miss beauty because often it's hiding behind you.
There aren't too many cascades to Otter Falls. After all, the whole hiking trail is just over a mile, and most of that is the down and back up part. We spent time at the all the cascades and lace falls along Otter Creek.
As you can tell from the gray sky in the background of these photos the weather was a little grim. A heavy fog hung over the mountains around us in Boone. The forecast showed no rain for today; just this fog hanging over us until noon or 1pm. The thing with enjoying waterfalls, though, is that foggy/cloudy weather is actually okay. It creates a cozier ambience around the creek. And the clouds/fog also keep away the crowds. We were able to enjoy these falls entirely to ourselves even though once we returned to our car there were already two other cars of visitors starting down the trail.
