Social Distancing is right up a hikers alley

3/21/20

Mike and I and 2 dogs

Life is hard enough without the added stress of the Corona Virus. In a million years I couldn’t imagine having to close all the restaurants, most of the stores in my town where so many friends and neighbors are trying to eek out a living. Then to have people hoarding food and paper products like they are waiting for the apocalypse. The word of the month Social Distancing. Stay 6 feet away from other people.

That’s right go hiking, get outside, sunshine and warmth are good for this thing. The hiking community is taking to it like it’s nothing. That’s what they do. Pure zen and solitude (or small groups) in the woods.

We loaded up the dogs and some water and headed to the NC mountains to see some waterfalls. Although the ones we picked weren’t exactly the most destitute ones. Anything less than a mile you can expect a crowd.

The first one was Roaring Fork falls. It had about 10 cars in the parking lot when we got there. It’s about a half of a mile easy walk to this waterfall. Usually a crowd pleaser. We didn’t see or pass to many people though.

This one is pretty. There is a steep trail up to the top so up we went. Only 2 people up there. On to the next one.

Just down the road is another popular one called Setrock Creek falls. It’s in a nice state campground called Black Mountain Campground. Which is closed for the season still but the parking lot was packed. This is also the trailhead for Green Knob via the MST and the Mount Mitchell trail. Only 5.7 miles to the top of Mt Mitchell. 💪 We headed the half mile to the falls and really only saw a few people. It’s a nice waterfall.

We are definitely interested in coming back here and camping and hiking. State campgrounds are great. $22/night but no electric or water but they do have bathrooms. This one has modern bathrooms with showers! 🎉🎉

We left and there was one more nearby on my list. It was towards Burnsville. It’s called Whitehall Creek Falls. It’s a easy drive to a dead end road where you can see the falls. There was a car there but we saw no one. It’s a quick walk to the falls and it’s a beauty.

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Back to the car and the 3 hour ride home. It’s nice to get outside and clear the mind. We didn’t listen to the radio, we didn’t watch tv, we didn’t see empty store shelves and it felt pretty damn good.