Exploring Waterfalls and Lookout Towers

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Waterfalls & Albert Mountain Lookout Tower – 8/25/12 – 3miles
One of Jim’s cycling friends generously loaned us the use ofhis vacation cabin in Franklin, NC and we skipped town for a much-needed rest(for Jim, actually, because I skip town all the time.)  On Friday we knocked around Franklin’sdowntown, shopping and eating, and got a good night’s sleep in the deep darkwoods.  Saturday morning we went outexploring, armed with Kevin Adam’s book “North Carolina Waterfalls” (which isthick as a brick and just as heavy) and the corresponding map. 
Rufus Morgan Falls is found on Forest Road 388 west ofFranklin.  The waterfall is halfway arounda one-mile loop trail.  The waterfall, acascading slide about 65 feet high, was impressive though hard to photograph indappled sunshine...but you get the idea.
Interesting tree bark – I must get a tree ID book this year.




Next up, Big Laurel Falls on FR 67 in the neighborhood ofStanding Indian.  The walk to the fallsis a smidge over a mile round trip. 
Nice bridge to start us off
Crazy root system
Big Laurel Falls was a little more cooperative forphotos. 
Big Butt Tree?



One more waterfall nearby, Mooney Falls.  The mileage in Adams’ guidebook is a littlefuzzy and we almost gave up, thinking that signs must be missing, but thenthere it was.  This gem is just a couplehundred yards off of FR 67. 
Mooney Falls (view from the bottom).  There is a side trail to the top of this andwe could see more cascades upstream. 
So a couple of miles of easy trail (and more than a fewmiles of driving) and we caught three nice spots on our pleasant Saturdaymorning.  Anything else?  Why, yes! Also on FR 67 are several trails leading to the Albert Mountain lookouttower, which just happens to sit on the Appalachian Trail on top of AlbertMountain.
Which trail to take? How much time do we have?  Okay,we took the easy option in Peter Barr’s book, “Hiking North Carolina’s LookoutTowers,” an old road bed trail at the bitter end of FR 67.  A half a dozen pickup trucks filled with – I hateto say this – non-hiker-looking guys in camouflage were hanging out at the endof the gravel, waiting for their dogs to come back from “exercising.”  These good fellows thought we were crazy forhiking in the heat of the day when obviously it was more fun to sit and run theair conditioning. 
From here we hiked a quarter-mile on the old road bed andthen turned right onto the AT for a steeper quarter-mile to the summit ofAlbert Mountain and the lookout tower.
The catwalk and cab were locked so we settled for lookingaround from the top of the steps. 
View from Albert Mountain lookout tower
So the goal for today was to take a few walks and see a fewwaterfalls and tag another lookout tower – a good day of exploring.  We also wanted to enjoy the cabin.  Rather than eat out, we picked up a pizza inFranklin and went back to our home-away-from-home, beating the onset of anafternoon thunderstorm by just a few minutes. We sat on the front porch and watched the storm pass by, prettyimpressive. 
The calm after the storm



Enjoythe little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the bigthings.  ~Robert Brault