On to Stone Mountain Falls and Beyond (Part 2)

In my previous post, I led you up and across

Stone Mountain, NC.  Now we're halfway home,

but it's not all downhill.  Here's another caution

sign for Liz Taylor as we approach a tempting

but deadly waterfall.

The waterfall is to the left of the wooden fence.
Here, we're above the falls.

Judy's starting to think like me.  She noted how this
looked like a dragon's head, so I took a photo to
show the grandkids.  They ALL love dragons!

Going down, down, down works on seldom used
leg muscles in a similar way to going up, up, up.

Is that perfectly clear?

Eagle-eyed Judy noticed this Ladybug
taking in the scenery along with us.

Why don't you enjoy this video of the

falls with us, too?

Near the bottom of the falls.

A sliding rock it is not!

Even after we left the falls, we followed the stream
and saw numerous beautiful scenes.

Apparently, this lone dead tree trunk is the only thing
keeping this boulder from tumbling down the hill.

I loved noting little dark hiding places beneath the
rock ledges.  But I was not going exploring today.

After three hours of hiking, we had circled to underneath
the mammoth mountain of stone for this view.

This small projection of rock seems to have been cast
into the meadow by some giant.  This is reminiscent of
the passage in The Hobbit when Gandalf delivers Bilbo
and company (with the help of the eagles) to the Carrock,
which Gandalf says is like some last outpost of the mountains,
flung far into the plain as if by some giant among giants.

This old homestead and pioneer learning station is
beneath the shadow of the mountain.  We had been
here before and didn't linger.  Daylight was waning.

Across that meadow, we could hear shouts and echos
of a small number of rappellers, honing their skills
on the lower regions of the steep mountain face.
I went near to observe for a few moments.

Boulders and stones of all sizes were underfoot, and
covered by leaves, so it wasn't safe to proceed.  I didn't
want to risk a turned ankle or twisted knee this close
to the "finish line."

Goodness! To have come this far, only to

have our way blocked by this fallen tree!

Turn back?

Never! As Gandalf would say, "On we go!"

No Gollum-like creatures seemed to be lurking here,
but we hurried on.

At last!  We were within a short walk of our car!

For the last while, I had been saying, "Let's just

keep putting one foot in front of the other."

There was little gas left in our tanks.

But we made it!  And boy, were we proud

of ourselves.  A little relieved, too. We didn't

hurry, but we were always mindful of the

early sunset.  The trail map warned people

not to begin the loop less than three hours

before dark, and we didn't cut it that close.

We started at 12:45 and were back at the car

at 4:15.

The sun was shining its last night (of Durin's

Day-- upon the keyhole, perhaps) and we

gloried in the brilliantly adorned foliage one

more time.

From the Ranger's station

Farewell, Stone Mountain.

Farewell, until we meet again.

We had just a 30 minute ride back to our

room for the night.  There's still more to

tell, but there will be two more posts for that.

Please stay tuned.

(Please inquire if you need explanation of

the Hobbit references)