Falls Creek Falls, Veteran's Day Hike, 2010

What a wonderful way to spend Veteran's Day, hiking with a bunch of Veterans! We had a great trip to Falls Creek Falls, but of course missed two of our regulars, Jerry and Deanna.

Living up to the descriptions I had read about the Falls Creek Falls trail, it was certainly an uphill hike to the falls. It was well worth the effort, with beautiful scenery and breath-taking views along the way. Falls Creek Falls certainly deserves the rating of spectacular! The weather was gorgeous, the sky was a deep blue, as you can see in the pictures, the color of the leaves was magnificent and there was a lot of water coming over the falls. We couldn't have ordered a more perfect day. Heading back, we met a gentleman that had volunteered at Jones Gap during the summer, working on the Hospital Rock Trail. He informed us the trail was a ridge trail, beginning at Jones Gap State Park, leading to Falls Creek Falls. We could actually see that the trail continued on the other side of the falls and could easily walk across the bottom of the waterfall. Per his instructions, if you park a car at the Falls Creek Falls Trail head, then drive to Jones Gap, you can hike the Hospital Rock trail in its entirety, back to the Falls Creek trail head. Total hike length is 6 ¼ miles, with the end of a strenuous hike being all down hill. If you don't want to take 2 cars, you can hike from the Falls Creek trail head via the paved road, back to the ranger station at Jones Gap, adding an additional 3 miles to your hike. I think we will take 2 cars when we do this hike. As always, we had a wonderful time with great friends, and of course keeping true to our values, “Take nothing but pictures, harvest only memories, and leave nothing but footprints.”