SAVAGE
I
still felt pretty rough the next morning.
The original plan had been to get up early and do the short hike to
Cummins Falls before the sun climbed high enough to ruin any hope of getting a
good photo. I managed to get up early,
but I had second thoughts about our plans.
It had stormed for hours on Tuesday night. There was standing water in the parking lot,
and it was cold out, too. Cummins Falls
is on a large stream, and it is in a gorge that is prone to flash
flooding. Getting to the base of the falls
requires rock hopping and wading up the creek.
That might be dangerous, or even impossible, if the water was too
high. It wouldn’t be pleasant with the
temperature around 40 degrees, either.
We
went out to breakfast instead. While
eating, I came up with a backup plan that was a little less adventurous. We departed Cookeville and headed south to
Savage Gulf. Savage Gulf is a canyon
that features cliffs, rivers, caves, and waterfalls. We had hiked there before, but only small
parts of the area. This time we did the
hike to Savage Falls on the east end of Savage Gulf. It was a very easy hike, which was the
perfect choice for a recovery day.
We
hiked to Savage Falls, which is a nice 25’ drop on Savage Creek. There are pretty, photogenic cascades above
and below the main falls, too.
Unfortunately, it was a bright sunny day, so there wasn’t much I could
do with the camera. This part of Savage
Gulf has trails on both rims of the canyon, but there is no trail along the
riverside downstream from Savage Falls.
We
backtracked from the falls to the north rim and did a loop using the North Rim
Trail and the Savage Day Loop. Oddly,
the North Rim Trail stays in the woods on the plateau, while the day loop
follows the rim of the canyon. The day
loop features a side trail to a marginal view of Savage Falls and another
overlook with a nice view down the gorge.
There were only a few wildflowers out along the creek and up on the
plateau, which was disappointing after seeing some nice displays earlier in the
trip.
We
returned to the trailhead and had lunch in the adjacent picnic area. Afterwards, we drove to Gruelti
Laager for another short hike. Christy
decided to skip this one, as it requires a rocky, somewhat steep descent to
reach Rocky Mountain Creek. Originally,
she had considered hiking as far as the West Collins Gulf Overlook and relaxing
in the hammock. It was entirely too cold
and windy for that, so she relaxed in the car.
I
hiked to the waterfalls on Rocky Mountain Creek years ago, during a hot, dry
summer. On that day, the waterfalls were
nothing more than damp rocks. I did a
long loop hike that day, which included a couple of viewpoints, Horsepound Falls, and a neat cave and spring. Horsepound Falls
had a little water, but overcast skies didn’t do much
for the views. The highlight that day
had been Schwoon Cave and Spring.
I
visited the overlook, where the icy wind was howling. The view was very nice, but I didn’t linger
long! I then dropped down to Suter Falls
on Rocky Mountain Creek. The Gregory
Plumb guidebook mentions three waterfalls on Rocky Mountain Creek – Suter
Falls, Middle Suter Falls, and Lower Suter Falls. The description is a little confusing,
because you reach Lower Suter Falls first even though you are approaching from
above. Only the brink of Lower Suter
Falls is visible from the trail. Middle
Suter Falls is visible, but it is down in a gorge below the trail and there
isn’t a good vantage point for photos.
Fortunately, the view of Suter Falls is fantastic. It drops over a cliff that forms an
impressive rock house. The trail passes
under the rock house as it approaches the falls. That creates a lot of potential compositions
for photos.
Afterwards
I made a brief attempt at getting down to the middle and lower falls. It looks like you could get to the base of
the middle falls by crossing the creek at the brink and descending on River
Right. Reaching the base of the Lower
Falls looks more challenging, and probably requires a more roundabout route. My time was limited because Christy was
waiting at the car. Maybe next time!
From
there we drove straight to Huntsville and met our friends, Tim and Carly. They took us out to dinner, and we spent the
evening at their place relaxing, playing with their dogs, and catching up. The next day, Tim planned to join us for a
visit to Stephens Gap Cave.
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