http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor Tales of Hiking Planet Earth Thu, 30 May 2013 13:45:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   Sliding Rock is a 60 foot natural water slide north of Brevard, NC. It is on Highway 276, a couple of miles up the road from Looking Glass Falls. The Forest Service maintains a recreation area there, and it is a popular destination on hot summer days. I arrived there ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=26   Looking Glass Falls is a 60 foot waterfall a few miles north of Brevard, NC. It is a roadside waterfall, and the parking and observation area beside Highway 276 makes it one of the most easily accessible waterfalls.       I was very fortunate in the timing of my arrival. Recent heavy rains ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=25   Eastatoe Falls is a 60 foot waterfall near Rosman, NC. It is on private property, and that made me a little leery of going there. However, various postings on the internet assured me that the owners do allow access to the falls, so I took the plunge and went. I'm ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=23     Living Waters is a Christian retreat north of Rosman, NC, in the community of Balsam Grove. They own a stretch of land along the North Fork French Broad River. A quarter mile trail on their property gives views of 3 named waterfalls and 2 unnamed falls. Before hiking the trail, ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=22   Courthouse Falls is a 45 foot waterfall located about 10 miles north of Rosman, NC. It can be reached by driving up Highway 215 to Forest Service Road 140, then driving 3 miles out FS 140 to the trailhead.     The drive out FS 140 is itself very beautiful, as it runs alongside ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=21   Greenville County, SC is home to two very nice old bridges. Both of these had been on my radar screen for a long time, and I finally found the time and opportunity to visit them.     Poinsett Bridge is an old stone Gothic arch bridge built in 1820. All of the photos ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=20   After Jim and I left Pearson's Falls, we headed east to Shunkawauken Falls, which is a roadside waterfall located on White Oak Mountain just north of Columbus, NC. It is rare for a waterfall so close to the top of a mountain to have so much water flow, but a few ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=19   Pearson's Falls is a 90 foot waterfall located a few miles south of Saluda, NC. The property is owned by the Tryon Garden Club. They charge a small admission fee, which is used to maintain the property.       I was joined on this trip by my hiking buddy, Jim. I went on ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=18   Chimney Rock State Park is located about 30 miles east of Asheville, NC.     Chimney Rock towers 315 feet over the parking lot and gift shop. I was joined on this trip by my friend Jim, who is from the Asheville area. We decided to take the longest of our planned hikes first, ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=17   Twin Falls is located about 15 miles north of Pickens, SC. I had been there a few years ago, but wasn't satisfied with the pictures I took, mainly because there wasn't much water flowing over the falls that day. I decided I would return some nice spring day after a recent ... http://ceastronomy.org/rmajor/?p=16