where i finally climb that f#@&ing mountain and see the cascade

the last time we were here in gatlinburg, i took a group of adventurers (max, jimmy, kelsey, and liam) on a 4-mile (each way) hike to see the ramsey cascade, the tallest waterfall in GSMNP (100 feet). the cascade is deep in the park, and just getting to the trailhead required driving 5 miles into the interior, most of it on unpaved roads (and no cell signal, as max kept lamenting). long story short, due to a slight (major) logistical error on my part, we parked about 2 miles from the actual trailhead, which resulted in excess hiking and us having to turn around with 2.5 miles still to go to reach the waterfall. fortunately, matt and katie (those guys again!) happened to be hiking up the trail behind us, so max, jimmy, and kelsey continued back up the mountain with them and got to see the ramsey cascade. i didn't get there, to my great disappointment, and i vowed that if i ever came back to GSMNP, i would climb that f#@&ing mountain and see the cascade.

and now, here we are. bright and early wednesday, max and i dropped holli, liam, and henry off in front of a pancake place in downtown gatlinburg (after breakfast, they were going to spend the morning/early afternoon using the golden ticket to check out all the stuff on the main drag), and we headed to the greenbrier park entrance. cell-phone service predictably faded as we drove to the trailhead, to max's dismay, and off we went.

the first mile and a half were not bad, with some moderate hills mixed with long flat sections. the trail follows the little pigeon river (or small tributaries thereof), so the sound of water running through rocks and rapids was never far away. not too long into it, however, we reached the 1.5-mile mark, which is as far as i made it two years ago. everything from that point was new to me. it was old hat to max, who just wanted to get on with it already.

after that point, it got hard. the ramsey cascade trail is listed in the various literature (hiking books, online, etc.) as "rugged," "difficult," or "strenouous" (or some combination of all those), and with good reason. the trail gains over 2000 feet in elevation over its 4 miles, and due to erosion, roots and rocks were constant obstacles. still, it wasn't so bad, and we made good time and passed several groups of hikers along the way.

shortly after the 1.5-mile mark (2.5 miles to go), we encountered the first (of 2) narrow bridge over the adjacent stream. max and friends had told me about how rickety and alarming the bridges appeared when they did this hike 2 years ago, but they either exaggerated the danger, or the bridges were rebuilt in the meantime (my theory, as the first bridge was completely moss-, lichen-, and algae-free).

mother nature was against us, at least a bit. several large trees had fallen over the trail, but they didn't slow us down too much. it became a joke, as we expected mother nature to eventually say, "my previous obstacles haven't stopped them. send in the bears!"

the area around the ramsey cascade trail includes large sections of old-growth forest that have never been logged (according to several sources, the national park designation was due in part to protecting old-growth forest in the face of excessive logging). we progressed into an area with big oaks, maples, and hemlocks, as well as several immense poplars.

while taking a break and photographing the huge poplars, i realized that i had put my backpack on a log with some interesting fungi. they looked like a pancake stack, which seemed appropriate considering my pancake-loving kids.

after that, the trail really started living up to its "rugged" and "strenuous" description. constant uphill with roots, logs, rock piles, and more, with nary a flat section to give us a breather. someone (park personnel, i would assume) helpfully constructed crude rock stairs in several places, which made things slightly less taxing.

finally, we made it to the top of the trail and received our reward: the ramsey cascade. it was very impressive, and i'm glad i was finally able to make it up here. supposedly there are salamanders in the pool at the bottom of the falls, but we didn't see them. after relaxing for a long while, taking about a million pictures, and eating some oranges and granola bars, we reluctantly headed back down the mountain. this turned out to be much easier than going up.