I had heard about Joette Carter's hike that she leads on her family property but had never been there, so I called her Saturday morning to see if I could join her. She said come join us, and gave me directions to find the entry point. Not too far from Winchester and a pretty drive to get there.
We had 6 hikers. Some who had been here before, but got to see new places on this hike. We counted 13 or 14 caves, most with water coming out of them or running into them. And two with HUGE entries. Too many waterfalls to count. Joette saved the best for last. I had to just stand there and absorb the beauty, water coming from so many openings in the rock wall and from above and seeing how high the ridgeline was above...so beautiful! If this one was the only waterfall we had seen all day, the hike to it would have been worth it.
And the wildflowers were showing off. We saw trillium, hepatica, stone crop, yellow and purple violets, anemone. From there we hiked a different route from her usual route along the creek, looking for more caves or whatever we might find. And then the climb... you are in a cove and the only way out is UP. We had to think like mountain goats and switchback our way up to the top. I was thankful for the trees to grab hold of. Sometimes they come in that way,says Joette , they slide down thru the leaves. Can't imagine. We saw some house sized boulders on the way along the horse trail.
If you ever get the opportunity to go with Joette, do it. It's worth every minute of it.
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