1/22/2022

If you were hoping that I was going to be spending last night with wild women in Nashville, well…sorry to let you down. At some point yesterday evening, the amount of alcohol flowing in Nashville and the number of women showing interest in me just felt suspicious. I felt like it was all somehow a trap, like that scene in Cold Mountain where Jude Law gets trapped in a house full of women and moonshine, when all he really wants is to be back with Nicole Kidman (that’s right, a Cold Mountain reference. Believe it or not, that will not be my last Cold Mountain reference on this trip). No, Nashville was not the town for me. As night fell on the city, the crowds downtown reached a fever pitch and the streets became intoxicated and overwhelmed with clouds of marijuana all over the place. The city had nothing to offer but vice, and I longed for the country. In the country a man can fill his spirit.

I was out of Nashville early this morning, around 7:30 am, and I immediately drove east. The temperature outside was 17 degrees. My destination was Fall Creek Falls State Park, and as I drove there the Tennessee country changed once again on me, this time to scenes that resonated a bit more with my soul. There were mountains, forests, and cattle ranches all around. The roads and people seemed a bit more down to earth. Yes, if I were to live in Tennessee, it wouldn’t be in Memphis or Nashville. It would be in this part of Tennessee. In the east.

If you’re heading to Fall Creek Falls, make sure to consult a map first. It’s actually kind of tough to get to the place. Siri does a good job dropping you near the entrance of the Park, but the actual trails of the Park largely embark from a place called the ‘Nature Center’ which takes a bit of exploring to find. Once I finally found the right spot, my plan was to hike the Paw Paw trail, as my internet research told me that the Paw Paw offered the best views in the park.

However, something just felt kind of off as I embarked on the Paw Paw trail. For one, it was a really tough trail to keep track of, like it hadn’t been used in quite some time. As a result I had about three false starts on animal trails before finding the actual, dedicated trail. The other bizarre thing about the trail was how empty it was, and how it seemed to be taking me further and further away from the gorge and the spot where I knew the falls were located. Finally, around a mile into the trail I found a spot with an overlook of the underlying gorge and my time on the Paw Paw got really bizarre.

Alone on the Gorge Overlook was a guy who appeared to be in his mid-20s. He was a pretty big guy, probably about 6’2″ and with a burly beard, and he was doing yoga on the overlook and deep in meditation. With him was a bag of granola, some water, and a small boombox that was blaring deep fried southern rock. It was a weird thing to behold. I decided to ask him if he knew where the waterfall views were that were described online.

The man sat silent and still for about 10 seconds, making no indication that he had registered my presence or question. Then he deeply exhaled, completely zen, looked over at me and said in a scruffy voice with a deep southern accent, “You ain’t gonna find views of the waterfalls on the Paw Paw.” I told him what I had read online. “Well, there’s another overlook about another half mile up the Paw Paw, and you can try it and kind of see a waterfall from there, but it’s not a good view. No, if you want to see them waterfalls, you better go back to where you started and find the Fall Creek Falls trail next to the Nature Center.” He nodded to himself. “Yeah, the Fall Creek Falls trail will take you where you need to go.” He looked back out at the gorge and never looked back at me again. The boombox still blared southern rock.

“Okayyyyy, thanks, man,” I said and got out of there. I decided to head further up the trail to the next overlook just to check it out. It was kind of tough to get to, with creek crossings, huge logs on the trail etc. The man was right though, the view was nothing to write home about. I guess the lesson there is that if you have a choice between trusting the internet or some burly dude doing yoga on a gorge overlook, trust the burly dude. I didn’t see anyone else during my time on the Paw Paw, but my bizarre interaction with Paw Paw Man (as I’m going to call him) doing yoga from his overlook perch will always stay with me. You keep on keep’n on, Paw Paw Man.

I hiked out of the Paw Paw and back to my starting point. Unfortunately my time on the wrong trail had me logging around 3 miles and I still hadn’t seen a single waterfall. I looked around the Nature Center and found the trail that Paw Paw Man referred to. It was immediately apparent that this trail would take me where I wanted to go. The trail started with a massive, very unstable and tough to walk, suspension bridge:

I made it to the first overlook on the trail, which offered excellent views of Cane Falls. The cold, January frost provided the perfect backdrop for the day.

The trail next meandered a mile down river to the park’s namesake: Fall Creek Falls. At this point I was feeling pretty happy with the views, and snapped a shot of myself.

But then, the trail continued, providing an option to drop into the gorge and get right up next to the falls. Unable to pass on the opportunity, I took the trail. As I approached it, two men were carrying a woman out of the gorge. It looked like she had broken her leg, an ominous sign of things to come.

I’m going to be honest, this was probably the most dangerous hiking experience I’ve ever been on in my life, and I’m lucky to not be in the same state as the woman. Though the trail only added an extra half mile to the hike, as you dropped down into the gorge, the mist from the falls filled the space and covered everything. Due to the temperature (which was about 28 degrees at that point), the mist would immediately freeze on everything it touched, covering the entire trail in an insanely slick black ice. Further down on the trail, huge icicles creaked and cracked and crashed directly onto the trail at random, posing extreme danger. I did my best not to fall or get impaled, but unfortunately I did fall once when a couple came up with their golden retriever and it jumped at me. I hit the ground hard on my right hip and pinky finger, but I don’t think I broke anything. The girl was like, “sorry” in an annoying valley girl accent and they walked off.

I inched, literally inched, my way forward on the path, but finally I made it. I stayed there for quite a while. The view was absolutely worth it, as the frozen waterfall was a thing of stunning quiet and beauty, like a prayer.

Finally, I started to inch my way back and noticed that the pain from my fall was starting to get pretty bad. My pinky was swollen and my hip throbbed, ached, and seized with every step. I took another selfie which wasn’t as smiley as the last one. A bit more of a grimace than a smile.

After what felt like hours, I was able to climb out of the gorge and hiked my way off the trail. What was only supposed to be a few miles worth of hiking for the day ended up being around 6.5-7 miles due to my time on the Paw Paw, with the last mile or so being in a lot of pain. It was a pretty exhausting adventure. When I got back to the Nature Center, I found a vending machine selling Gatorade and bought one. Gatorade never tasted so good.

From there I had about a four hour drive to get to my lodging for the evening here in Asheville, North Carolina. The drive was gorgeous, as it took me right through a place that I will need to come back here some day to really explore. The place was a giant, legendary mountain range. Song after song has been written about the place. It made my mouth drop from just how pretty it was, sitting there shining in the afternoon sun. I was floored by the beauty. The Smoky Mountains:

Now I’m in Asheville, and so far I love the place. I mean, can I just move here? It’s great! And my hotel (a simple, straightforward Holiday Inn this time) has a great restaurant, and a coffee pot in the room. It’s already kicking that Nashville hotel’s butt.

We’ll see how adventurous I get and what I end up doing here for the next few days. I already have some ideas, and if they work I think you’ll be seeing some pretty awesome blog entries coming out of Asheville. But a lot of it depends on how I’m feeling tomorrow after my fall. As for now, it’s time to pop some Tylenol and go to bed. The day was worth it though. My spirits feel restored after my week in the cities.

My time in Tennessee is now over. I will tell you that you can spend a lot of time in life trying to find a place with more diversity, beauty, culture, and fun, and even then you will probably fail at finding a place that beats Tennessee. The State is just a State that hits on all cylinders. It has something to offer everyone, and if you’ve never been, well you’ve gotta go! I know I’ll be back someday, as I’ve only just begun to understand the place and there is so much more now that I want to see and experience.

Cheers,

-Rob