It's Friday!!!!  In celebration, I've started a new tradition. Fine Art Fridays.

Cane Creek Falls

To start us off, here's Cane Creek Falls.  This waterfall may not be familiar to you, but if you're from around here, you'll definitely know where Fall Creek Falls is.  While not as well known, this waterfall is also at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  It's not incredibly tall like the main falls, but it's much fuller (and I think more beautiful!).

This waterfall is at the bottom of a little thing called the Cable Trail.  This trail has special significance to anyone who grew up going to my church.  My youth pastor love to go hiking, but he didn't like normal hiking.  Let's just say everything Bobby did was EXTREME.  So, when we went hiking we either did a 16 mile Mt. LeConte hike or the cable trail.  When we went hiking with Bobby, we were told if we didn't sweat, bleed, and get wet then we didn't actually hike.

The cable trail is more like rock climbing.  It's pretty much straight down, and they stuck a cable down it.  It gets in your way more than anything else, but I'm sure some regulation said they had to.  The cable trail is probably not even 1/2 a mile long, though.  Once you get to the bottom, this beautiful waterfall is your reward.

It'd have been too easy to stop there.  That wouldn't have even been worth the drive.  Instead, we hiked down the creek.  Creek hopping here is more like rock climbing over white water rapids.  We did this for miles.   I distinctly remember climbing on my hands and knees over a fallen log to the other side of the water so we could play under this waterfall. I remember when there was no other way to go further, we'd inch our way across a rocky outcropping with freezing cold water rushing down it and all over us.  It was cold enough to take your breath away...and of course slippery enough to scare you to death.

I haven't made this hike with the church in years and years.  A few weeks ago, a few of us former youth group members decided to go back.  I sweated, I bled, and I got wet.  Actually it rained off and on, so all the rocks were slippery this go 'round.  You know, I don't ever remember being that sore afterward when I was a teen! It was awesome:)

Lucas and I went back the next day with the camera.  There's NO WAY my equipment could have survived the actual hike!