6/24/07 Midnight Hole

With all the deck building and traveling to Atlanta and birthday parties lately, I haven't been able to join my hiking group in a while. There's nothing in the world, however, that would make me miss the trip to Midnight Hole.

The trail is officially called Mouse Creek Trail. It's an awesome little trail just on the North Carolina side of Cherokee National Park (about an hour's drive from downtown Knoxville via I40 East). It's an easy trail that is absolutely covered in butterflies. Like, enchanted forest kind of covered. Like, if you stand still AT ALL, the butterflies will land in your hand kind of covered. (It's also a horse trail, and apparently butterflies have a real thing for horse poo. Don't ask me why). If you like butterflies even a tiny bit, this is the trail for you. It was really awesome. That was cool thing number 1.

(Photo above left: A view of Mouse Creek Trail. Photo above right: 3 blue and black butterflies hover around some leaves. Don't worry, it's not horse poop).

Cool thing number 2 is the waterfall that is roughly 2 miles from the start of the trail. It's not the biggest waterfall around, but the conveniently placed large boulders easily allow for hopping from one to the other for total water fall close-ups. Here we have Amy, Hikemaster Greg and Rich leaping around in true mountain goat form, euphoric from all the negative ions.

Cool thing number 3 is that all the mountain rhododendrons are just beginning to bloom. In another few weeks, this entire trail will be under a canopy of flowers. I managed to get a picture of some of the early bloomers. They're a mixture of pink and white, and trust me, they are EVERYWHERE!

And now, saving the best for last: The Midnight Hole! (This is only about a mile and a half up the trail, so we bypassed it to hit the waterfall first and then hit it again on the way back down). Midnight Hole is a swimming hole with crystal clear water in the shallows with a gradient "2000 Flushes" blue color in the deeper parts. (Making it cool thing number 4). It is fed by a cute little waterfall which cascades between two large boulders of the perfect-for-jumping-off-of variety. (Photo right: Midnight Hole's waterfall and leaping boulders. Photo below: Looking in the opposite direction, down the creek. Notice how clear the water is? I'm taking this picture in over knee-deep water).

Here's Cool thing number 5: The trees along the bank grow right down into the water, so their roots are washed clean from the constant flow of the water. Pretty neat pictures, no?

It's all well and good to see Midnight Hole, but you can't very well visit without going for a swim. The water was a hypothermia-inducing refreshing 50ish degrees, but once you lost feeling in your legs, you didn't notice the cold at all. Of course, the fastest way to get used to the cold is just to jump right in...from the top of one of the boulders that God obviously put there for just that purpose. Rich, Hikermaster Greg and I decided to take up the challenge. (Amy and Andrea opted to forgo the swimming expedition, but were more than happy to video the rest of us idiots adventurers as we conquered the boulders.)

For your viewing pleasure, we have video evidence of the excursion as recorded by Andrea and digitally remastered by Greg before uploading the whole deal on youtube for the world to witness. (You can't really tell it, but I am wearing a top). And just so you know, those rocks are a lot taller than what they look. If you watch closely, you see me standing on the top, looking over the edge. That prayer, by the way, was "Dear Lord, please don't let this be one of those times where an otherwise intelligent person ends up on the six o'clock news for doing something stupid, like jumping off a boulder into freezing water and cracking her skull open on submerged rocks below". Luckily for me though, that water is way way deep, so no one can touch the bottom even if they tried. (Even so, you'll notice that I brilliantly let Greg and Rich go first). Please also ignore the general doofus-ness that is me climbing the rope up the rock, and pinwheeling my arms, and holding my nose. (You know how I am about water up my nose!) Once you do it once however, the adrenaline warms you right up, and you can't wait to jump off again and again and again.

All in all, this hike is probably up in my top 3 favorite hikes. It's the perfect place to bring the whole family. Stop by the KFC at the exit before the one for Waterville Road (#451) and get a bucket of chicken to picnic with, bring your swimsuit and prepare to make a day of it. Mouse Creek Trail and Midnight Hole get two thumbs up in the Quirky Guide to Hiking.