Back in the Middle of Nowhere in Tennessee - Fall Creek Falls

After a rather uneventful week in Boomer, I said good bye to the house and North Carolina as I yet again loaded my car and headed to Tennessee. My next place was about 5 hours away in Spencer, TN. I was a bit anxious about this rental because of the uncertainty about internet speeds. When I made the reservation, the host who lived offsite could not verify the internet speeds, but offered a partial refund should I decide upon arrival that the internet is not sufficient for my needs. While this gave me a bit of a peace of mind, I hated the idea of starting to look for another place and move. Besides, renting an Airbnb at the last moment, especially for a longer period of time could be pricey. I also did not want to stress out my cat even more, so I was hoping for the best.

Upon arrival at the cottage, I realized that it was even more remote than I anticipated. The nearest grocery store was 40 minutes away and the gas stations were sparsely spaced out as well. Immediately, I checked the internet speeds... 9 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. My heart sunk a bit. It was slow as I anticipated. With minimal cell connection my hotspot would not be functional either. I had to test the Zoom call. I did a test call and a recording and surprisingly it was not as bad as I thought. While the video lagged a bit, the sound was just fine. There was hope. My attention shifted to the rest of the cottage as I explored my surroundings. It was large with vaulted ceiling, moderately updated and somewhat clean. I could work with that. Downstairs was a bedroom with a bathroom, a kitchen, a large living room and a dining "green" area. Upstairs was partial loft with several beds. The house was designed for family retreats, so for me it was more space than I could possibly need.

Living room with non-working fireplace :(

"Green" dining room

Seating area

Kitchen

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Bathroom with a semi-working hot tub

Bathroom

Outside, the setting was completely private if not isolated. The cottage is set back from the main road with a hill blocking some traffic noise (not much traffic either). Peaceful, quiet, serene.

I decided against unpacking since I have yet to work from this place. I took several days off at the end of the week anticipating to do some hiking in the area, but had to work both Monday and Tuesday. 

I could not let the weekend go by without heading to Fall Creek Falls State Park, 17 minutes away from my rental. The park has been on my to-do list for a while as it is a destination for many because of Fall Creek Falls, so I wanted to make sure this was my first hike. Gorge Overlook and Woodland Trails was the trail I picked to explore the park and find the waterfalls.

The trail starts next to the Nature center with a nice overlook point of the gorge and Cane Falls. The trail then leads around the Nature center and has a set of stairs going down to Cane Falls Cascades followed by a suspension bridge. It took me two attempts to get my courage up to cross it, but proudly, I did it! After a bit of up and down, I got to another lookout point with a different view of Cane Falls.

First lookout point in the gorge; Cane falls are to the left, not pictured.

Cane Falls Cascades

Suspension bridge

Cane Creek Falls are not directly visible from the starting overlook point, but there is another fork in the trail that leads right across from the original overlook point giving better views of the falls, albeit not very much in flow this time of the year.

View from Cane Creek Falls Overlook across from the starting point

Another lookout point along the way is the Rocky point overlook. The side trail took me towards the cliff with some ropes hanging to assist. I was a bit hesitant to get to the large rock across from me, but it turned out to be easier than I thought. The overlook was right across from a higher point that turned out to be Fall Creek Falls Viewpoint. It didn't have clear views because of the foliage, but it felt like an accomplishment to just get there.

The next overlook was from Fall Creek Falls Viewpoint, and the trail started to steeply descend towards the base of Fall Creek Falls. Unfortunately, as many waterfalls in the area, this one had minimal water. Nevertheless, the view was rewarding.

The loop back was a bit shorter, and I was back in my car in no time. The day was not over yet though. I wanted to go to Fall Creek Falls Lake Trail, which became one of my favorites. It is a paved road along the shore of the lake that leads to the lodge. It is easy and yet spectacular.