barnwood to whoever would do it. So he called the guy and made arrangements for us to go look at it. Old barnwood, after all, is highly desirable; people have been known to pay top dollar for it, but the possibilities are really endless. After talking it over, we decided that enough salvageable wood might make it worth the effort to dismantle it. 
This morning dawned bright and clear, and saw us on the road fairly early, with Lugnut in tow.Being as sick as he has been for the past two months, we felt like the excursion might do him some good, now that he's finally showing signs of improvement.
It took us about an hour to get to Mountain
City...a lovely drive, by the way....and since the property was right off the main drag, we found the barn fairly quickly.
At one time, it must have been a truly
magnificent structure, but is now sadly
dilapidated. Still...it was two stories' worth
of beautifulwide-plank Hemlock....and well worth a little sweat-equity on our part to procure.
Not being ready or willing to start such a pro
ject just then, however, left us in an interesting predicament: nothing to do, and a whole day in which to do it. A perfect day for exploring the extreme northeastern-most corner of the state.
Back when I first moved up here, I had done some research to find interesting sites to explore,
and had run across a place called Gentry Falls, the trailhead of which was supposedly located in a wide spot known as Laurel Bloomery....the northeastern-most town, if it can actually be called such. After a quick lookup online, I managed to find a blog with directions to the falls, (which were purported to be spectacular, and well
worth the 2 1/2 mile hike each way), and we were on our way.
We didn't have much of a problem finding the trail, although we did
question the long, very narrow gravel road we had to take to get to the trailhead. But once there, we set off, very excited to explore the beauty surrounding us. The woods were extraordinary in every sense of the word, and the trail started of straightaway following the path of the creek. According to the notes on the website I'd found, the path
was supposed to meander back and forth across the creek, crossing it a total of 13 times, with four wooden bridges.
Silly me. I didn't realize it meant actually crossing the creek. As in 'take your shoes off or suffer the consequences' crossing.
The first two times the path crossed didn't seem too bad. There were nice stones that Mother Nature had placed well, and we managed the crossing without mishap or wet socks. Even poor Luggy, our hydrophobic puppy, was able to keep his paws dry.
The third time, the stones started getting just a wee bit wobbly. And the water was a wee bit deeper. And faster. And I struggled to get across. Luggy fared better, but not by much. And we ha
d to do a lot of ....er....encouraging to get him there.
The fourth time, I tried taking my shoes off. But then I had to put them back on. And off. And on.
By the seventh crossing, I was just doing my best to keep my balance in the rushing water....forget the shoes. And Luggy had pretty much given up not trying to fall in. After that, it was just more of the same. A lot more. And those wooden bridges? Fuggedaboutit.....apparently, they'd been torn down, or burned down, or vandalized, or something, because there was nothin
g left but the pylons....and some charred remnants of the lumber.
On the way, we crossed through some of the most incredible woodlands imaginable: the epitome of primordial forest. Deep fields of ferns, so high over Luggy's head, he was all but buried except for his leash, small cascades, one after another, and the most incredible array of every shape, size and color mushroom I've ever seen! I won't try to post pics of them here; there are way too many. But for those who are interested, I'll be posting them on my facebook page....just incredible!
One thing I will say; the person who wrote that blog on the trail info lied. If that trail was 2 1/2 miles long, I'll eat my hat
. It was easily twice that long, we both agreed, and I'm not just saying that because we were tired. It actually took us about three and a half hours to get to the falls.
Seventeen crossings and a pile of boulders later, we actually did make it to the falls. Was it worth it?
Oh, yeah. Every slippery stone of the journey.
The falls themselves are breathtaking. There are two sets, an upper and a lower, much like Twisting Falls, but on a much s
maller, and much more forested scale. As with Twisting Falls, we'd been bypassed by several groups of explorers on the trail, heading for the cool refreshment of a summer dip, and by the time we'd gotten there, they were deep into their explorations of the upper pool, with one or two stragglers left below. Since accessibility to the upper pool is not without its dangers (read: only the stupidity of youth would attempt it), we elected to rest and play a bit in the lower shallow pool at the foot of the falls with Lugnut. He enjoyed playing with his daddy immensely, along with all the attention he garnered from his newfound buddies. The water, however, he could have happily done without. Still, he was a trooper.
We stayed about an hour before heading back. We'd have loved to have stayed longer, but the day was slipping away, and considering how long it had taken us to hike in, we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get back before dark.
We did manage to get back a bit quicker than we'd come in, due to being able to get in a rhythm with the creek crossings, something that had taken a bit of getting used to on the way in, but by the time we got back to
the truck, my recently wounded leg was once again
throbbing with pain, and I could feel every inch of the muscle I'd pulled in my thigh that had landed me on ice and limping with a cane a few weeks earlier. Given the extent of the injury, I was more than pleased that it had held up so well through out the entire day of strenuous walking and climbing, only giving out at the very end.
Poor Luggy, though.....what a trooper! Exhausted, the little fellow stretched out full length on the seat between us, and never raised an eyelid the whole ride home. It was a very full day for us all.
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