Cascade Falls

Another great day off in Virginia! A few of us headed to Cascade Falls in Pembroke, VA. I had researched it on the internet last night, and when we saw the pics we decided to make the trip today. It was completely worth it. The falls are near Virginia Tech so I got to see that campus for the first time -- alma mater of Jeremy Bradford and frequented venue of Dave Matthews. The area is breathtakingly beautiful with majestic moutains. I'm not sure WV's mountains can compete ( I hate to admit it). We drove to Jefferson National Park, parked, and then proceeded to read the posted warning about not taking food on the trail because of recent bear activity. Wow. We hurriedly ate our snacks and then headed out on the trail. The trail was beautiful with scenes such as this along the entire way. Christian, Tiffany, and I taking a break from the hike for a photo shoot. You truly can't get much better than this hike. It is a four mile loop with a picturesque view and a nice moderate trail. We did make a stop at this rock for another photo opt.

Tiffy, Me, Marissa, and Christian working out our muscles for the show.

And when we had gone two miles this is what we saw....

How majestic is this fall? It was much larger than we had imagined. It was roaring, and we could feel the mist on our faces. Needless to say, we were all very excited and spent a good hour or so playing around the falls. A few of us were brave enough to head into the COLD water and get pics in front of the falls. Of course, I jumped on that band wagon.

We also had fun playing on the log over the water. This shot is a favorite of mine.

The "girls" of the trip posing as our teeth were chattering.
Then Will found a much closer view of the falls. If you look faintly to the left, you will see us standing together on the ledge of the falls with our hands up. It was great to get the "close up" view of the falls.

On our way out we saw this sign. It was warning how climbing the slopes around the rock cliffs was prohibited. Oops. We were too late.

The walk back was scenic and enjoyable. I must say I like the lower loop trail better than the higher because you follow beside the river the whole time. All I kept thinking was "This is nothing compared to Heaven." By the time we got back, we were worn out and ready for a good dinner.

Thank goodness for Olive Garden! What a great two days off. I can't wait until the next. There is a chocolate festival in Lewisburg on April 18th. We are seriously contemplating it!