I asked Jordan to take me on a picnic yesterday, so he chose a hike through DuPont Forest that included three beautiful waterfalls. So we loaded up the Jeep, the dog, and swung by Fresh Market on the way out.
Let me pause here to say that Fresh Market is one of my favorite places on earth. It's too expensive for my regular shopping trips, but every time I go in there, I feel like I'm walking into a Nora Ephron movie. Pro tip - go early in the morning, like I did yesterday. It's quiet, there's fresh coffee that's brewing, and the pastries are all right out of the oven. Um, YES PLEASE.
Anyway, back to the hiking.
We first stopped at High Falls, which is probably the most visited. There's something about a waterfall that causes everyone who encounters it to just kind of stand there in awe. I think it's a combination of the beauty of the natural phenomenon in front of you, but also the fact that the falls are so loud that they essentially act as a giant white noise machine. Everyone standing there is just cocooned in waterfall sound. It's pretty wonderful.
Tom Hanks had a GREAT time here. We let him off-leash for just a few minutes so he could enjoy swimming in a less rapid part of the river. Don't worry - we were keeping a close eye on him! Pay attention to his very unique "swimming" style...
After High Falls, we hiked up the trail and got to see Triple Falls. This location was a bit more crowded because it was definitely a little easier of a hike to get there, and Jordan likes his nature with a side of "no human person for 100 square miles." So we quickly abandoned ship and found a few rocks on a part of the river where no one else was to eat our lunch.
Lunch was delicious. And, though we brought Tom Hanks' food, he ended up convincing us to give him 5 or 6 of those Pirate's Booty corn puffs. Because he is a dang dirty rat and he gets whatever he wants.
We never actually made it to Hooker Falls (the alleged least impressive of the three), but we were okay with that because a storm was rolling in. About halfway home, the bottom fell out - it was perfect timing!
We had a really great time - it's an easy hike, probably under five miles, with a fairly easy level of incline. There were people there who hike all the time, and obviously also people there who have maybe never hiked before. If you're visiting Asheville, this is a beautiful way to see some waterfalls!
