11-7-17  on to Whitewater Falls:

After checking into the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Sapphire Valley, we still had about 1 1/2 hours of daylight.  So we went to the little community center in the resort and picked up a map of local waterfalls.  I had read about Whitewater Falls when we were at Lake Lure, but figured it was too far to go to from there.  When I saw it was pretty close to this resort, we decided to go check it out.  The ride there was on curvy mountain highways, but pretty ones.

 It had let up on the rain for the time being, but was still pretty wet.  At least it was still about 60 degrees.

 hit some foggy areas.

 nice dealing with the "traffic" here.

 one of the quirky little shops along the way.

 an old scenic barn along the way

 Seems the trees had more leaves on them here. 

 Found the parking lot and walked our 1/4 mile or so to the falls.

 it was a pretty walk.

  Wow!!!  Upper Whitewater Falls is on the Whitewater River. There is a cluster of falls in the area where the borders of Georgia and the Carolinas come together. Whitewater Falls is part of that group, very close to the South Carolina border.

 zooming in on the upper part of the falls.

 the wide well paved walkway to the falls.

 the 154 steps down to the lower overlook.

 half way there

Whitewater Falls is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies, falling 811 ft. (seems a lot of places claim that!  I do believe this one is longer then Toccoa Falls, but Toccoa Falls may have a longer free falling falls).

 checking out the foliage, too.

 zooming in on the lower part of the falls

 time to head back up.

Definitely worth the trip there.  Only downside was a guy sitting in a truck in the middle of the parking lot.  He was naked and had his door open and was --- well, you can guess.  Too bad there are such deplorable out there.
There is a $2 fee to go here, but the Senior Pass or Golden Age pass is accepted.