Longest hike of our trip

Coppertone and I had stopped by the trailhead here a couple of days earlier.  We elected to do this one at the beginning of one of our days since it promised to be one of our longer hikes.  The trailhead parking is right off the main road and an impressive footbridge gets you across the Little River to start your journey.

Surprise!  The trail was muddy in spots but nothing out of the ordinary for the area given the recent rains.

The falls at Wolf Creek were interesting in that they are of multiple natures.  First, there are a lower and upper falls.  On its right side the upper falls quickly plummets vertically in the pool below making a thunderous noise.  On its left side the waters hug the more gently sloped rock and slowly slither downward.

The lower falls have a smaller drop.  On the left a small rivulet stairsteps further to the left.  On the right the main flow of water crashes into a boulder halfway down its plunge creating a rooster tail of water that drops into the pool below.  There is plenty of moisture in the air here and the steep rock faces are covered in ferns, mosses and other vegetation.

We had lunch sitting on a couple of comfortable rocks at the base of the lower falls.  Despite all of the other people we'd end up seeing on the trails, about a dozen overall, we had the falls all to ourselves during the entirety of the time we were there.

On the way back to the trailhead we stopped near the halfway point to look at the aquatic life in the small vernal pools that had developed on some of the rock surfaces.  One of the more common pool inhabitants looked like larvae of some kind that attached bits of plant matter to their backs to serve as camoflage.  Our nature observation came to an abrupt end when a couple's dog came running into the shallow pools and disturbing everything.  Time to move on.

Nearer to the trailhead there is a small side trail spur that leads to a picnic bench not far from a smaller set of falls we've termed Picnic Falls.

In the end, 4.78 miles is not too long of a hike for us and the 300 feet of elevation gain is not burdensome.  But when combined with all of the other hikes we've taken this week it began to get a bit draining for us.