Feb 6 Three Sisters to Orrell Road

 

Five friends tackle the Three Sisters Ridge at Hanging Rock on a stunning Winter day. All of my Three Sisters treks have started at the Visitor Center parking area and headed up the asphalt walkway toward Hanging Rock. We are very pleased to hear that a new trail is being built to bypass this walkway and the steps - all of them. Park staff and FSM volunteers have already made some progress on this trail. AND have cleared much of Sheeprock Road coming from the other direction. 

First stop along the way is the cantilevered rock, or balanced rock as some prefer. The graffiti here has been partially removed.  

Following the wall to the cave is considerably easier now that this place has been discovered and a pathway clipped through the briars. Continuing along the wall, I had previously climbed up it but if you just continue it is a much easier ascent and you get to see this cool anvil rock from below. 

Someone took my photo while on the anvil. I wish I had that shot to post here.

Is it "Big Sister" or "First Sister". We don't know. I use both terms. There was that newspaper clipping that named them Saura, Cheraw and Catawba following the plight of the Saura from one tribe to the next. I assume the big sister is Saura and the next two follow as that was the sequence going from being their own group, the Saura and then assimilating with the next two as their numbers dwindled. 

After crossing the sisters, the views to the south open up and rock ledges line the ridge. 

Lunch was here at the keyhole overlooking Flat Shoals Mountain and much of the recent additions to the park.

Instead of dropping down Sheeprock as had been my route through here, we descended on the newly cleared Sheeprock Road and made a big swing to get on the south side of the ridge. Actually, this was all done on an old road which led to Stegosaurus Rock, above.

We followed the road all the way to a falling down tobacco barn near the fields along Mill Creek. 

I had intended to follow an old road to the fields at the end of Orrell Road, but I navigated us off that track and we ended up walking this way and that until we ended up in the fields. Along the way, we got to see the bottom side of all the dumps along Orrell Road. Tires go downhill easily.

Here is Hikes End at this beautifully crafted chimney.