Middle Prong - Panther Creek - Miry Ridge - Lynn Camp Prong

Date: 1/1/16
Distance: 15 miles

I got the new year off to a good start with a nice "lollipop" hike in the Tremont area of the park.  This is the same hike that I did October 2013 except I hiked the loop in the opposite direction.
MiddlePantherMiryLynnCamp

This cascade is about .5 miles from the trailhead.

 I found the old car again off to the right of the trail just out of sight.

 With all of the rain last week, I wasn't able to rock hop the creek at the beginning of Panther Creek.  It was quite cold today and the water was a bit more than knee deep.

 Panther Creek climbed up the mountain very close to the creek for most of the trail.  The trail was a bit rocky and mushy in places.

At the Miry Ridge trail, the creek was left behind and some views started showing through the trees.

 The highest elevation (4700') is reached about 1 mile up Miry Ridge.  There is a spot that opens up to give some really nice views.

From the peak elevation, the rest of the hike is downhill (2nd half of Miry, Lynn Camp and Middle Prong).  I turned off of the Miry Ridge trail when it intersected the Lynn Camp Prong trail.

On Lynn Camp and Miry there were a few rock hop opportunities.

 As I lost elevation, I dropped back into the clouds giving a haunted forest effect.

 Lynn Camp hits Middle Prong after 3.7 miles.  Just 0.2 miles down Middle Prong, a small side trail goes over to Indian Flats falls.

 I crawled down through the Rhododendron to the third step of the falls.  It is actually 4 falls in succession.

It was about 4 miles from the falls back to the car.  Middle Prong is a gravel/rocky road, so the hiking isn't that great.  There are some old artifacts around to keep you entertained though.

 I like this hike because it has lots of variety:  Creek hiking, creek wading, old artifacts, some views, a big climb (3000'), and a nice Waterfall.  

Middle Prong - Lynn Camp Prong - Miry Ridge - Panther Creek

Date: 10/19/13

Distance: 15mi

Today I hiked with the GSHAG Meetup Group.  The hike left from the very end of the Tremont Road.  I didn't realize that the road was gravel, so the drive after turning into Tremont was longer than I expected.

Middle Prong is an old road, so the trail is wide and rises rather gradually.  One of the 1st features of the hike is a very nice cascade that covers about 100 yards

It probably isn't a permanent marker, but this was on the right side of the trail marking a path over to an old car. 

 Farther down the trail, an old chimney was on the left.

There was also a rail and an old bucket on the side of the trail.

A bit before the end of Middle Prong, a trail leaves off to the right for a short distance to a water fall.

 The falls is actually a series of falls.  In the pictures below, I climbed down through the rhododendron to the bottom to take some photos.  The water fall above is at the very top of the series of 3 falls.

 The trail continues up as we turned on Lynn Camp Prong and then Miry Ridge.  It was quite a climb, but didn't seem too steep to me.  We probably climbed for close to 10 miles and then came down in only 5.  The total climb was 2600 ft, so it is a long challenging hike.

At the very top of the climb, there is an opening with amazing views.

Just as Panther Creek gets back to Middle Prong there was a creek crossing.  Several in the group decided to remove their boots and wade.  I just hop rocked across, but I was nervous.  The hikers in the group indicated that the water is often higher and there is no option other than wading.

Back on Middle Prong for the last 2.3 miles to the car, I noticed this cool rock formation on the left.  Didn't notice it on the way up.