Adventuring with friends is my absolute favorite – especially if it means visiting a place that my friends truly love! I recently visited Helton Creek Falls with Correy, and I was delighted that he shared it with me because its one of his favorite places; he visits time and time again.
The hike to the falls is short, but the drive to the trailhead is a little bit longer – and on this particular day, we were not in one of the Jeeps (blasphemy, I know) but were instead in my Tesla Model Y. The road was a little bit rutty, and there were a few spots that I wished for a more rugged set of tires under our seats, but we made it in and out without issue. It wasn’t even the most questionable trail I’ve taken a luxury car on, haha!
The trail ends at the falls, with a nice observation deck that provides optimal viewing. On this particular morning, I had not brought any camera gear, just my most minimal bag with my Mavic Mini 2 drone, Arrow. I go through phases of carrying all the things to carrying barely anything at all, usually just dependent on my mood.
Helton Creek is my favorite kind of falls – loud, imposing, stacked rock that rises into the sky, the kind of place that I could spend for hours, listening to the water as it plunges into the pool below. The white noise is captivating, and seems to help clear some of the static from day-to-day life.
We spent a little bit of time exploring around the observation deck, and I even scooted out to the pool on a fallen log. I didn’t have on waterproof boots, so my exploration was limited by my desire to stay dry for the day. Sometimes, we have to choose self-care, whatever that might look like! Some days it’s about diving in, other days it looks more reserved.
Every adventure starts, contains and ends with coffee, so we promptly headed for Sweetwater Coffeehouse in nearby Sautee Nacoochee, GA. This tiny little hometown coffeeshop had a Tesla destination charger, which we gladly used – even though it wasn’t something required to get home, it was nice to top up – and they also had a delightful collection of stoneware. My main adventure buddy, Teri, who couldn’t make it on this outing, has a connection to dragonflies, so I gleefully sent her photos of their beautiful dragonfly collection.
I love this little coffeeshop, and definitely added it to my “love” list – it has a centralized location to many of the unexplored parks and falls that are on the adventure map in that area, so I know we will be back.
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