TAPOCO LODGE
Outside of Robbinsville North Carolina on a lonely stretch of Tapoco Road is this gem of a hotel. 
https://tapoco.com/. The Lodge was constructed in 1930 by the Aluminum Company of America which was working on hydroelectric projects in the region. The Tallahassee Power Company-"Tapoco" was part of this project. The Lodge was finally renovated and open to the public in the 1990's. Check it out...great place to stay!
YELLOW CREEK FALLS- Just up the road from the Tapoco Lodge is a short trail taking you to a series of falls. We visited there late in the evening and had to rush our hike to beat the sundown but nevertheless found a wonderful mountain creek full of rapids and waterfalls.
The waters flow from a larger waterfall that we unfortunately did not get to see. The larger falls are at the end of a 3/10ths of a mile trail. I include a picture from the site Romantic Asheville.
Downstream is a series of smaller waterfalls and rapids that create a steady roar as the water cascades over rocks flowing into the nearby Cheoah River.
The creek contains smaller rapids that are interesting as well, each forming an ever changing waterfall.
This is a great short trail to visit if you are staying at the Tapoco Lodge or are otherwise lost on Tapoco Road!
JOYCE KILMER NATIONAL FOREST
A few miles from the Tapaco Lodge is the famous Joyce Kilmer National Forest. 
Joyce Kilmer was a famous poet who was killed in World War I in 1918. He is most famous for a short poem entitled Trees. The National Forest is a 3800 acre forest preserves dedicated as a memorial to Kilmer in 1936.
I think I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray
A tree that in summer may wear
A nest of robins in her hair
Upon whose bosom snow has lain
Who ultimately lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree
The trail led up a deceptively steep trail that on the hot and humid morning was more that enough for the FBWG thumper. The trail is also very well traveled and marked. We met many other hikers coming and going along the narrow trail throughout the morning. 
Early in the trail is a neat bridge crossing a mountain stream. The bridge may be easily the 
most photographic feature of this otherwise very boring trail. The trail is really a pretty typical North Carolina mountain trail through the woods. It is devoid of interesting features. It is a nice hike but I was very disappointed with the scenery but liked this bridge!
I have learned that the lower loop was "renovated" by the explosive removal of dead trees in 2010 in a manner that was supposed to imitate a "a natural windthrow". I guess that is what I saw..
At the intersection of the figure eight loops there is a large rock and a small memorial to Joyce Kilmer. It is from this point on that larger trees appear near the trail. One of which is featured at this stop.
Further up the trail are larger trees but in truth I was so bored with the trail that we decided to turn around...I guess the tree poet was not in me that day.
Joyce Kilmer National Forest is a great forest preserve but I was looking for a bit more in a trail experience. We will return next time and I will give it another chance so I am not going to rate the trail. But I will offer a verse from the Joyce Kilmer poem "Folly":
O the folly of the child
The ready courage of the fool
Lord, crush our knowledge utterly
And make us humble, simple men
And cleansed of wisdom, let us see
Our Lady Folly, let us see
The air is like a butterfly...with frail blue wings...
The happy earth looks at the sky... And sings!
- Joyce Kilmer
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