Big Green Mountain Summit - 4,200'

Picking out a definitive summit for Big Green was difficult to do as it is so broad and overgrown. This was, to my determination, the thickly vegetated high point of the trail on Big Green...

Big Green Trail - 4,180'

As the path just starts to descend off the north side of Big Green I came upon a recently used campsite and a "Y" split in the trail. Sticking to the 'main trail goes right' rule I took the left split to what I hoped was the third and final overlook...

Big Green Trail - 4,100'

The spur 'trail' to the third overlook was much more overgrown and descended more than the previous two, but the path was still fairly obvious...

Big Green Trail - 4,050'

Breaking out of the trees...I had been right about the spur trail...

Big Green Mountain - 4,050'

The third overlook has a more western exposure than the other two which, unfortuantely, gives it a more commanding view of the neighboring, unprotected Laurel Knob area. Still, it was quite a spectacular place to be...

Big Green Mountain - 4,050'

From the third overlook I did get a better look at the Great Wall which I had been travelling along. This shot doesn't do justice to what a spectacular drop-off the mountainside makes here. It was at this point I decided that, since I wasn't really feeling all that worn out, rather than dropping off Big Green to the west (a more direct route back to my car) I'd backtrack to the Great Wall Trail and check out the Great Wall of Panthertwon from below...

Big Green Trail - 4,150'

Backtracking to the Great Wall Trail was about a 3/4-mile walk but the easy terrain atop Big Green made it a quick return trip...

Big Green-Great Wall Trail Junction - 4,050'

Diving south off the ridge, the Great Wall Trail would take me down to the Panthertown Creek Valley and, as its name implies, along the Great Wall...

Great Wall Trail - 3,960'

The Great Wall Trail descends from the Big Green summit ridge in briefly steep pitches which often have steps to aid you interspersed with rather rocky level stretches...

Great Wall Trail - 3,900'

I loved this spot...the tree covered slopes rising uniformly to each side with their thick green understory of rhododendron...beautiful...

Great Wall Trail - 3,850'

I was a bit surprised to all of a sudden encounter a wooden bridge emerging from the rhododendron but it did help cross a rather steep laurel-choked ravine...

Great Wall Trail - 3,750'

I knew I was getting close to Panthertown Creek again as the trail suddenly began to level out...

Great Wall Trail - 3,720'

Cruising time...looking at the map I saw that for the next mile the trail crossed very few contour lines...perfect for taking it easy and really getting the maximum enjoyment from my surroundings...

Great Wall Trail - 3,720'

It wasn't long after I entered the valley and started heading north that the Great Wall itself began to loom through the trees...

Great Wall Trail - 3,720'

With every step the trail got a bit closer to the wall, which now had started to look even more massive as it rose above the trees...

Great Wall Trail - 3,720'

These tunnels never get old...

Great Wall Trail - 3,690'

I kept an eye out for spur trails to the base of the cliffs. It doesn't look like it from this shot but this one looked promising...

Great Wall Trail - 3,720'

Clamoring over huge boulders (trying not to think about where they had fallen from) I made my way up to the cliffs...

Great Wall of Panthertown - 3,750'

A 'Wall' is a perfect way to describe the southern face of Big Green Mountain. Standing at the base it rises a near perfectly vertical 400'...incredible...

Great Wall of Panthertown - 3,750'

Another angle looking up at the Great Wall...

Great Wall of Panthertown - 3,750'

Looking west along the base of the Great Wall...

Great Wall of Panthertown - 3,750'

Looking east along the base of the Great Wall...

Great Wall of Panthertown - 3,750'

Your neck can get a bit sore if you stay here too long...

Great Wall Trail - 3,690'

Immensely pleased with myself for my impromptu choice to make the trip down to the base of the Wall, I returned to the main trail...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

With all the unusually flat ground surrounding Panthertown Creek in this area it was no surprise to find a plethora of backcountry campsites...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

Behind me, the Great Wall remained a commanding presence...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

As I neared the old hunting shelter the forest changed to one of huge, towering pines...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

I tried to get the story behind the old hunting shelter at the north end of the Great Wall Trail but couldn't find anything. Whatever its tale, it is a well-built structure and large enough to accommodate a number of people...it also has one heck of a location amidst a beautiful old grove of pines...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

Amenities are sparse in the old hunting shelter but it would certainly be a welcome place to take refuge for the night or in a storm...

Great Wall Trail - 3,680'

A last look at the old hunting shelter as I continue on...

Great Wall-Granny Burrell Falls Trail Junction - 3680'

Within a minute or two of leaving the shelter area I turned onto my eleventh trail of the day, the Granny Burrell Falls Trail...

Granny Burrell Falls Trail - 3680'

For most of its half-mile length, I found myself having to hunch over to make my way down the GBF Trail...

Granny Burrell Falls Trail - 3680'

I took a couple opportunities along the GBFT to drop down to Panthertown Creek, which I found to be extremely scenic along this stretch...

Granny Burrell Falls Trail - 3680'

A serene stretch of Panthertown Creek just above Granny Burrell Falls...

Granny Burrell Falls - 3,670'

Before long I found myself at the brink of Granny Burrell Falls...

Granny Burrell Falls - 3,660'

It certainly doesn't win any awards for size, but Granny Burrel Falls was a pretty sliding cascade which looks like it would be a popular place to slide in the summer...

Granny Burrell Falls - 3,660'

Below the falls the river spreads out across a wide bedrock channel before emptying into a large pool...

Granny Burrell Falls - 3,660'

A panorama of Panthertown Creek at Granny Burrell Falls (the falls is hiding in the shadows to the left)...

Granny Burrell Falls-Mac's Gap Trail Junction - 3,650'

Another turn put me back on the Mac's Gap Trail, a couple miles east from where I traveled it earlier...

Mac's Gap Trail - 3,650'

Crossing Panthertown Creek for the last time...

Mac's Gap Trail - 3,650'

The remnants of fall drift lazily down Panthertown Creek...

Mac's Gap Trail - 3,700'

As the trail began to finally climb from the valley it passed through this old pine plantation, reminiscent to me of the many I hiked through up north...

Mac's Gap-Panthertown Valley Trail Junction - 3,730'

Before long I found myself in a familiar place...back at the junction of the Panthertown Valley/North Road/Mac's Gap Trails which I had passed after my descent of Blackrock earlier in the day. This time I'd be taking a left, heading west on the PVT...

Panthertown Valley Trail - 3,730'

This section of the PVT is one of the main entrance routes into the valley from Salt Rock Gap and it shows...

Panthertown Valley Trail - 3,800'

Enjoying the scent of pine and fallen leaves as I walk my final mile of the day...

Panthertown Valley Trail - 3,840'

A wide gravel uphill turn marks the spot where the Deep Gap Trail breaks south while the Panthertown Valley Trail heads towards Salt Rock Gap...

Panthertown Valley Trail - 3,900'

The stretch of the PVT between the Deep Gap Trail and Salt Rock Gap is probably the least attractive trail in the entire Panthertown network. Probably the most heavily used it is starting to show signs of wear...it's too wide for its own good and could benefit from some kind of erosion control...

Panthertown Valley Trail - 3,950'

The uphill grind to Salt Rock Gap...