SLIPPERY WHEN WET

Last week a job assignment sent me to Dalton, GA. Instead of enduring a 6+ hour drive home through Atlanta on Thursday evening, I took the scenic route. I drove back roads across northern Georgia, passing through Ellijay, Blairsville, and the resort area around Chatuge Lake. The drive featured some nice scenery and an impressive number of speed traps.

I was planning to meet Brenda Friday morning to hike in Tallulah Gorge State Park. That meant that I needed to find a place to camp Thursday night. Camping at Tallulah Gorge State Park would’ve been convenient, but the fee there is $40 per night. That’s about $40 more than I like to spend for a night of camping. Instead, I decided to head to the Tallulah River headwaters northwest of Clayton. It is one of my favorite areas, where I’ve backpacked several times over the years. I’d never car camped there, but I knew there were several forest service campgrounds along the river, as well as some primitive spots along the road.

From highway 76 I took Persimmon Road to Tallulah River Road. Before long I reached the first campground. The road is well above the campground, and I had a good view of it. The place looked packed! I was not expecting a crowd on a Thursday night in late April. I spotted one vacant site directly below the road, so I knew that it wasn’t completely full. I drove through the whole campground, and it was the only empty spot. I knew there were two more campgrounds farther up the road, but this one was the most convenient. I decided to take it.

I was setting up when a fellow from the next campsite wandered over. He told me that people had been driving through the campground all day looking for a site, but somehow everyone kept missing the one I’d taken. It was a little hard to see, because it’s a bit above the road and behind you at an angle as you are driving through. I asked him what was going on, and he told me that it was Rabun County Days, or something like that. He said that every campground in this corner of Georgia was likely to be full all weekend long.

It was 4:30 when I finished setting up camp. I decided to spend the last few hours of daylight hiking. First I drove up the road a short distance to a small parking area at a bridge over the Coleman River.

My first hike was the Coleman River Trail. It runs for about a mile, from the confluence of the Coleman and Tallulah Rivers upstream. It’s a pretty easy hike for the most part, at least until the trail disappears in a series of blowdowns at its end. Along the way I passed a nice campsite, some lovely creek side scenery, and a few wildflowers. I saw some dwarf iris and wild geraniums, but most of the trillium were only on the verge of blooming. I did find a few catesby’s trillium in bloom, which was the highlight of the hike.

Afterwards I drove up to Tate City, GA. I knew I had arrived when I passed a sign proclaiming “Welcome to Tate City – Population +/- 32”.  Tate City is a former mining community turned retirement village.  The picturesque valley now harbors a handful of lovely horse farms and a few impressive homes. There is also a barn with “See Tate City” painted on the roof. Tate City is a lot like Rock City, except without the annoying tourists. Also, fewer rocks.

At the far end of Tate City I crossed over Denton Creek. Originally I’d thought about hiking to High Falls on Beech Creek, but I didn’t think I had enough time. Instead, I hiked up to Denton Creek Falls. Just before Denton Creek is a narrow forest road. I drove up it a short distance to a pulloff. Although the road continues, I decided to park the Prius and walk from there.

A short walk took me past several primitive campsites that were vacant. The drivable road ended at Denton Creek, which I was able to rock hop. The wildflower display beyond that point was impressive. Most notable were violets, dwarf iris, and large flowered trillium. Before long the road forked, and I turned right to head back towards the creek. A few more minutes of hiking past more wildflowers brought me to the base of Denton Creek Falls.

The waterfall is maybe 30’ high and fairly scenic. It was 7pm, but incredibly the light was still bad. The waterfall faces due west, and the setting sun was still high enough to shine directly on it. I thought about waiting around for conditions to improve, but I was getting hungry. Instead I took a few photos before heading back.

That evening I had a pasta dinner and went to bed early. I had no firewood and no beer, so I skipped the traditional camping experience.

The weather forecast called for rain and thunderstorms late Thursday night through Friday morning. Brenda and I were hoping to hike the gorge floor in Tallulah Gorge State Park on Friday. However, the park closes off access to the gorge floor if it is raining or if it has rained recently. Our backup plan was a hike to Panther Creek Falls, which is nearby.

I got up at first light on Friday morning, made coffee, and began breaking camp. I was almost finished when it started to rain. Luckily the shower passed quickly. I finished packing, drove to Clayton, and continued on to the state park. By that point the sky had cleared up, and the weather wasn’t looking very threatening. I went to the visitor’s center to see if we could get a permit for the gorge floor. The place was nearly deserted, except for one excitable ranger. I was pleasantly surprised when he told us that they would be issuing permits for the gorge floor.

The river is dammed a short distance upstream from the gorge. A few times a year water is released for recreational or aesthetic purposes. That’s when the river and waterfalls look their best, but the gorge floor is inaccessible during those times. I’d still like to go back and see the river during one of the releases.

Brenda arrived a few minutes later. We picked up our permit and hit the trail. The gorge floor hike is an off-trail adventure along the Tallulah River, from Hurricane Falls downstream past Cascade Falls and Oceana Falls to Bridal Veil Falls. From that point, it’s possible exit the gorge on the Sliding Rock Trail. The full hike requires two river crossings and a sketchy descent of an open rock face adjacent to Oceana Falls. For Brenda and me, it sounded like a great time.

We started out on the north rim, where we were treated to aerial views of L'eau d'Or Falls. Then we descended 500 or 600 or 700 steps to a suspension bridge high above the river. On the far side we descended more steps, before reaching the river just downstream of Hurricane Falls. There is a limited view here of Hurricane Falls, but the best views require crossing the river. Anybody can hike this far, but continuing beyond this point requires a permit.

We scrambled out onto a rugged, slick rock face. Crossing it was awkward, and it led to the river ford. A series of boulders spans the river, and when water levels are low it is theoretically possible to get across without getting wet. However, it isn’t your typical rock hop. The boulders are huge, and irregularly shaped. Crossing on them requires some serious gymnastics in the best of conditions.

I lowered myself off a boulder, straddled a narrow but deep and swift river channel, and scrambled up onto a wet, slippery boulder. I paused there so Brenda could catch up. She had some trouble lowering herself from the first boulder, and in the process she fumbled her trekking pole. It went straight into the river, and was quickly swept into a deep pool just downstream. It caught up in an eddy, and I thought she would be able to retrieve it. However, instead of scrambling back across the boulders we had traversed, she took the direct approach. After shedding her pack and camera, she went straight into the river. I wasn’t so sure about this strategy, but by the time I realized her intentions, it was too late to stop her.

She was quickly swept out into the deep pool. She worked herself back to the rock face we had scrambled over, but couldn’t find a place where she could climb out. I eventually worked my way back over to her, and she pulled herself out using my trekking pole. Unfortunately, by this point her trekking pole had been swept downstream.

Brenda was a bit shaken from her misadventure. She had also banged her side at one point, and suspected that she may have cracked a rib. We took a few minutes to regroup, but it was no use. She had completely lost her confidence. She had no mojo, and was in no condition to resume the adventure, which had really just begun. At this point we were directly below the last tourist overlook with the partial view of Hurricane Falls.

We discussed our options. Ultimately we decided that I would continue on solo. Meanwhile, Brenda would climb the steps up to the south rim. From there, she would hike down the Sliding Rock Trail to Bridal Veil Falls. If all went according to plan, I’d meet her there in a couple of hours.

I had some difficulty of my own crossing the river. I made it half way across, before reaching a tricky stretch. I was on an awkward, pointy boulder, and I needed to get to a wet, slippery rock below me on the far side of a major river channel. It looked like an easy jump, except that the pointy rock I was perched on was an extremely awkward launching point. There was another rock that I thought I could lower myself to, but it was partially submerged and looked slick.

I wasn’t too concerned about falling in the river, except that I was carrying my camera in my pack. It was in ziplock bag, but I didn’t have much faith that the bag would hold up if I dunked myself. If you ever do this hike, bring a proper dry bag for your camera, phone, and car keys!

I chickened out, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Plan B was to wade the river. It’s quite deep in places, but I thought I could work my way across carefully on submerged rocks. I’d failed to bring river shoes with me, but Brenda was happy to lend me hers. Luckily they fit reasonably well. Even with the water shoes, the crossing was treacherous. The submerged rocks were unbelievably slippery. At one point I still had to wade through waist deep water. Despite the challenges, I made it across unscathed.

The view of Hurricane Falls from the far side is fantastic. Just seeing it from that angle made the crossing worth the trouble. I was taking photos there when two college girls arrived. They crossed the river in about 60 seconds, which was pretty embarrassing. I think Brenda and I had spent an hour there already.

I hiked downstream a short distance before taking a few minutes to look for Brenda’s trekking pole. I ditched my pack and rock hopped out into the middle of the river downstream from where I’d crossed. I reached a deep, swift channel with no obvious route across. From there, I gazed across the river and spotted her pole stuck in a hole on the far side of the river. I wanted to retrieve it, but didn’t see a way to get there from where I was.

I switched back to boots for the hike downstream. Most of the hike was across an awkward assortment of rocks and boulders. Before long I reached the base of Cascade Falls. Cascade Falls is a high waterfall on a small tributary. From the bottom of the gorge, the view is limited to the bottom 50’ or so, but it still adds some nice scenery to the hike.

From there, the brink of Oceana Falls is visible. Getting to the top of the falls is a bit of a challenge. I started across a sloping, open rock face. The rock was exceptionally slippery, and there was nothing below me but the river. I stopped, packed my camera, and switched back to the water shoes. They gave me extra traction for the crossing.

I had second thoughts at the top of Oceana Falls. A smooth rock face extended below me, ending in a deep pool at the base of the waterfall. The ranger had told us to avoid trying to walk down the rock. Instead, the preferred method of descent is the butt scoot. However, it isn’t a butt slide – the last thing you want is to pick up momentum. You want to make the descent one step (or scoot) at a time. I zig zagged around as I descended, looking for cracks and bumps in the rock that offered more traction. About 1/3 of the way down I reached a steeper stretch, which was disconcerting. I found my way past it, and the rest was easy. Once at the bottom I stopped to take photos of the falls. Oceana Falls is a sliding cascade, but it was beautiful with the vibrant green of the gorge, blue sky, and Cascade Falls in the background.

A short hike from there brought me to the brink of Bridal Veil Falls (aka Sliding Rock). I arrived just as Brenda was finishing her descent of the Sliding Rock Trail on the far side of the river. After a few photos, I tackled the final challenge of the day. The river crossing at the brink of Bridal Veil Falls was even more slippery than the one upstream. It’s necessary to cross along the lip of a rock shelf to avoid deep water. Unfortunately it is exceptionally slick, and the current is strong. A slip there will send you to the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls. That’s not necessarily a major issue – it’s called Sliding Rock for a reason – but it wouldn’t be good for a camera.

Somehow I made it across without incident. Brenda and I had lunch, before descending to the base of the falls for more photos. From there, we noticed another high waterfall on a tributary stream just downstream. As far as I know, this one is unnamed.

Before we left a couple of families arrived. One of men had actually carried a toddler in a backpack all the way down from the base of Hurricane Falls. Those folks took turns sliding down Sliding Rock, which provided us with some entertainment before we hiked out.

The climb up the Sliding Rock Trail was pretty grueling. The steep hillside was one rock after another, but we eventually made it to the top. From there, we hiked the south rim. We stopped at several overlooks, enjoying views of Oceana Falls, Hurricane Falls, Cascade Falls, and Tempestra Falls. We also spotted quite a few wildflowers. Crested dwarf iris were abundant, and polygala and bellwort added beauty to the hike. From there we crossed the highway bridge / dam to get to the north side of the river. Once on that side, an easy walk along the North Rim Trail returned us to the Visitor’s Center.

Tallulah Gorge offered a fun little adventure with some great scenery. Hopefully if we go back Brenda can make it all the way through!

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