SHAKEDOWN STREET
Last
weekend Darrin invited me to join him at the Len Foote Hike Inn. Darrin volunteers down there every few months
in exchange for free room and board. The
first several times he worked in the kitchen, helping prepare and clean up
dinner and breakfast. The last few times
he gave an after-dinner slideshow presentation on waterfalls in the
Carolinas. He was scheduled to do the
presentation again this weekend. He’s
allowed to bring a guest when he volunteers, and he was nice enough to invite
me along this time. I was looking
forward to my first visit to The Hike Inn, and hiking in some new areas. Plus, I was excited to see his waterfall
presentation.
Originally
we had hoped to drive down Friday morning.
However, work has been a disaster lately, and I couldn’t get away. In fact, I had just gotten back from an
assignment near Suffolk, VA the previous evening. That had required a 5 ½ drive, much of it on
back roads in northeastern North Carolina.
The highlight of the drive was passing numerous old campaign signs
advertising “Wes Trip for Sheriff”. This
was entertaining because moving the space between the first and last name a
single spot would change the sign to read “We Strip for Sheriff”. That seemed pretty scandalous, at least by
rural North Carolina standards.
I
drove down to Duncan, SC Friday afternoon and rode with Darrin from there. Our reservations for The Hike Inn were for
Saturday night, but we had some other things on the agenda. Going down on Friday enabled us to do more on
Saturday since the drive was already out of the way.
We
drove to Neels Gap, where the Appalachian Trail
crosses highway 19 below Blood Mountain.
We parked at the Walasi-Yi Center (Mountain
Crossing). The Walasi-Yi
Center is famous for a few reasons.
First, the A.T. passes through a breezeway connecting the hostel and the
store. It is the only stretch of the
A.T. with a roof over it. Also, there is
a large tree in the parking lot adorned with at least a hundred pairs of hiking
boots. Boots with over 2,000 miles on them
are welcome in the tree. Finally, the
center’s store offers thru-hikers pack “shake downs”. They claim that they can lighten the average thru-hiker’s
pack by 12 pounds. In fact, the next day
we heard about a female thru-hiker that had just started out with 72
pounds! I hope she stops in at the
store, because she isn’t going to make it very far like that.
We
hiked the A.T. past the store / hostel and continued into the woods about 100
yards. There we found a campsite that Darrin had used previously. We had to make several trips, but we carried
all of our camping gear back there.
After setting up camp we relaxed around the campfire and enjoyed a few
beers. We were a bit chilled despite the
fire. It was under
30 degrees, and there was a chance of snow in the forecast. We ran out of firewood by midnight, but we
were able to stay reasonably warm in our sleeping bags afterwards.
THE HAPPY HIKERS
We
broke camp before sunrise on Saturday.
After oatmeal and coffee, we hiked Darrin’s adopted section of the
A.T. He is responsible for maintaining
the 1-mile stretch from Neels Gap south towards Blood
Mountain. It’s a pleasant stretch,
highlighted by a nice camping area among some interesting rock formations at
the far end. Just beyond that point we
reached a 4-way intersection. The A.T.
continues south from here up Blood Mountain.
A trail starting from the highway north of Neels
Gap crosses the A.T. here and continues around the south side of Blood
Mountain. We met a thru-hiker here as
well. He was on his second or third day,
and was keeping a brisk pace. He had
started early because he had to finish by July due to work obligations.
Back
at the Walasi-Yi Center we met a couple of
employees. After a brief conversation,
we got a tip on a waterfall. The waterfall
is visible from highway 19 a couple of miles up the mountain after passing the DeSoto picnic area and camping area. The waterfall is actually Upper DeSoto Falls, which isn’t to be confused with Middle DeSoto Falls, which is sometimes called Upper DeSoto Falls.
Confused? To clarify, the DeSoto Recreation area features developed trails to two
separate waterfalls. The third waterfall
is farther up the valley, but does not have an official trail. This sounded like something we needed to
check out! Interestingly, all three
waterfalls are on different streams.
Each is on a tributary of the main creek.
First
though, we drove north a couple of miles to the turn for Helton Creek
Falls. After passing some houses, we
followed a dirt road into the National Forest.
It led to a well-marked parking area just above Helton Creek Falls.
A
short trail leads down to a view of the waterfall. Helton Creek Falls features an upper and
lower section. The whole thing is
visible from the approach trail, however, a mess of
dead trees in the foreground ruins any potential for a photo. We continued on the trail, and stopped at the
base of the lower falls first. This is a
nice cascade, but the water levels were so high that our photography options
were limited. The upper falls has a
developed observation deck, which actually provides a good view. While the lower falls are nice, the upper
drop is spectacular. This waterfall was
a great addition to our day that required only minimal time and effort.
We
drove back through Neels Gap and on down to the DeSoto Recreation Area.
We paid the $3 parking fee and hiked the easy trail to Middle DeSoto Falls (called Upper DeSoto
Falls on the trail signs). We had both
been to the lower and middle falls previously.
Each of our visits had been during the summer, and water levels had been
meager. Today the water levels were much
higher. The middle falls were more
impressive, though still unremarkable compared to Helton Creek Falls and some
others in the area.
Just
before the middle falls we spotted an old road continuing up the valley. This is the route to the upper falls, but
there are signs stating that the trail is closed. Also, we were a little pressed for time
because we had to get to Amiacola Falls State Park
before 2pm to check in for the hike to the Inn.
We had no idea how long the hike to the upper falls would take, so we
decided to skip it. We also skipped the
lower falls, because we both recalled it being rather disappointing.
We
hiked back quickly and drove 40 minutes to Amiacola
Falls State Park. Because Darrin was
volunteering, the attendant waived the park entrance fee. When we checked in, we noticed that the Inn
was fully booked for the evening. Oddly,
our names weren’t on the reservation list, but Darrin had talked with the
manager a few days earlier. They knew we
were coming. I picked up a free topo map
showing the trail to the Inn before we drove to the top of the falls to start
our hike. We had some difficulty finding
a parking spot, but still managed to get going around 1:30.
The
trail to the inn is 5 miles from the top of Amiacola
Falls. It has some ups and downs, but is
fairly easy overall. A big sign at the
beginning of the trail states that it takes 3 hours, one-way. We could’ve finished it in under
2 hours, even though Darrin was carrying enough liquor to sedate an
elephant. However, we took a little side
trip that slowed us down a bit.
Officially
there are no waterfalls near The Hike Inn.
However, anybody that can read a topo map can see that is obviously not
the case. The trail crosses two forks of
Cochran Creek on the way to the inn.
Those forks come together at the brink of a huge cliff. In fact, it is the same cliff that forms Amiacola Falls, which is only a
few miles to the west. Darrin had
explored Cochran Creek Falls once before, solo.
He had descended part of the way down the right side of the falls,
before the steep, exposed terrain and poor footing caused him to turn
back. Before we reached the inn, we
wanted to have a look and perhaps make another attempt at a descent.
We
found a faint, unmarked trail branching off about 3.5 miles from the
trailhead. We followed it along a
ridgeline until we found a place to stash our packs. Then we dropped steeply towards the
creek. The descent was a little sketchy,
but manageable. We reached the creek at
a campsite. There is a waterfall here,
just upstream on the western branch of Cochran Creek. However, it is completely enshrouded in
rhododendron, and I couldn’t get a decent photo of it.
Immediately
downstream is a small but pretty waterfall, followed by the main event. Cochran Creek leaps off a cliff there,
freefalling 100’ or so. We eased
ourselves down to the brink carefully and contemplated our options.
We
knew that descending the right side (facing downstream) was downright
dangerous. Darrin had heard that the
other side might be a little safer. He
decided to scout it out while I took photos of the small waterfall just above
the brink. He went upstream, crossed the
creek, and followed a narrow shelf along the edge of the cliff. Before long he disappeared into the
rhododendron.
I
was taking a photo when an air force jet roared overhead. I nearly jumped right out of my boots! The brink of Cochran Creek Falls is not a
good place to be jumping around, to put it mildly.
Darrin
returned a few minutes later. He had
followed the cliff a short distance, but found it sheer and impassable. It’s possible that continuing farther away
from the falls would lead to a point where scrambling down is possible. However, that would be a significant
undertaking, and we wanted to get to the inn in time to take showers before
dinner. Also, Darrin had passed a
memorial on the cliff edge, presumably to someone that had fallen from the top
of the falls. Cochran Creek Falls has
claimed several lives over the years. It
is so dangerous, the state park has attempted to
remove all notation of it from their maps.
We
returned to the trail, gathered our packs, and resumed the hike to the
inn. Before long, we passed an overlook
that offered a view of the Atlanta skyline.
I think I could see Ted Turner’s house!
Throughout
the day, Darrin would occasional bellow “LIPS LIKE SUGAR” for no apparent
reason. He did this just before we
caught up to two guys hiking towards the inn.
This was not the best timing. We
heard enough of their conversation that we could tell that they were gay. And not just gay, but
over-the-top flamboyantly gay. We
have nothing against gay people, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t share a
chuckle or two as we hiked on up the trail.
It
turns out the joke was on us. When we
checked in, we found out that the entire inn had been rented by a gay club out
of Atlanta. There were only three women
on the entire property – Rachel, the education director at the inn, and two
women that were volunteering in the kitchen.
And the only other straight guys there were a handful of employees.
We
checked into our room, which was equipped with bunk beds and a space
heater. We then took hot showers. Afterwards, Darrin began preparing for his
presentation. Meanwhile, I took the tour
of the inn, which was led by Rachel. It
was quite informative, as it focused on the building’s eco-friendly
design. The highlight was an overlook
just beyond the horseshoe pits, which offers a nice view over the foothills to
the southeast.
Dinner
was quite good, featuring roast beef, potatoes, carrots, salad, and bread. During dinner we got to know the other guests
a little bit. Most of them were friendly
and pleasant, but there were a few that were like the guys we had passed on the
trail. Those were so flamboyant that
they were difficult to talk with. One
actually mentioned how distraught he was that he was missing the Olympic figure
skating. I said that I had a strong
preference for the more exciting events, like bobsledding. That proved to be an excellent conversation
killer.
During
the course of dinner I noticed that Darrin and I were the only two guys there
wearing Crocs. Hideous!
I
enjoyed Darrin’s presentation. It
featured a lot of great photos, plus some entertaining stories. It was a packed house – not a single guest
left after dinner. This was the fourth
time Darrin had given the presentation, and it was by far the largest audience. He even admitted that it was a great
crowd. For the most part, they seemed
interested and they asked great questions.
They really seemed to enjoy the photos of waterfalls with rainbows. However, there were a couple of low
points. About midway through, one of the
flamboyant guys asked Darrin if he ever got naked behind a waterfall. Oh myyyyy. Darrin just plowed ahead with the
presentation as if he hadn’t heard the question. A bit later, Darrin showed a photo with his
wife and sons at a waterfall. When he
introduced it, a guy off to my left muttered, “Oh, he’s married”. I nearly snorted lemonade out my nose.
After
dinner, most of the crowd went outside to play horseshoes or corn hole or
leapfrog or something. Darrin and I
collected the booze that he had hauled up the mountain and walked up the hill
to the employee’s quarters. Most of the
beverages were gifts, but Darrin shared a growler of Fire Escape (Asheville
Brewing Company) and some apple moonshine.
We hung out with two of Darrin’s friends, Bill and Critter. Bill is the manager at the inn,
while Critter is an employee that recently finished thru-hiking the Appalachian
Trail. It was a good time, but we didn’t
stay up late. We still had some hiking
to do the next day.
PILGRIMMAGE
On
Sunday morning at breakfast we noticed that somebody had written “DO go chasing
waterfalls” on the marker board. We both
got a kick out of that. Breakfast
featured eggs and bacon and potatoes and grits and surprisingly good coffee.
Afterwards,
I set off on a solo hike. The
Appalachian Trail begins on the summit of Springer Mountain, before running for
over 2’000 miles. It ends on the summit
of Mount Katahdin, in Maine. I’d hiked
up Katahdin 12 or 13 years earlier, with my wife, Christy. However, I’d never been to Springer. The Hike Inn is only 4 ½ miles from Springer
(one-way). I thought if I hustled I
could hike there and still make it back in time for lunch. Darrin decided to stay behind to spend more
time with his friends. Plus he was
cooking lunch for them, so he didn’t really have time to hike.
I
continued on The Hike Inn Trail, which continues north another mile beyond the
inn to rejoin the A.T. Approach Trail.
This stretch of trail was easy and pleasant. Once I reached the Approach Trail on the ridgecrest, the weather changed
dramatically. It felt 20 degrees colder
there, but that was probably mostly due to the wind. It was howling across the ridge, and the bare
trees offered little in the way of shelter.
With temperatures below freezing, I donned a hat and gloves. The good thing about the cold was that it
kept me moving. I managed a strong pace,
hiking to the summit of Springer in about 2 hours.
Springer
is a neat mountain. Normally there is a
view from there to the south, but on my visit the peak was lost in the
fog. Still, the summit features a
gnarled, old tree. There is also a trail
register, and plaque commemorating the A.T., and the first of thousands of
white blazes. It was too cold to linger
there for long though. I hiked back
quickly, returning to the inn around 12:30.
Luckily, Darrin had saved me some pizza, which was hearty after a cold
hike.
The
hike back to the car was fast and easy.
We passed lots of dayhikers along the way,
along with many of the guests that were staying at the inn on Sunday
night. At one point our conversation
turned to trail names. A.T. thru-hikers
normally give each other nicknames, or trail names. We aren’t thru-hikers, but Christy once gave
me the trail name “Fungi”. Darrin had
taken to calling himself “Galax”. He had
failed to mention that during his presentation, for obvious reasons. Clearly, Darrin needs a new trail name. His wife suggested “Blazer”, but that seems a
bit shady, too. Let’s see if we can find
a more suitable trail name for him.
Below are some suggestions – comment if you have other ideas!
Galax
Blazer
Stephon
TrailMagic
HikerFairy
DoubleRainbow
LipsLikeSugar
Thanks
again to Darrin for inviting me along and letting me be a freeloader all
weekend. It was fabulous!
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