THE ROAD NEVER TRAVELED
Over
the last few years, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC) has been
working on protecting a large tract of land in the headwaters of the East Fork
of the French Broad River. The property
is adjacent to the South Carolina state line, bordering parts of the Mountain
Bridge Wilderness and the Greenville Watershed.
It contains a number of significant streams and waterfalls.
Although
it hasn’t been publicized, a portion of the property has now been
acquired. Previously it was leased to a
private hunting club, but now it is owned by the State of North Carolina.
A
few weeks ago I was studying a topo map of the area when I noticed a significant
drop on the East Fork of the French Broad River. The map suggested that there would be a
waterfall there, but the falls weren’t labeled.
After I bit of research on the Transylvania County GIS, I determined
that the potential waterfall was included in the tract of land recently protected
by the CMLC. However, the easiest
access, from downstream, was through private property. Since that wasn’t a legal option, I studied
the map for another approach.
An
old dirt road follows the state line south, along the ridge separating the East
Fork and Matthews Creek. It ends at Gum
Gap, where it meets a spur of the Foothills Trail that connects Sassafrass Knob and Jones Gap State Park. From Gum Gap, a network of old roads descends
down into the East Fork headwaters. The
map shows one road descending from the main road about a ˝ mile north of Gum
Gap. It drops down to Hickory Flat
Creek, before angling northwest towards the river. It looked like an easy hike, save for the
final .1 mile. There, the map showed the
old road descending an incredibly steep hill to cross the river just downstream
from the falls. I made a note of this
potential adventure for a possible future hike.
Last
week, Christy suggested doing a hike together.
She hasn’t been able to hike since having knee surgery last fall. She wanted to do something long but easy,
without bad footing or steep descents. I
thought the hike to the mystery waterfall on the East Fork might fit the
bill. The whole hike would be on old
roads, so it should be well-graded. I
was a little concerned about the final descent to the river, but it was only
200’. I thought she could handle it if
we took it slow.
Jack,
Brenda, Jonathan, and Jess all decided to join us. Most of us met at the Sherwood Forest Golf
Course on highway 276 Saturday morning.
From there, Jonathan and Jess rode with Jack, while Christy and I
planned to pick up Brenda on the way.
Brenda can actually walk to Gum Gap from her house in an hour or
less. She planned to meet us on the road
so she could get some extra walking in.
The
drive was pretty easy. The last mile of
Happy Acres Road to Gum Gap had some rough spots that required high
clearance. Fortunately I had driven
Christy’s Honda Element, which was adequate.
If I had driven the Prius we would’ve ended up parking and walking an
extra mile or two.
We
drove all the way to Gum Gap, where the road is gated. There is a fair amount of room to park
here. Unfortunately, we hadn’t passed
Brenda. Jack drove back down the road to
look for her while the rest of us got organized. They returned a few minutes later. The west side of the road is still posted
with private property signs, but they are no longer relevant. The state owns all of the land along here,
but apparently nobody has gotten around to removing the signs.
From
Gum Gap we walked back north along the road about a ˝ mile. We left it at a red gate, which was blocking
another old road heading down to the west.
We followed it down to a junction and bared right. At the next junction we turned sharply
left. From there, an easy descent
brought us down along a hillside just above Hickory Flat Creek. Jack and I explored another spur road here,
which led down to an old hunter’s camp. It
featured the remains of a cabin, with a sign that said “Days Inn”. There wasn’t much left of the old cabin,
though there was half of a toilet in the front yard.
From
there we headed north, above and roughly parallel to Hickory Flat Creek. We passed a junction with a well-traveled
road heading towards Bursted Rock Creek and began to
climb. Soon we were on a ridge high
above the creek, with the cliffs of Turkey Mountain visible on the far side of
the gorge. A bit later we reached a
wide, grassy spot. A fainter road
continued beyond, still on the crest of the ridge. Then it dropped down onto the north side of
the ridge. The East Fork of the French
Broad roared far below. Everything was
going exactly according to plan until the road suddenly ended.
Now
what? I had promised Christy an easy
hike without bushwhacking. She was
giving me the stink eye. Obviously I should’ve
picked a hike that I was familiar with.
Jack,
Jonathan, and Jess had waterfall fever.
They started heading down the extremely steep slope towards the
river. I wasn’t so sure about that
approach. There were some nice looking
cascades below, but no sign of a waterfall.
It had to be farther downstream, which meant that they would probably
come out at the top of it. The tops of
waterfalls are usually disappointing and frequently dangerous. I wanted to get to the base. Regardless, Christy and her tricky knee
weren’t heading straight down to the river.
I
scouted ahead, following the same contour in hopes of rediscovering the
road. That didn’t happen, but I
eventually regained the crest of the ridge.
There seemed to be a hint of a road or trail here, but that may have
been my imagination. At any rate, it
didn’t go anywhere. I found a nice flat
spot on the ridge, but just beyond it dropped off dramatically. I returned to Brenda and Christy, and we all
hiked together to the ridge crest. That
offered a great spot to regroup, eat lunch, and consider our options. By this point, Jack, Jonathan, and Jess were
long gone. We could only hope that they
would stay safe and that we would find them later.
The
rest of us ate soup and sandwiches and discussed our options. After lunch, Christy and Brenda decided to
wait there. I decided to head down to
the falls and look for Jack, Jonathan, and Jess. The dogs and I followed the ridge down, and
while it was steep, the walking was fairly easy. I ended up drifting too far south, so once
the grade eased I began traversing north back towards the river. I reached a steep hillside above the water without
difficulty. However, I was still a short
distance downstream from the falls.
Heading upstream was much more grueling.
The far side of the river looked more hospitable, but getting down to
the water looked tricky, and crossing it in 30 degree temperatures wasn’t
appealing.
I
fought my way along the bank above the river.
The undergrowth was thick, and the briars profuse. Finally I reached a spot where a descent
looked possible. It required sitting and
sliding though, and there was nothing to hold on to. I tried to lower myself gradually, but
suddenly began to pick up speed on the frozen ground. There was no stopping now! I hurtled downward, but managed to stop
myself by catching a rhododendron limb.
From there, the rest of the descent was easy.
Once
at the river, I continued fighting my way upstream through a jungle of
vegetation. About 5 minutes and 50 yards
later, I arrived at the base of a lovely cascade. As luck would have it, Jack was on the far
side of the river, taking a photo. He
had a nice shot from his perspective, but my angle wasn’t very good. I thought about trying to cross the river,
but didn’t see a good place to rock hop.
There were some rocks, but they were all ice covered. He suggested going back downstream and
crossing, but I was more inclined to head up to the main drop.
I
scrambled up under a huge overhanging boulder.
From there, upstream progress would’ve been easy, except that the entire
right side of the river was a sheet of ice.
I scrambled up above the icy area, bushwhacked along a steep slope, and
then scrambled back down to the base of the falls.
I
really didn’t know anything about this waterfall, but I had high
expectations. I was not
disappointed. After a run of cascades,
the East Fork splits into two channels and tumbles over a 50’ sheer drop. More steep cascades are immediately
below. Best of all, the cliff on the far
side of the falls was an amphitheater of icicles. Jack was at the base of the ice formations,
taking more photos. Jonathan and Jess
were also scrambling around on the far side of the river.
Once
again I found myself on the wrong side.
Luckily, I was able to rock hop here by jumping across the main channel
onto a large, ice-free rock. From there
I had a much better vantage for both views and photos.
Jack,
Jonathan, Jess, and I all regrouped there.
They had experienced a hairy descent, featuring a lot of scrambling and
several scary slides. I was glad I
hadn’t followed them, and even more glad that Christy hadn’t followed me. What we had done was exactly the sort of
thing she should avoid. The funny thing
is that I had arrived at the base of the falls only a couple of minutes after
everyone else. They hadn’t stopped for
lunch, while I’d enjoyed a relaxing meal up on the ridge with Christy and
Brenda. So, if approaching the falls
from downstream isn’t an option, it’s best to follow the ridge down to the
river, cross, and then work your way back up to the base of the falls. In other words, follow the road that is shown
on the map – even though it doesn’t actually exist.
We
didn’t linger long. Snow was beginning
to fall, plus Christy and Brenda were waiting for us, and they would be getting
cold. Jack also needed to get home a bit
earlier than normal. After a few photos,
we headed out. Getting back across the
river was the first challenge. I
couldn’t make the jump I’d done earlier in the opposite direction. Luckily Jonathan has really long legs, and he
was able to hop across effortlessly. He
helped the rest of us cross. A steep
scramble up the bank followed. From
there we just headed up by the path of least resistance. I was recovering from a cold, and I was
reminded of that as I struggled to get my breath on the climb. We eventually reached our lunch spot, but
Christy and Brenda had already left. We
continued up the ridge, and found them waiting where the road dropped off the
north side of the ridge.
The
hike out was quick and uneventful. Jack,
Jonathan, and Jess took off, while the rest of us kept a more leisurely
pace. Once at Happy Acres Road, Brenda
turned for home. Christy, the dogs, and
I returned to the car at Gum Gap.
Christy
and I visited one more waterfall on our way home. Once back at East Fork Road, we drove down
into the valley. About 4 ˝ miles from
Happy Acres Road we found a small pulloff on the left
next to a blue trash can and a bright red pole.
There is a short trail here to the base of East Fork Falls. This area may still be on private property,
by CMLC members have permission to hike to the falls.
The
“hike” took about two minutes. A short
but fairly steep descent brought us to a deep pool just downstream from the
falls. This waterfall is only 15’ or 20’
high, but it is an abrupt drop on a powerful river. It’s a pretty spot, too, and it would be a
great place to swim in warmer weather. I
was glad Christy was able to see it, since she’d missed out on the main
waterfall earlier.
I
later learned that the big waterfall on the East Fork is known locally as Reece
Place Falls. I’d like to go back in
warmer weather, when it is easier to explore around the base without all of the
ice.
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