THE VIRGIN

 

 

In 2016 Christy and I took our Spring trip to the Cumberland Plateau.  A major component of that adventure was a backpacking trip to Virgin Falls.  Virgin Falls is my favorite waterfall, and I was eager to camp there after visiting it on several different dayhikes over the years.  Unfortunately, Christy got an ear infection while swimming at DeSoto Falls in Alabama.  That led to a bought of vertigo.  The day we were supposed to start our backpacking trip, she was recovering in a hotel room.  I dayhiked to Virgin Falls that day, but Christy missed it altogether.

 

When we changed our 2018 trip plans from West Virginia to the Cumberland Plateau, I decided to make Virgin Falls a priority.  I never get tired of it, and Christy had only been there once, way back in 2007.  We needed to go back.

 

We broke camp early Tuesday morning and drove to the trailhead for Virgin Falls.  Originally Christy and I had planned to backpack it.  Unfortunately, severe thunderstorms were expected Tuesday night.  The forecast called for potentially violent storms, with possible flooding.  We decided to downsize the Virgin Falls adventure to a dayhike and hit the Holiday Inn Express in Cookeville that evening.  Stephanie was looking forward to returning to her favorite waterfall as well.  Meanwhile, Bo was excited for another hike.

 

Stephanie had a long drive home that evening, so we were eager to get going.  We made it down to the first waterfall, Big Branch Falls, in record time.  From there we descended down to Laurel Creek.  After an easy rock hop we started down into the Big Laurel Creek Gorge.  We made an easy rock hop of Big Laurel Creek, despite relatively high water levels.  Then we headed downstream.  I was dreading this stretch of trail.  I recalled it being a steep, rocky descent, which is the worst type of trail for Christy’s knees.  The trail was much better than I remember it, and this stretch is one of the most scenic parts of the entire hike.  Big Laurel Creek drops over several lovely cascades and small waterfalls, creating some incredible swimming holes.  The gorge features some nice cliff walls, and the wildflowers were outrageous.  The variety of wildflowers in bloom was stunning. 

 

The final descent to the base of Big Laurel Falls was steep, but rewarding.  Here Big Laurel Creek freefalls 30’ in front of the entrance to an immense cavern.  The creek then runs backwards, underneath itself, into the cave.  Then it disappears down a hole.  The water eventually emerges in the Caney Fork, down at the bottom of the canyon.  I spent a few minutes exploring the cavern and taking photos before we resumed the hike.

 

The main highlight of the next stretch of trail was the entrance to Stephanie’s Cave.  It’s a scary hole in the ground just below the trail.  Stephanie had explored it with Spencer a few years earlier.  After using a rope to descend, they found themselves in a room carved from razor-sharp rock.  The floor was riddled with bottomless pits.  Far below, they saw and heard an underground waterfall.  Unfortunately, there was no safe way to reach it.

 

I was content with seeing the entrance.  We resumed the hike and headed over to Sheep Cave.  Here, a stream runs out of a cave and tumbles over a lovely cascading waterfall before freefalling into a sinkhole.  There is another cave at the bottom of the sinkhole, but accessing it is hazardous.  We checked out a both drops before continuing on.

 

The highlight of the next stretch of trail was a huge boulder that was covered with thousands of blooming purple phacelia.  Beyond, we crested a hill and descended to Virgin Falls.  Here, the Virgin River emerges from a cave and runs 100’ before launching itself off a cliff into a sinkhole.  It freefalls 110’ before disappearing into another cave. 

 

We had lunch there and took in the view.  Then we hiked up to the top of the falls.  We spent some quality time up there before heading out.  We parted ways with Stephanie there, as she had time constraints and could hike out much faster than we could.  It was great spending a couple days of our trip with her!  We discovered a waterfall together, camped at an amazing spot that she suggested, and hiked to one of our favorite waterfalls.

 

Our hike out was a long, slow grind.  I was really struggling, which was perplexing.  It isn’t an easy hike, but it felt a lot harder than it should have.  We eventually made it to the car and headed straight to the Holiday Inn Express in Cookeville.  After showering, we hit Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  By that point I was really feeling terrible, like I’d been run over by a truck.  I wasn’t able to finish my dinner, despite 5 straight days of serious hiking.  When we returned to the hotel, I curled up in the fetal position and took a “nap” that lasted the entire night.



Continue reading about our trip as we hike to Savage Falls and Suter Falls in Savage Gulf.


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