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.
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