WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Christy
and I spent most of last weekend at my friend Eric’s wedding in High
Point. Most of the weekend was taken up
with the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the pre-ceremony preparations, the
wedding, and the reception. However, we
did make it over to Salem Lake on Saturday morning for a 7-mile run.
By
Sunday I was ready to spend some time in the woods. Luckily, I managed to talk Christy into
hiking. We left my mom’s place in
Winston-Salem and drove up to Doughton Park. Doughton Park is
part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, located near Stone Mountain State Park outside
of Elkin. We drove to the Longbottom Road Trailhead, which is the starting point for
numerous trails. We met J Bob there, as
he was joining us on the hike. It was
nice to see J Bob, as we’d last hiked together on a snowy backpacking trip in Panthertown Valley in February.
My
original plan was a 10 mile round trip hike to Caudill Cabin:
However,
that hike requires somewhere between 26 and 32 creek crossings. Basin Creek runs right past the trailhead,
and water levels were way up due to the recent wet weather. Getting to Caudill Cabin probably would’ve
been possible, but it would’ve meant being wet all day. We needed a backup plan.
I
suggested hiking the Cedar Ridge Trail up to Brinegar
Cabin. However, that hike involves a 2000’
climb in 4 miles, and that was more than Christy wanted to tackle. Then I remembered a hike that my friend Joel
had mentioned to me years ago. It’s an
off-trail hike to an unusual hanging valley (named, conveniently, Hanging
Valley). The valley features ruins from
some old settlements. Since it is
off-trail, it isn’t well known. For some
reason, I’d never gotten around to checking it out. Although it would be an off-trail hike, I
wasn’t expecting a hardcore bushwhack.
If there was a settlement there at one time, there would probably be
something of an old road leading to it.
We
hiked up the Fire Road, which was rather muddy from the recent rain. We followed along Basin Creek, which was
running full. After about a mile we reached
a crossing of a small creek. I recognized
it as the stream draining Hanging Valley.
Just beyond we spotted an old roadbed heading up the ridge immediately
west of the valley.
The
old road was in pretty good shape, but extremely steep initially. Eventually the grade eased, and we passed
some mountain laurel in bloom. Then the
trail leveled off, before dropping down to cross the creek just upstream from
an obvious waterfall. This caught my
attention, because I was not aware of any waterfalls here. The drop is pretty obvious on the map, but
the stream is quite small. However, with
the high water levels, it looked like it might be worth investigating. It was a bright, sunny day though, so I
decided to save it for the hike out.
We
crossed the creek and continued following the old road along a ridge above the
creek. Eventually we reached the creek
again. After another crossing, a broad,
flat valley opened up ahead of us. It’s
a lovely spot, under tall white pines and stout tuliptrees. The ground was covered in running cedar, and
the whole area looked like it has serious wildflower potential earlier in the
season.
We
strolled into the valley. After a short
distance we spotted two stone chimneys.
We didn’t find much else in the way of ruins, but the chimneys are tall
and impressive. Inside one we found a
geocache, which was last signed in March.
We had lunch there before resuming our exploration up the valley.
We
were just leaving the ruins when the sky suddenly darkened. That’s when we discovered that the valley is
haunted. A witch stepped out from behind
a tree, directly into our path. Christy
and I hid behind J Bob, and the dogs hid behind us. The witch cackled in cruel laughter.
This
wasn’t just any ordinary witch, either.
In fact, it was the ghost of author Ayn
Rand. When J Bob realized this, things
really started going downhill. They got
into an argument about politics, which escalated until J Bob called her a
greedy bitch. The witch retaliated by
turning J Bob into a newt. We begged and
pleaded with her to turn him back (well ok, we asked politely, once), but she
just cackled before jumping onto her broomstick and flying away.
Unfortunately,
unlike this guy:
He
didn’t get better.
We
weren’t really sure what to do with him.
Eventually we turned him loose at the base of a sizeable tuliptree. We
figured he’d be happy there. RIP Bob, or
whatever.
We
explored further up the valley. The old
road faded away, but the hiking was easy.
We followed the stream, which had dwindled to a small brook. We were looking for more ruins, but all we
found were a few piles of rocks that clearly weren’t natural. I’m guessing they were from old foundations,
or possibly collapsed chimneys.
Eventually the flat terrain ended, and we decided to head back.
We
returned to the brink of the falls and took a break there. Christy waited for me, while the dogs joined
me for a good old fashioned bushwhack down to the base of the falls. The descent was steep and slippery due to the
wet conditions, but it wasn’t terrible.
After a short distance I worked my way over the creek, and found myself
at the base of the second substantial drop.
The first is a nice, steep slide, but I never got a good look at that
part of the falls. The second drop was
only 20’ or so, but it was pretty and rather photogenic. It starts as a narrow flume of water beneath
a huge boulder, before fanning out over the rock face in a lovely cascade. There was a bit of deadfall here, so I did
some gardening before setting up the tripod.
I took a few photos, before resuming the descent.
The
next part of the bushwhack was more challenging due to
heavier foliage. Before long I managed
to slide, stumble, and scramble my way to bottom of the third drop. This is an impressive tumbling cascade,
perhaps 30’ high, over an open rock face.
I took a few more photos before pausing to consider my options. From the map, it looked like there was one
more substantial drop farther downstream.
However, the forest ahead looked like a true jungle, and Christy had
been waiting for quite some time. I
decided to head back up, and hike with her back down to the fire road. From there, I’d follow the creek back
upstream to the base of the last waterfall.
The
climb back up was a grunt. I was a bit
out of breath when I rejoined Christy at the top of the falls. From there we followed the old road back down
the steep hill to Basin Creek. Near the
bottom I let Christy rest again while I explored the lower part of the
creek. I took a short cut over to the
creek and headed upstream. Eventually
the terrain got steep, but the creek was largely hidden by boulders, dense
foliage, and fallen trees. I was sure
there would be another waterfall, so I climbed up through the mess. At one point a tree branch knocked my glasses
off my face, and I spent several minutes fumbling around looking for them.
I
thought this would prove to be the low point of my little adventure, but I was
wrong. I finally found them, and resumed
the climb. I worked my way up the creek,
scrambling up boulders and over deadfall.
Finally a waterfall appeared ahead.
What a relief! My relief lasted
all of about 2 seconds. That’s how long
it took me to realize that it was the same waterfall I’d been at about an hour
earlier. Groan.
I
returned by the same route. By the time
I rejoined Christy I was filthy. I was
literally covered in mud. Apparently
this is how I compensate for spending an entire evening in a tuxedo.
The
rest of the hike out was eventful. It
was a great day, with some rarely seen ruins and the discovery of a previously
undocumented waterfall. On the downside,
J Bob getting turned into a newt was tragic.
But I’m sure we’ll move on.
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