BRING ME ANOTHER SHUBBERY!

Last weekend, my wife and I attempted to do some landscaping. Unfortunately, my idea of landscaping is playing Frisbee with the dog in the yard. Christy’s idea of landscaping is wandering around in Home Depot. Our goal for the day was to hide an area of bare dirt in our front yard near our mailbox. We decided that the best technique for hiding this spot was to purchase a shrubbery. So Christy headed to Home Depot while I played with the dog.

Christy returned with a pleasant looking bush. I grabbed a shovel, but stopped to check the tag to see how big the hole should be. That’s when I discovered that this particular shrub grows to be 12 feet across! This was amusing, because we were planning on planting it between our driveway and our neighbor’s driveway. The driveways are maybe 10 feet apart. Also in the general area are our cable box, our mailbox, a flowerbed, and a good-sized sweetgum tree. I asked Christy is she wanted to ask our neighbors if they’d mind a shrub growing over their driveway. She declined, so I sent her back to Home Depot, instructing her to “bring me another shrubbery”.

Editor’s Note: If you don’t grasp the humor in the preceding paragraph, you really should rent “Monty Python’s Holy Grail”. No, really, you should.

This weekend, I decided to escape yard-work by going hiking. The forecast called for cloudy conditions on Saturday, so I decided to head to Big Bradley and Little Bradley Falls so I could get some better photos. I contacted Jack, who had just visited the same area on Thursday. However, Jack had found the description of a new route to Big Bradley Falls in the new edition of Kevin Adams’ NC waterfall guide. He was eager to try it out, and it sounded like an adventure to me. The new route approaches the falls from downstream, near where Cove Creek joins the Green River. On my last visit to Big Bradley Falls, I had noticed a trail continuing downstream, and had wondered where it led. I had the funny feeling I was about to find out.

I met Jack shortly after 9AM at the Green River Cove Trailhead. This trailhead provides access to the trails in the Green River Gamelands, on the north side of the river. Today though, we’d be heading in the opposite direction. Jack, Saucony, and I crossed the highway bridge over the river and took the first left, passing an inner tube rental stand. Incidentally, tube rentals for a 4-hour float on the Green River cost $12, and the cost includes a pick-up and drop-off. Shorter trips cost less. I suspect that Christy and I will be back later in the summer to try it out.

We continued down the road, which offers public access to NC gamelands. A couple of minutes later, we reached a small parking area and a gate. We continued beyond the gate on the road, and quickly caught up to a pair of hunters. It turns out that it is still wild turkey season. This made me a little nervous, as we weren’t exactly wearing blaze orange. At least Saucony had her red pack on.

We passed several old homesites and barns, including one that was almost completely covered in ivy. Shortly before Cove Creek we reached a fork and turned right. A minute later, we arrived at a freshly plowed field. We wandered around in the mud for awhile before finally regaining the trail on the far right end of the field. We continued up the old road, which was now partially overgrown. This route would probably be very unpleasant in the summer.

Before long we re-entered the woods and hiked to the creek and a ford. The water was fairly low, but an absence of rocks meant that we would have to wade. The water was cool and shallow. We had trouble finding the trail on the far side, but occasional yellow ribbons helped lead the way. The hike from here was slow-going, thanks to occasional deadfall. We climbed away from the creek, only to descend back to it near some nice cascades. We arrived at a second ford, but didn’t cross. We suspect that the trail on the opposite side of the creek leads to a boy scout camp. Instead we continued upstream on a rugged path. Eventually we reached a dead-end at the base of an impressive cascade. The correct route climbs up and around some cliffs here, and I would’ve known that if I’d bothered to read the notes I’d written after my last visit here. Jack didn’t seem to mind the diversion though, as it did lead us to a cascade we would’ve missed otherwise.

We backtracked up and over the cliffs before descending below more cliffs to the base of Big Bradley Falls. We scrambled around the boulders below the falls to find a good vantage point. Although the day turned out to be exceptionally sunny, the cliffs surrounding the falls provided enough shade to provide a decent photographic opportunity. We both spent some time taking photos, and I ate part of my lunch at 11AM, knowing that the strenuous part of the hike was coming up.

Our plan was to hike all the way to Little Bradley Falls. Unfortunately, this requires climbing out of the gorge to get beyond Big Bradley Falls. There are several possible routes, and none of them are pleasant. The direct route involves climbing a rope, and that is one trick Saucony is definitely too old to learn. Another requires hiking back downstream a considerable distance before bushwhacking up. I suggested a third route, which is a steep scramble a short distance downstream from the falls.

We headed that way, and it quickly became apparent that Saucony wouldn’t make it wearing her pack. She was wearing the pack as part of her training for this summer’s trip to Wyoming. I took her pack off and carried it, but she still struggled getting up some of the ledges. At one point, I picked her up and placed her on the next ledge, only to watch her panic and run back down to where I was. This was rather frustrating, and tiring. Eventually I was able to convince her to continue going up, but our progress was slow. The climb is difficult, even if you aren’t carrying a squirming 60 lb dog half the time. On two occasions, Saucony dislodged a rock while scrambling above me. Fortunately, only the smaller of the two rocks hit me in the head. By the time we reached the trail along the rim, I was exhausted. Somehow though, Jack was the one that was bleeding. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he had a pretty good gash on his leg. Well, it’s not a proper adventure without a little bloodshed.

We stopped at the upper overlook, mainly so Jack could clean up and Saucony and I could recover. The view was somewhat diminished thanks to the low water level. The stream splits into two branches at Big Bradley Falls, and the larger branch is hidden behind a large pine tree. When the water is up, the smaller branch is visible spilling over the cliff. Today though, the smaller branch was a mere trickle. Despite this, the overlook provided a refreshing spot for a break.

We followed the main trail out, rock hopping Cove Creek along the way. Near the Holbert Cove Road trailhead we passed the first hiker we’d seen, not counting the hunters we encountered earlier. We reached the road, and crossed it and the bridge over Cove Creek. At the far side, we found two trails. I followed Jack as we took the higher of the two trails. On my previous visit, I had taken the lower trail, which requires fording the creek 3 times. By following the upper trail, we’d avoid two of those fords.

This trail is easy to follow. There are two major forks, but at each we simply beared to the right to stay close to Cove Creek. We crossed a pair of tributaries before the trail became vague. We continued upstream, but quickly arrived at the final ford. This crossing is extremely difficult to rock hop, and the ford was still knee deep despite the low water level. We waded across, and picked up the trail on the far side. From there, we continued upstream, passing through a nasty area of boulders and deadfall below Holbert Cove Road. After that, we passed an old homesite and arrived at the base of Little Bradley Falls.

Little Bradley Falls is smaller than its cousin downstream, but I would argue that it’s actually prettier. Unfortunately, it was in direct sunlight when we arrived, which pretty much ruined any chance of a decent photograph. There was a couple there when we arrived, and I got the distinct feeling they had been enjoying having the place all to themselves. We only stayed long enough for a couple of photos and a snack before heading back downstream.

We returned by largely the same route. However, we took a different approach in our descent into the gorge below Big Bradley Falls. We followed the main trail beyond the overlook until it disappeared near an illegal campsite. From there, we continued in roughly the same direction, heading down towards the creek. There is a faint path in places here, but fallen trees have rendered it obscure. We simply continued heading towards the water, and before long found ourselves on the trail well above the creek. From there, a brief walk along the trail brought us back to the first ford of Cove Creek. We waded across, hiked through the muddy field, and rejoined the old road.

We returned to the trailhead at 3:30. It’s hard to judge the distance we covered. We kept a brisk pace on the old road, but most of the trails we had followed had been slow-going due to fallen trees. The creek crossings had also taken time, and the climb in and out of the gorge probably took an hour alone. I’m guessing we hiked 6 or 7 miles. That may not sound like much, but we both felt like we’d gotten a considerable workout due to the terrain. I’m sure we’ll both be back to explore more of the area. On my next visit, I may have to check out the trail on the opposite side of Cove Creek that might lead up to a boy scout camp. In addition, more side trails in the area promise opportunities for exploration.

Back to The Pisgah Ranger District

Back to North Carolina

Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports

Home

Please remember to Leave No Trace!