OUR BAND OF HEATHENS
Heathen: (1) of or relating to Heathens, their
religions, or customs
(2) strange,
uncivilized
I
finally managed a winter car-camping trip last weekend. This trip included one night of relatively
primitive car camping with a variety of hikes to a bunch of waterfalls. The trip featured an interesting cast of
characters that rotated throughout the weekend.
The
trip started as they usually do – with a pre-dawn departure from Charlotte and
a long drive to the mountains. I left in
a downpour that made the drive more exciting than normal. It had been a rainy week, but the heaviest
rain had fallen Friday night. I was
hopeful that all of the rain would add volume to streams that were already
running strong thanks to a wet winter.
I
drove to Walhalla, SC and continued on to the Stumphouse
Tunnel Park. I arrived at 10am, which
was convenient, since that is when the park opens. Luckily, the rain had stopped a few minutes
earlier. Brenda had arrived just ahead
of me. She made a quick visit to the Stumphouse Tunnel while I got organized. Several other cars arrived at the trailhead
as we were getting ready for the short walk down to Issaqueena
Falls. Since it is just a short stroll
to the overlook, I decided to leave Boone and Kona in the car. The dogs were not happy about this decision.
This
was my second visit to Issaqueena Falls. It was definitely more impressive this time
around due to the high water levels.
However, I was still a bit disappointed.
It’s a high waterfall, but for some reason, it just doesn’t strike me as
being particularly pretty. It might be
nicer in the spring with green vegetation.
We
took the goat trail from the overlook to the base of the falls. This trail may be officially closed,
depending on whether a “trail closed” sign that has been uprooted is
valid. As often happens in these cases,
my selective illiteracy kicked in, and we scrambled down to the bottom of the
falls. The trail is in poor shape due to
erosion, and I’ll avoid it in the future.
The view from the bottom still didn’t excite me, at least in terms of
photography.
The
scramble back up provided us with a good warm-up for the more substantial
hiking to come. We returned to our cars,
and relocated across the highway to the Yellow Branch Picnic Area. There were no other cars there, so I released
the hounds for the 1.5 mile (one-way) hike to Yellow Branch Falls.
Although
I’d driven right past the Yellow Branch Picnic Area numerous times over the
years, for some reason I’d never hiked to Yellow Branch Falls. Most of the time I’d planned to hit it on the
way back home, but ran out of time. The
one occasion that I had specifically planned to hike to it had been during a
drought. After seeing only a trickle of
water at Issaqueena Falls, I’d decided to skip it.
Lack
of water was not likely to be a problem on this day. The trail crosses a small stream several
times early on, and we actually had to rock hop carefully to keep from getting
our feet wet. Aside from the crossings,
the hike to the falls was fairly easy on a good trail.
Yellow
Branch Falls was roaring. The creek
drops about 50’, and the waterfall is nearly as wide as it is tall. I rock hopped just downstream from the falls
to get to a better vantage point for photos.
Brenda crossed farther upstream, and we eventually met up near the base
of the falls across from the end of the trail.
We were taking photos here when the dogs decided to go crazy. Kona got a case of the zoomies. This was a regular occurrence when she was a
puppy, but hasn’t happened much lately.
On this occasion, she grabbed a stick and raced in circles around Boone
at full speed. Periodically she charged
head first up the side of a cliff.
She
eventually tired herself out, and we rock hopped back to the other side of the
creek. We were debating whether to eat
an early lunch or hike back when I spotted a compelling vantage point for more
photos. This spot was farther
downstream, just below a small but pretty cascade. Unfortunately the angle from the near side of
the stream was poor due to heavy vegetation.
A good photo would require crossing the creek. I didn’t see a plausible way to rock hop, and
crossing farther upstream and then working my way back down wasn’t
practical. The temperature was in the
low 40’s, and I was still recovering from being sick. Despite all of these factors, the potential
photo was compelling. I decided to wade.
The
crossing was painful, but I think it was worth it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9067009@N03/8508405451/in/set-72157632862250026/
After
Brenda saw my photo she decided to cross, too.
However, she outsmarted me. She
found a log where she could jump to a boulder in the middle of the creek. She then jumped to a couple of other rocks to
get the rest of the way across. I had
considered that route, but didn’t think I could make the jump to the log on the
way back. What I failed to realize was
that there was a small notch on the far side of the log just big enough for a
foot. Brenda was able to use that
foothold to straddle that half of the creek and then scramble back up onto the
log.
We
had lunch and then returned to the cars.
We headed up the mountain, as we were planning to meet Darrin around
2:30 for our next hike. Briefly I
considered trying to squeeze something else in, but ultimately I decided that
we didn’t really have enough time to do much.
We drove over to where the Foothills Trail crosses highway 281 just
south of Whitewater Falls. Darrin
arrived a few minutes later, and he rode with me to our next destination,
Crevice Falls.
Originally
Brenda planned to skip this hike, but we talked her into joining us. We drove up to highway 64 near Lake Toxaway and headed towards Cashiers. I used a topo map
and the GPS on my phone to guide us from there.
We found a pull off on 64 just beyond the gated road we planned to hike.
Crevice
Falls is on private property, but currently it is undeveloped and unposted. That could
change at any time, so I was eager to check out the waterfall while it was
still more or less accessible. In fact,
the property is currently for sale:
http://blog.ncliving.com/2012/01/majestic-waterfall-property-in-sapphire-north-carolina/
Aside
from hiking, one of my hobbies is shopping for mountain property that I’ll
never be able to afford. I’m sure this
tract fits the bill!
We
parked and walked back up highway 64.
This was easily the most dangerous part of the whole weekend,
particularly since I had two dogs on leashes.
Darrin took Boone for me, which made things much more manageable. Luckily the walk up the highway only took a
couple of minutes.
From
there, we followed a gravel road parallel to Indian Creek. The entire hike was through a quiet, foggy
forest. Before long the road ended, but our destination was already in
sight.
Crevice
Falls is spectacular. It’s probably 100’
high, and it drops almost vertically off an impressive cliff. The upper portion features a freefalling spout
of water that is staggering. I’ve seen
hundreds of waterfalls over the years, but I immediately knew this one was
special.
We
hurried towards it, eager for a better view. Obviously the high water level
added to its beauty, as the waterfall is pretty close to the headwaters of
Indian Creek.
The
foggy, overcast conditions were ideal for photography. We spent a considerable amount of time
exploring the area and taking photos before heading back.
From
there, Brenda headed home, while Darrin and I continued on. We picked up Darrin’s car, and drove towards
the Ammons Branch Campground, which is between
Highlands and the Chattooga River. We
were on Bullpen Road when we spotted Johnny’s truck. Next up on the agenda was a short bushwhack
to a waterfall on Scotsman Creek.
I’d
hiked to this waterfall 5 years earlier.
On that occasion, the route was a steep bushwhack that featured a fair
bit of crawling through the rhododendron.
This time, the hike was practically civilized. There was a beaten path the whole way, and
the only tricky part was the final scramble / butt slide down to the creek. That brought us to the base of the falls.
Johnny
was waiting for us there, having arrived a few minutes earlier. Everyone took photos of the waterfall, which
is one of the prettiest in the area.
It
was getting late, so we eventually scrambled back up to the road. Originally we had planned to camp at the Ammons Branch Campground, but that would’ve required
driving another 10 minutes. Instead we
doubled back to a primitive campsite we’d passed earlier. It’s on Scotsman Creek, just upstream from
the road. It was a fantastic spot,
offering everything I love about the Ammons Branch
Campground. The scenery was pleasant,
the privacy was wonderful (one car passed by while we were there), and of
course we were surrounded by tremendous hiking options.
Johnny,
Darrin, and I had a great evening. We
enjoyed a roaring campfire, even if Darrin burned through our wood rather
quickly. He made up for that by
providing everyone with plenty of Appalchia-ritas,
made from Apple flavored moonshine from the Dark Corner Distillery in
Greenville.
We
headed to bed rather early, which was probably a good thing. I slept great, despite Boone’s repeated
attempts at crawling into my sleeping bag late that night. I guess it did get pretty cold, as everything
was frozen the next morning.
We
got up shortly after sunrise for breakfast and (lots of) coffee. Afterwards, we broke camp and headed over to
the Sloan Bridge Picnic Area, where we met Jonathan. Jonathan is a serious whitewater kayaker (he’s
run the infamous Green River Gorge over 1,000 times), and an enthusiastic
hiker. I met Jonathan recently at a
party in Greenville, and invited him to join us on one of our excursions. I was glad that he was able to come along.
From
there we drove a couple of miles down highway 107 to the trailhead, where we
met Brenda. There is a large pulloff there, just south of the actual trail, which is a
gated logging road. It’s a good thing
there was plenty of parking, because we used most of it. I was a little embarrassed that the five of
us all arrived there in separate vehicles.
That was unavoidable though, since each of us had arrived at different
times throughout the weekend.
The
plan for Sunday was to explore the waterfalls in Bee Cove. Brenda and Jack had done this hike the
previous spring, and Darrin and I had been eager check it out. Originally Brenda wasn’t planning to hike
with us on Sunday, but she had enjoyed her first visit to the area so much that
she decided to join us.
This
was an unusually large group for one of our off-trail exploratory hikes. With Darrin, Johnny, Brenda, Jonathan, and me,
along with Boone and Kona, we had quite the merry band of hikers. The only person missing from the regular
group was Jack.
We
followed the old logging road for the first hour or so. At one point we missed a right turn onto
another road, but Brenda realized our mistake quickly. We followed this second road to a point on
the ridge overlooking the Bee Cove and Wilson Creek valleys. Wilson Creek joins Bee Cove Creek just
downstream from the waterfalls. By
chance, Jack and Brenda had also discovered a small but pretty waterfall on
Wilson Creek on their earlier visit.
Aside from the waterfalls in Bee Cove, we all wanted to see the
waterfall they had found, which they’d named “Surprise Falls”. I also wanted to explore farther upstream on
Wilson Creek, as it looked like it could have additional waterfalls.
We
headed down steeply through open woods towards Wilson Creek. Our rough plan was to hit Wilson Creek
upstream from Surprise Falls. We’d
follow the creek downstream to Surprise Falls, which is just above the
confluence with Bee Cove Creek. From
there, we’d hike upstream along Bee Cove Creek, exploring its waterfalls along
the way.
The
hike to Wilson Creek was easy until the very end. The last stretch was a very steep descent
through a rhododendron jungle. We
reached the creek at a flat stretch, but from the terrain, it looked like there
could be a waterfall upstream. We fought
our way through heavy downfall in that direction until we reached a point where
we could see upstream. Although there
was an impressive cliff above us on the far side of the creek, there weren’t
any waterfalls here. At the time, I wasn’t
exactly sure where we were on Wilson Creek.
Later I concluded that we were too far upstream to find waterfalls.
From
there we climbed back up above the creek and hiked parallel to it, heading
downstream. It’s possible that we could’ve
missed a waterfall doing this, but I don’t think there was anything significant
down there. Before long we found
ourselves on the ridge separating Bee Cove Creek and Wilson Creek. It’s possible to follow this ridge all the
way down from the logging road. That
would be the easiest route if you want to visit Surprise Falls and all of the
waterfalls in Bee Cove.
Just
before the streams joined we scrambled down to the base of Surprise Falls. Surprise Falls is a small but pretty
two-level cascade. It’s most impressive
feature is the cliff on the far side, which features a sizeable cave. It’s possible to hike through the cave. We hopped across the creek between the two
levels of the waterfall and scrambled through.
This brought us down to the pool at the very bottom of the cascade.
From
Surprise Falls we headed up Bee Cove. We
climbed up to the ridge initially, before following the hillside above Bee Cove
Creek. Before long the
first (lowest) waterfall on Bee Cove Creek appeared. We followed a scramble path down to the
base. Here we had a nice view of the
final drop, and the next waterfall was just visible above.
All
of the waterfalls in Bee Cove are nice, though most are somewhat littered with
deadfall. Also, it was a bright, sunny
day, which is terrible for waterfall photography. I can’t complain though, as conditions on
Saturday had been perfect.
I
didn’t put a lot of time or effort into photography on Sunday. Instead I focused on enjoying the hike and
the companionship of my friends.
It
was a fun hike. We worked our way slowly
upstream. Most of us would climb back up
along the hillside to get to the next set of falls, which required a lot of
climbing and descending. Jonathan took
the direct route a couple of times though, simply climbing up alongside the
falls. We all tried that approach one
time. At one point we found ourselves
crawling between two massive boulders along a narrow shelf above the
creek. Like I said, it was a fun hike.
All
too soon we reached the base of the upper-most waterfall. This is the most visited waterfall in Bee
Cove, as there is something of a trail (marked with ribbons) connecting it to
the logging road. We hung out there for
a while, reluctant to head back.
Eventually we did though, and I think everyone got a little overheated
on the hike out.
Bee
Cove was a fine ending to a fantastic weekend.
It was great getting so many folks together. Hopefully Jonathan will be able to join us
again on another adventure.
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