ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES ON THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU

My first week back in the “real world” following vacation was a job assignment in Decatur, TN. Decatur is in the Tennessee River valley, between Knoxville and Chattanooga. It is close to the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and I hoped to include some hiking in my work week. I was hopeful that would help me overcome the typical post-vacation hangover.

I decided to do an after-work hike on Wednesday evening. My original plan was to hit Laurel Falls in the Laurel Snow State Natural Area. However, I checked the state park website, and they close the gate on the road leading to the trailhead at 7pm. 7pm? In the summer? That’s more than 2 hours before dark in early July. I have no idea why they close it so early. The hike is nearly 4 miles and I wouldn’t get there much before 6, so that wasn’t an option.

Instead, I drove a little further, up to Piney Falls State Natural Area. This one officially closes at dusk, and there is no gate to worry about. It is near Grandview, on the escarpment above Spring City. I’d been to Upper Piney Falls – one of Tennessee’s most beautiful waterfalls – on two previous trips. However, I’d never made it to the base of Lower Piney Falls. There is no trail, and the lower falls are surrounded by cliffs. However, I’d gotten a tip from someone online on the best way to reach it. My goal for the evening was to get down there.

I parked at the trailhead on Firetower Road and followed the trail to a clearing that is full of blackberry bushes. After a quick harvest, I continued down to a junction. I took the steep trail down to the top of Lower Piney Falls. At that point I considered my options for getting to the base.

One approach is to follow the edge of the escarpment on River Left down the canyon, until you find a break in the cliffs. I had tried that on my previous visit, but gave up on it because it was turning out to be a long detour, and my wife was waiting for me at the car. The tip I had received was to try descending on River Right. The topo map suggests that this is a terrible idea – River Right is much steeper overall. However, all you need to get down is a small break in the cliffs. From the brink of the falls it looked like it might be possible to hike beyond the nearest cliff and then descend. However, the vegetation is thick, so I couldn’t be sure. I decided to give it a try. If that didn’t work, I would double-back and try the long way on River Left.

The creek crossing was easy, as the water was only a few inches deep. However, I wouldn’t recommend this if the water is up! The creek had been raging on my previous visit, and crossing wasn’t a possibility. Once across, I climbed a bit to get up and around the cliffs. Before long, I found a steep but reasonably safe route down. It actually would’ve been perfect, except for the hornet I ran into. I took one bad sting to my calf. Luckily there was only one bee – not a whole nest of them. After a lot of swatting and cursing I limped on down towards the creek, following the base of the cliffs. That route led me directly to the pool at the base of the 50’ waterfall.

Lower Piney isn’t quite as beautiful as its upstream neighbor, but it is still quite nice. Water levels were moderate overall, which is actually pretty good for the Cumberland Plateau in July. With temperatures in the 90’s and high humidity, I seriously considered going for a swim in the pool. It was much cooler near the falls though, so I settled for some wading while taking photos.

I returned to the top of the falls by the same route. It would’ve been a shame to skip Upper Piney Falls, and I still had a little daylight to work with. I considered walking up the creek to Upper Piney, but I wasn’t sure how long that would take. Instead, I returned to the main trail and followed it to the falls. I took a few photos and a video there before heading out. It had been a successful, rewarding hike, except for the bee sting.

It was 8:30, which meant that I might make it to Spring City before all of the restaurants closed. Spring City has one Mexican Restaurant, which sounded perfect. However, there were a few red flags:

1) The Mexican Restaurant also serves Italian food.

2) Numerous Yelp reviews had yielded an average score of 1 ½ stars. Is that bad?

3) There weren’t any actual Mexican people working there. No Italian people, either.

I had limited options, so I rolled the dice. It turned out to be pretty good. Go figure. Then again, how bad can Mexican food really be? They put cheese and salsa on EVERYTHING.

I finished work at 2pm on Friday. I figured that 4 hours would be enough for the 8 mile hike to Laurel Falls and Snow Falls, so I drove to Dayton. The Laurel Snow trailhead was surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon. However, most of the hikers were leaving, with the exception of one young couple that was geared up for bouldering.

I started my hike a bit before 3pm. I followed a good trail along an old railroad bed well above Henderson Creek. The creek was running strong, as it has been a wet summer. After a couple of minutes I passed the opening to an old mine. I thought about investigating it, but I knew that I had time constraints. I decided to check it out on the way back if I had time. Little did I know that I nearly ended up spending the night in it.

The easy trail ended where it became necessary to climb the bank away from the creek. There are switchbacks, but they have been cut so frequently that the actual trail has faded and the shortcuts are more heavily traveled. This would be a recurring theme on the climb up to Laurel Falls. Once at the top of the initial climb I followed a decent trail to Laurel Creek. A quick descent led to a rock hop crossing. It was slippery, but I made it across without incident. From there I endured a hot, sweaty, steep climb up the hillside. I tried to stay on the correct trail, but some of the switchbacks have disappeared under fallen trees and thick vegetation. It was a relief when I finally reached the waterfall, which is quite impressive.

I had a tough time finding a good angle for photos, but had the best luck close to the base and around the side. I had a snack there, and a big storm rolled through. Luckily the worst of it passed just to the south. It also brought the temperature down at least 10 degrees, which was a welcome development.

I backtracked to the junction with the trails to Laurel Falls and Snow Falls. At that point I had a decision to make. Did I have time to hike to Snow Falls and then back to the car before 7pm? It was almost 5, but I thought I could do it. This was my first poor decision of the day.

Before long it started raining, so I put my camera in my dry bag. That would’ve been an excellent place for my car keys, but I didn’t think about it at the time. I kept my phone out, since it was in a waterproof case and I needed it for the map. I hiked on through the rain, enduring a slippery descent over an open rock face to a suspension bridge over Henderson Creek. I then hiked back downstream, all the way to the confluence with Laurel Creek. The trail routing is really odd here – they probably added a ½ mile by routing the trail upstream to the bridge and then back down. I noted that a simple ford of the creek would bring me very close to the trail I’d hiked in on. That would be a major short cut if I was pressed for time on the return.

I climbed switchback after switchback until I reached the top of a ridge. At least this trail was in better shape than the trail to Laurel Falls. At that point I checked the time and the map. It was almost 6pm, and I was still 10-15 minutes from the falls. Yikes! I’d never make it. I had to turn back, as I didn’t want to get locked in.

I hurried back down to Henderson Creek. The lure of a short cut was too strong to pass up. If I stayed on the trail I’d be hard pressed to reach the car by 7 without running. I switched into a cheap pair of water shoes. I’d forgotten that they don’t have much grip, but I didn’t want to soak my boots since I was planning to hike Saturday morning.

Foolishly, I carried my boots in my hand rather than tying them to my pack. I was halfway across a wide, gentle part of the creek when I reached the deepest spot. It looked to be nearly waist deep. That’s when I realized that my car key was still in my pocket. Crap. I couldn’t take my pack off, but I couldn’t leave my key in my pocket, either. I didn’t want to go all the way back, as I’d already come quite a distance across slippery, uneven rocks. So, I took my key out of my pocket and stuffed it inside a boot. Brilliant!

I had just passed the deepest spot when I stepped up onto a sloping, slippery submerged rock. The water was cloudy, so I couldn’t see the rock below the surface. I lost my traction and fell backwards, getting a thorough dunking. My boots were submerged briefly when I fell. I pulled myself up quickly and made it to the far bank a few seconds later. I pulled out my socks and dumped the water out of my boots. There was no car key.

The gravity of the situation sunk in immediately. My car was inside a soon-to-be-locked gate a few miles from Dayton, TN, but I had no way to open it or start it. What to do?

I went back into the creek to look for the key. Maybe it sank to the bottom? Unfortunately it was just a plastic key fob, which is very light. I spent 10 minutes blindly searching the creek bottom near where I fell, and downstream. I found nothing but rocks. I searched the bank downstream too, hoping it may have washed up somewhere along there. No luck. It was hopeless.

I decided to hurry back to the parking lot. Hopefully there would be someone there. I figured that they probably checked the lot before locking the gate. I reached the lot just after 7 and met a park employee. I explained the situation, and he called a ranger while I called the nearest locksmith. He did make me feel better when he told me that he had personally lost two sets of keys in that same creek. I also later heard about a dunked camera and a lost phone there. I’m beginning to think that Laurel Snow has some kind of curse on modern technology.

The locksmith couldn’t make my key because it is too high-tec. The Toyota dealership in Chattanooga said I might need to bring the car in to have a key made, which would require 50+ miles of towing. Finally I got in touch with my next door neighbor. She went to our house, found my spare key, and took it to Fed Ex. She had it shipped to the Holiday Inn Express in Dayton for Saturday delivery. The park ranger picked me up and gave me a ride to the hotel. He even stopped at Wendy’s along the way and bought me dinner. My neighbor, the park ranger, and the park employee are my heroes. Without them, I probably would’ve spent a wet, chilly, hungry night in that old mine as storms rolled through.

I spent a boring Friday evening in the hotel. I had only my day pack and the wet clothes I was wearing. My wallet and most everything else that would’ve been handy were locked in my car. A warm shower was wonderful though, and I spent the rest of the evening attempting to watch TV (something I rarely do). I slept well and got up the next morning in time to take advantage of the free breakfast. It was a stormy morning, so I decided against walking 3 miles to downtown Dayton to see the Scopes Trial re-enactment. Instead I wrote this trip report on the computer in the hotel’s business center. Fed Ex delivered my key at noon, 16 hours after my neighbor dropped it off in Charlotte. Isn’t that remarkable?

I called the Park Ranger, and he was nice enough to take me back up to my car. The spare key worked perfectly, and minutes later I was on the road home. Unfortunately, The Lifeproof case for my phone wasn’t waterproof after all. It was well on its way to being completely fried, so I filed an insurance claim the next day. My replacement phone is on its way.

I’ve learned my lesson. For now on, I’m carrying a dry bag on every hike. My keys and wallet will go in the bag at the beginning of the hike and stay there until I’m done. I can also use it for my phone and camera, if necessary.

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