Chasing Waterfalls - Brasstown Falls

So the night before leaving South Carolina, I managed to make it to one last waterfall - Brasstown Falls. Which means... I made my goal of seeing 10 SC waterfalls! If/when I make it back to visit my Brooks buddies, maybe I'll take my pack and do another one. I was thinking I could after In the Heights, but Woody won't respond as to whether or not I can work, so it's not looking good.

So Thursday night after packing up all of my worldly possessions and loading up the truck, I headed out for this one last South Carolinian hike. It started out well... I got lost and ended up in Georgia. :-P I realized where I went wrong and finally made it to the trail head. The trail was nice and short and flat... until I got to the actual falls. There's a steep, rocky cliff that you have to fight your way down. As I climbed down as gracefully as possible, I realized that there were half a dozen people watching me. Apparently it's a popular spot.

The falls had three tiers. The first is where all the people were watching me look like an idiot.



They were nice and moved for me so I could get some people-less shots of the falls, though.





As I was about to head to the second tier, one of the guys came up to me and said that I probably didn't want to take the lower trail since there was a yellow jacket nest hidden somewhere and a couple of guys got stung about 20 times earlier. If that man ever reads this blog... thank you. lol

I opted to take the high road, as it were, and fought my way to the second tier of the falls. The "path" was steep, rocky, and exhausting. I made it to he second tier, though, and it was awwweeeesssooommmeeeee.







This is the first one I've seen that you could stand under like a shower. lol

There was a third tier, but I was tired and in the middle of moving, but here's a shot looking over the edge:



There were some more people down there swimming, and I didn't feel like fighting my way over more cliff while people watched me flail. lol

This was definitely one of my favorite series of falls, but I wish it had been more secluded. (Although the warning about the yellow jackets was nice!)

I'm excited to start getting out to see some PA waterfalls. I'm ordering this book from Amazon. I think it's the same person who wrote the SC Waterfalls guide I was using. My friends and I have also talked about going to Ricketts Glen State Park for a weekend and seeing the waterfalls there.

Seeing as this was my last SC waterfall for awhile, I had to get an awkward pic of me in front of it!

Chasing Waterfalls - Station Cove Falls

I visited my 9th SC waterfall the other night. I waited until the last minute again, and had to hike in the twilight. I went to Station Cove Falls, out past the Oconee Station State Historic Site. Apparently there are more trails and a pond and some old buildings, too. If I had more time here, I'd totally check it all out.

It was a half-mile hike both ways to the falls, so a nice evening hike. It started out fairly uneventfully. No other people around, no other cars in the parking area, so I knew I would be alone at the falls. I think the trail ran close to the pond, though. At one point, I could hear something like a quadrillion bullfrogs croaking. I'm pretty sure God stores his frogs there when he's not using them for Biblical plagues.

I hurried along to the falls to try to beat the darkness and avoid getting attacked by an army of frogs. About halfway there, I came to this:



The lower branch was about stomach-high, and there's about 3 feet between the branches. My choices were to go through or under. Well, I chose through. My problem was, I kept picturing huge spiders and nasty bugs getting on me while climbing through, so I tried to make as little contact with the tree as possible. I basically got a running start and Superman-ed my way through, and had to tuck-and-roll on the other side. It worked out better than I expected - I'm still alive. :-P

I hiked a bit farther and came to the falls. I looooved these falls.
































It was secluded, but easy to get to. The falls were tall and gorgeous. There was ample room to jump around on the rocks at the base. It was pretty sweet. I poked around for awhile and tried to find some kind of wildlife... well, I got my wish:



I didn't get too close, and we had an understanding. As long as he stayed on his log, we were cool. It was getting dark, though, and I had to head back. Leaving the falls, I saw something odd:



I'm not sure if this is an art installation... a statement of some kind...? Maybe you can listen to the sounds of nature better through the headphones? Was there an audio tour that I didn't know about? I thought about taking them, if for no other reason than to throw them away, but they looked happy there. Who knows, maybe the owner will come back for them.

I got back to my roadblock and went under this time... a much better decision. It got dark quickly in the woods, so by the time I made it back to my car, I could barely see. No bears/wolves/rabid frogs got me, though.

I have one more waterfall to see before I leave. I'll just have to let my parents entertain themselves for a couple of hours some day. I'm only one away from my goal of 10; I can't stop now!

As per tradition, some supremely awkward pictures of me at the falls:

Chasing Waterfalls - King Creek Falls

I'm running out of time to see the 10 South Carolina waterfalls that I wanted to see before leaving. King Creek Falls makes 8. Last night around 7:30PM, I decided that I could make it there and back before dark. I actually did it. It was only about a half-mile hike one way. I would have had even more daylight, but I missed the parking area and drove around the mountains for twenty minutes.

When I finally found the parking area, I had to go down a gravel road for about a quarter mile, till I reached the quarter mile-long trail. On the trail, I made a friend:



Since I was in a hurry to beat the darkness, we didn't really have time to bond and I didn't name him. I continued on the nice little trail till I found the falls. There was only one couple there, that I can only describe as hippy-looking. They had two very friendly dogs that I got to pet. They left pretty much right as I got there, though, so once again I had some falls to myself!















































It was very pretty and I'm not gonna lie - whenever I'm alone at a waterfall, I'm tempted to just strip down and play in the water. I've restrained myself thus far. :-P

I didn't stay too long, but I had a look around before heading back. I did have a bit of an awkward photo shoot, just for my blog readers. :-P























I have 2 more falls to see before I leave. They're both fairly easy/short hikes, so I can do them after work. So look forward to at least two more SC waterfall posts!

Chasing Waterfalls - Pigpen and Licklog Falls

I don't know if I've posted it on the blog, but I made a goal to see 10 different waterfalls before leaving SC. So I went hiking again today. There was something different, though... what was it...? Oh, yeah. I had a friend! Since her roommate was going kayaking, Miss Gabby decided to come along with me. We went back to find Pigpen and Licklog Falls on the Foothills/Chattooga Trails. I went there last week and had vague directions and no luck finding the falls.

This time, I did more research and figured out where I had gone wrong, and we found Pigpen and both tiers of Licklog. (I'm not sure where these names came from....) We parked in the lot farther away, so it was about 3 miles, round-trip.

After parking, you hike down the Foothills Trail. The first falls you come to are Pigpen Falls, on Licklog Creek. They're right at the junction of the Foothills Trail and Chattooga Trail.



Not overly impressive, but still pretty. There's a nice pool at the base. If I had kids, I would totally bring them here. Pack a lunch, hike in, play by the waterfall. Here's a view from the front:



It's cute. My favorite thing about this hike was the trail. Every so often, the woods would open up and there were little camping areas, usually along the creek. If I were staying here, I would send for my tent and go camping in a heartbeat.

After leaving Pigpen and continuing on the trail, we heard Licklog long before we saw it. Here it is from the trail:



It's much bigger than Pigpen, and much more epic. The problem is, you have to leave the trail and hike down some pretty steep off-shoot paths to get any closer than that. We continued downstream a bit and found three guys camping, and checked out the Chattooga River. After exploring a bit, we headed back to the falls. We found a not-too-deadly path to get down to the lower tier of Licklog Falls, and the climb down was worth it.



There were also great views of the Chattooga River, into which Licklog Falls empties.



Very pretty and isolated. There's a little camping area partway down the little path to get down to the river. It'd be tough getting your gear down there, but I could totally stay for a week.

At one point, I heard a squeal and a splash, and turned around and saw this:



I'm still not clear on how Gabby became stranded on an island in the middle of the creek, but she found a pretty rock, so it's ok.

We poked around and I took some pictures, and then headed back up to the trail. It was dark and dreary and raining, so we started to head back. The "path" to the upper tier of Licklog Falls was wet and deadly looking, so we passed on that. Here's a closer shot of it from the trail:



There was a little camping area at the top of the falls, and you can see right over the precipice. We considered trying to find a barrel and riding down the falls.



All said, I think this is my new favorite trail, and I would so love to camp along there somewhere, sometime. My favorite falls are still Yellow Branch Falls. This was a nice adventure, though, and it was awesome to have a hiking buddy! After today, I've seen (and blogged about) 7 different falls... 3 to go!

As promised in my last hiking post, I have an awkward (and very blurry) picture. :-P

Chasing Waterfalls - Miuka & Secret Falls

On the Fourth of July, I went off in search of the Winding Stairs Trail, home to Miuka Falls and Secret Falls. As soon as I found the trail head, it started to pour. Cherry Hills Recreation Area was just up the street, so I drove around there for a bit, and then parked at the trail head and waited out the rain.

Once it cleared up, I started out. It was wet and dreary, and the day did not lend itself to a pleasant hike. The trail was about a mile and a half. Going in, it was fine because it was all downhill. (Which of course meant it was all uphill coming back.) I think because of the holiday and the rain, I was the first person on the trail that day. Because of this, I ran into cobwebs built across the trail every five minutes. I also came home with two ticks. They hadn't burrowed in yet, but ew. I did find this neat cave/rock formation thing, under which I planned to take shelter if the rain started again.



I hiked for awhile, and according to the trail directions I had, both falls required me to leave the trail at some point. Now, I pictured leaving the trail and fighting through the underbrush, and coming out at some picturesque oasis with a waterfall and pool. Not so. The woods let out right ONTO the falls. To get decent pictures, I had to climb out onto the steep, slippery cascade. This is what I had to stand on:



It's completely smooth and there's a steady stream of water. But. This is what risking my life enabled me to get a picture of:



So worth it! I would have like to try to climb up a bit and get closer, but it was hard enough getting out far enough to get decent pictures. One slip, and I was in for the water slide ride from hell.

Now that was Miuka Falls, the first on the trail. After I managed to get back to the path, I continued on for awhile. The directions for Secret Falls were a little more vague. I eventually came across what I think was the way to Secret Falls. I found a creek, anyway... and water was kind of falling... but it brought me out in the middle off the falls, and it was impossible to get good pictures, even with risking my life again and crawling out onto them.

Looking up:



Looking down:



I was on a little plateau, so it wasn't as death-defying as trying to get the Miuka Falls picture. At this point, I sat on a dry spot for awhile and had some water (from a bottle, not the creek). When I was getting up, I needed a handhold. As I reached out for a tree branch, I noticed it looked weird. There was totally a spider the size of my thumb blending in with the bark. I was an inch away from grabbing it. I would have taken a picture, but I ran away screaming and crying and trying not to plummet to my death.

Hiking out was rough, as it was all uphill. By the time I was almost back to the start, I was soaked and out of breath. So of course I ran into a group of people. They probably thought I was having a heart attack. They still stopped me to ask stupid questions. Some semblance of the following took place between me and the father (oh, yeah, it was a family... three kids, their parents, and their grandparents):

Him: "What are the Winding Stairs?"
Me: "... that's just the name of the trail...?"
Him: "Oh... well is there anything to see down there?"
Me: "Well there are some waterfalls, but they're a ways down and you have to leave the trail to see them."
Him: "Oh... well, I hear water. Is there a creek?"
Me: "Yeah, it kind of runs along the trail."
Him: "Great! Let's go find the CREEK, kids! Thanks! Bye!"
Me: "Bye...."

I'm not sure why he took 3 kids and 2 elderly people to a moderately difficult trail, knowing nothing about it, but I didn't see anything about a family of 7 dying in the woods.

At this point, I would post a picture of me looking awkward in front of one of the falls, but I had enough trouble trying to get pictures of the falls, let alone me in front of them. I think I'm going to check out another trail with two new falls tomorrow. I'll try my best for an awkward pic!

Chasing Waterfalls - Yellow Branch Falls

I made it back to Yellow Branch Falls, and I made sure I had my camera this time! The second time around, the trail was less heart attack-causing, but I was still pretty soaked and winded by the end. It's about 3 miles, round-trip. It's a gorgeous hike, though, and it's probably my favorite waterfall yet.

To get to the trail, you park at the Yellow Branch Picnic Area. It's really pretty, and I have yet to see anyone actually picnic-ing there. Were I going to be around longer, I would totally have a shindig out there. There were lots of picnic tables scattered about, but the main pavilion is awesome and had a fireplace!



When you start off your hike, you start on a little half-mile nature trail, and you have to cross a creek a few times. There were always little stone stairs and stepping stones to get you across, though.






























About halfway through the nature trail, the Yellow Branch Falls trail goes off to the side. It's a little under an hour to get to the falls from when you leave the parking area, and it's such a gorgeous hike. I thought it was fairly long, and pretty hilly and narrow, but the first time I went to the falls there were several children and three dogs there. That kind of put a damper on my manly hiking adventure.

This time I passed about 8 people, in three different groups going out as I was going in. At one point, I passed a couple leaving and the guy goes, "Look, there's a snake!" It was little, though, and there were other people around so I didn't want to whip my camera out, or run away screaming... which were my initial responses. The other people I passed were a group of teenagers who had obviously been swimming, and a family of three. Passing all these people worried me, as I was afraid there would be a bunch more at the falls. When I got there, though, I had them ALL TO MYSELF! It was awesome. Awe. some.







































I loved being able to play around on the rocks, get wet, and be a kid without anyone there to see. I spent a solid 45 minutes there just crawling around on the rocks and sitting there watching the falls. I even saw some wildlife... and by wildlife I mean some minnows, a moth, and some birds.

I headed back a little before 7PM to give myself enough time to not get lost in the woods in the dark. On the way out, I made a friend:



He was kind enough to hold still long enough for me to change my camera batteries and proceed with a 10-minute photo shoot. I named him Hans... he just looks like a Hans. I would have been tempted to snatch him and bring him home and love him, but I'm not sure what kind of lizard he is, and I don't have any of my lizard-keeping equipment in this state. Besides, I was in his home, and it's rude to walk into someone's living room and kidnap them.

So I think this was my favorite waterfall adventure yet, and quite possibly one of the best experiences I've had in SC. I'll probably go back just because I like the hike, love these falls, and it's familiar now so it's a good after-work excursion.

I shall leave you once again with a picture of me. Not too awkward this time, but I totally look Photoshop-ed in. I'm not. I promise.

Chasing Waterfalls - Issaqueena Falls

I went hiking on Saturday! I'm still sore, but it was actually really fun. My new hikers ate away the back of my ankle, and I fell once and ripped my elbow open, but I swear it was fun! I went to Issaqeena Falls, Stumphouse Tunnel, Middle Tunnel, and Yellow Branch Falls. Since I left my camera in the car for the Yellow Branch Falls portion of the trip, that will be a separate post after I go back. :-P

Now Issaqueena Falls doesn't really require a hike to get to, nor does Stumphouse Tunnel. Middle Tunnel was a bit of a hike, but the majority of my hiking was on the way to and from Yellow Branch... which I'm not talking about just yet... so here are some pretty pictures.

My first stop was at Stumphouse Tunnel.



It's a tunnel that they started to dig out for a railroad, but funds ran out and they gave up. Clemson used it for awhile to cure bleu cheese, but now it's just a tourist attraction. It was pretty cool... a little scary by myself after watching The Descent not too long ago, but there were lot of other people around, and I had the sense to take a flashlight.

After the tunnel, I went down the road to Issaqueena Falls. This one took a bit of a walk, but only, like, 5 minutes to get to the observation deck. From there, the falls looked like this:



I wasn't nearly close enough, and I saw a few people down below at the base of the falls. I don't know if there was an easier way to get there, but I climbed down around the observation deck. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even a path, just a washed out rut:



I made it, though, and it was so worth it. The view was much better than from the viewing area. There was a family of four down there playing around, though, and it was impossible to get a picture with none of them in it. I think I managed to get one without a single random stranger.































Very pretty, but very populated since it's so easy to get to. I wish I could find one with no other people so I could enjoy it in solitude... or with a buddy if someone would go hiking with me!

After I climbed back up from the falls (after slipping and landing on my elbow), I ventured up the Blue Ridge Railroad trail, where Middle Tunnel and Saddle Tunnel are located. I didn't make it all the way to Saddle Tunnel because a) I'd left my pack in the car, and b) the path was flooded after Middle Tunnel.

It was a pretty hike to the tunnel...



Middle and Saddle Tunnels are part of the same system as Stumphouse Tunnel. They were all supposed to connect Charleston, SC with Knoxville, TN, and eventually Cincinnati, OH. When funding ran out, they stopped construction. I expected Middle Tunnel to be as big as Stumphouse Tunnel, but apparently they didn't get as far.

















Needless to say, I did not go in. I like hiking alone, but spelunking alone and dying in a cave is not appealing. If you saw The Descent, you know what lives in there. A Voldemeagol so would have gotten me.



After I gave up on Saddle Tunnel, I went to the start of the Yellow Branch Falls trail, leaving my camera in the car. It was an awesome hike, though, and I'll definitely go back to get pictures. I thought about going after work today, but my legs are still kind of on fire after Saturday. (Out of shape. Ugh.)


**Click on a pic to make it bigger!