Waterfall Adventure!

This past weekend, Paul and I went hiking to see 2 waterfalls. This is nothing abnormal; in fact, we try to hike to at least one waterfall each weekend. However, this waterfall hike was more...adventurous...than previous hikes. In theory, it was a hike to 2 waterfalls that was pretty close to our trailer and was "only" supposed to be a 30 minute hike. It quickly became clear to us though that this was NOT going to be that simple.

We have a book on South Carolina waterfalls and we are determined to see as many of the waterfalls in that book as possible. The ones we HAVE seen so far from the book had clear directions that did not steer us wrong. So off we went to see these waterfalls. We drove past Walhalla, past Yellow Branch falls, past Issaqueena falls, onto the very familiar Whetstone Road. The directions said: "In 0.7 miles, turn left onto Cassidy Branch Road." Check. Then it said: "Follow the road for 0.9 miles, then turn left onto Rich Mountain Road, which is gravel." So off we drove, and when the speedometer said 2 miles and we had not yet seen the specific road, we turned around in confusion and tried again. In theory, there was a ..."road" at the 0.9 mile spot, but there were no road signs indicating it was what we wanted. We even thought it was just a long driveway. However, there was nothing else that looked "road-like" in the area, so off we went down the gravel "road". The directions then said: "Follow this road for 3.2 miles and turn right onto Cedar Creek Road." Driving on a narrow, bumpy gravel road for 3.2 miles seems like an eternity, especially when you aren't even sure you are in the right place. It was crazy intense. There were no electricity poles, no traffic, no driveways, nothing. There was just this narrow road going up in the mountains with no way to turn around. In 3-ish miles, we saw the first intersection and after some discussion (once again, there were NO road signs to let us know if it was the correct Cedar Creek Road we were looking for), decided that it was probably the correct road. So off we went down this new road, that was even narrower and more bumpy and we just hoped we continued to see no traffic, since I have no idea what would have happened if we met another vehicle head-on. Next on the directions: "Follow this road for 2.5 miles to FS 2658 on the right and park by an earth mound." What? I suppose we should have read the directions before we left our trailer, since I didn't really know what this meant. After what seemed like another eternity going down a bumpy gravel road (at this point, I was feeling a bit car sick), we arrived at the 2.5 mile mark. On the right was a new road, which we assumed was FS 2658. We also assumed we needed to go down that road. However, the directions had some additional information: "this stretch MAY be passable in a 4-wheel drive vehicle." Yikes. We decided to park (there was a vague parking spot at this intersection), and just walk the rest of the way. As we got out of the car, I noticed an old, wooden sign that was in a ditch near the intersection that said "FS 2658", which gave us some confidence that this was actually where we were supposed to be.

So off we started on the hike, and I'm glad we walked down the road instead of driving, since it was hilly and steep and narrow and bumpy and I just KNOW I would have gotten carsick. As we walked in this forest on top of a mountain, we knew we were probably the only people in the area for miles. Our adrenaline was going crazy from the intense car ride and then Paul decided to make it worse by saying: "You know, this seems like the ideal place to see bears." Thanks for helping me calm down, Paul. I worsened the situation by replying: "I bet there's lots of snakes up here, too." So we held hands, made lots of noise and paid close attention to our surroundings. Next on the directions: "Go down FS 2658 to a T intersection. At the intersection, turn right onto FS 2656 at two large granite boulders placed on the roadbed to keep vehicles out." So off we went to the nearest intersection. Of course, it wasn't that easy when we got there. It was more of a 't' intersection than a 'T'. And there were two paths that were blocked by large granite boulders instead of just one. After some more discussion, we chose one of the two paths, and off we went, hoping for the best. At this point, Paul said: "Cris, this is sure one crazy adventure!" I replied, "No, if we make it home safely and in one piece, it was an adventure. Right now it's just scary!" Paul agreed.

Now the directions said: "Pass the first trail to the left and turn left onto the second trail, which is more of a wash than a trail." Okay, now things got really crazy. The leaves were all over the place, making it difficult to see any trails at all. I also don't think many people get out to this waterfall, so the trails all looked small and unused. We passed a "trail" that looked more like a path for deer. "Do you think that was the first trail?" I asked Paul. Paul studied the "trail" for a few minutes and replied: "Hmmm....maybe?" Then we passed another "trail" that looked vaguely like a wash. "Do you think we need to turn here?" I asked Paul. Paul studied the "trail" for a few minutes and replied: "Hmmm...maybe?" So we were just wandering down some abandoned road, not sure where we were and if we were going the right way. Fun stuff! We kept walking to see where the road would go and it turned a corner and we then could hear the waterfall. We also found another trail. This one was steep and covered with leaves, but there were plenty of roots to hold onto, and we could SEE the waterfall at the bottom of that trail. We decided this was probably the correct trail and started heading down. Thank goodness for hiking boots with good traction. With all the leaves, the trail was slippery, and we headed down by hanging onto plenty of tree roots. After the intense hike down the steep path, we were at the base of Cedar Creek Falls, the first of the two waterfalls. Success!

Notice my face is red from all the exercise I had just gotten from hanging on tree roots to get down there. :)

As we chilled at the base of the falls in order to catch our breath and just enjoy the scenery, we contemplated whether or not to go to the next waterfall. We could SEE the next waterfall, since this picture is taken at the middle point of both. On one side was the Cedar Creek Falls, on the other side was the beginning of Blue Hole Falls. We could see the water going over the edge for Blue Hole Falls. The waterfall book described Blue Hole Falls as "this trail is not recommended for the novice hiker because dense growth of rhododendron can make this a challenging hike." Since it was so difficult to get to the Cedar Creek Falls due to the slippery leaves, we weren't sure if we could handle the hike to the Blue Hole Falls. In fact, we could see the "trail" to the next falls: it was basically clinging to the slippery rocks a foot away from the Blue Hole Falls all the way down to the waters below. Yikes.

After some more discussion, we decided we would try. Paul would be the lead (the trail was too narrow to be side-by-side) and I told him that I completely trusted his judgement for the trail. If he ever thought that the trail got too difficult, we would stop and turn around. To start, there were two options for getting to the "trail": we could cross a log that went of the river/falls and climb a steep hillside covered with roots, OR we could take off our shoes and socks and walk across the river/falls and get to a flat surface to begin. We opted to cross the river barefoot. Please realize that where we crossed the river was mere feet before the plunge of the next waterfall. Also, it is November and the water was FREEZING! Paul went first and told me to keep low to the water, since the bottom of the river was slippery. Fortunately, there were sticks and things to hold onto as I crossed the freezing waters.

After we dried off our feet and put our shoes back on, we half-slid down rocks and half-clung to tree roots as we went down the steep "path". It was so intense! It was also, I must admit, tons of fun! :) We were about half-way down the "path" when Paul stopped and surveyed the next part. It was no wider than a balance beam and just as long as one. On the right side of this balance-beam-trail was a steep ascent of slippery rock with no roots to hold, on the left side of this was a steep descent of slippery rock that ended abruptly in a cliff over more rock. The narrow "trail" was covered with leaves as well. Paul decided that it was not safe to continue down the trail. It was disappointing, but we were glad that we made it half-way at least. The half way point ended up right next to the falls and looked like this:

This picture doesn't show the steepness of the rocks between me and the waterfall as well as it should. :)

It was a lovely place to rest and look at the Blue Hole below us:

It's too bad that we couldn't see the falls from the bottom of the mini-lake, but that's okay. Our view was pretty spectacular too. :) After enjoying the views of beautiful blue water and hearing the roar of the powerful waterfall, I noticed that I was starting to get really, really tired. When I mentioned it to Paul, he noticed that he was also getting tired. Our adrenaline was wearing out. It was time to make it back before we ran too low on energy.

This was when we realized that getting down was the easy part. On the way down, while it was terrifying to slide down rocks, we had gravity on our side. Now we were looking at slippery rocks that we had to somehow climb UP. Oops. It was exhausting work, which combined belly-crawling up the rock faces with pulling up our bodies with any nearby tree roots. At one point, I had to push Paul up a rock and when he got to the top, he reached down and practically dragged me up after him.

Then we had to recross the river, and my poor feet hurt from the cold water. "Ow Ow Ow!" I cried while casually hopping from one foot to another on a rock mere feet from the waterfall edge in order to get some feeling in my feet again. Paul showed off by casually walking in the water barefoot and taking his time. Psh. :) We were really struggling to continue the hike at this point. We still had to drag ourselves up the steep path to the abandoned road. That was really hard to do since our energy levels were by then super low. When we made it to the road, I was nodding off and practically sleeping on the path. It took forever to make it back to the vehicle, since we were both about ready to fall asleep. Then we got in the vehicle and started on the gravel roads back to civilization. The bumpiness of the roads woke us up, and then we realized how hungry we were. Thank goodness for leftover burritos at home that just had to be warmed up!

"When I get home, I'm eating THREE burritos!" I told Paul. Paul replied: "I'm going to eat four!" Psh, he always has to show off. :)

Since we made it home safely, I can now say that it was an amazing adventure! We had a lot of fun and have now learned to read directions to waterfalls before leaving to see them. Also, the burritos were amazing. :)