Buffalo Cave & Deer Gap Falls---Visiting with John & Sharon

Bloom from a tulip poplar.. a pretty and odd flower from a beautiful tree.

Buffalo Cave & Deer Gap Falls

Visiting with John & Sharon 

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Sharon McGee and John Ungerer

Saturday May 4, 2019

Directions to Deer Gap Falls

   We had told our friends John and Sharon awhile back that if they needed us to pet sit or house sit so they could get away we would be happy to help out.  Their pets cannot be left unattended for long periods of time.   The time came to make good on that offer!  

They were planning to attend the graduations of granddaughters in Florida. They were also planning a vacation trip combined with this.   They had help except for Memorial Day weekend.   They wondered if we would help out for those three days?  You bet!  We jumped at the chance.  It felt  great to be able to offer help to friends, and actually keep our word!  Life had been so upside down for us the past couple years we almost forgot what that felt like.    It is amazing what joy such a simple thing as keeping your word to someone, or making plans and being able to carry through can bring. 

         We wanted to plan a trip over to visit with them for fun, but also for the purpose of 

being shown what we needed to do for the critters.   Sharon made short work of the lesson, which left us free to do fun things most of the day.    We had stopped briefly on the way over to hunt for something.  We looked for Buffalo Cave for the third or fourth time.   Today we had better info on it, and I hoped we'd find it at last.  I did not want to bother taking friends along on a snipe hunt.  

    We headed back into the cove and in a very short time we were back at what I believed was the crucial intersection.  I asked Kenny to stop. We got out and tried to get oriented.  I saw some signs on the terrain that made me think this was right.  We followed a barely discernible track that looked more like a water course than a track for people to walk.   I had an even stronger feeling this was it at last.   Turned out to be correct and we finally found Buffalo Cave!    I had been told that getting in involved getting down and belly crawling through a tight squeeze.  We were prepared today.   I was a little dubious about the crawling in a hole thing, but it was nowhere near what it had been made out to be.    

    

 Above: Kenny peering back into the opening with a light.  

Above: Rock formations around the cave mouth

 Forest around the cave is getting thick with green vegetation. Spring is ending. 

Looking out of the rock mouth of Buffalo Cave.  

     I got down and crawled into the cave right after Kenny.  It was easier to go in backwards. I ended up being surprised that I did not get very dirty!    We walked carefully through the passages of the cave.  We checked out three or four rooms.   It was a neat cave that is mainly horizontal instead of vertically oriented.   We had plenty of lights.  It was cool and damp in the cave.   We did not see any bats or many critters.  One salamander and a toad and a few cave spiders and crickets.   The formations are neat inside.  It is not the most ornate cave, but I think this was one that had saltpetre mining done in the past.   Man's mining operations are bound to have affected how it looks.  There is some graffiti around the entrance as well as inside.  Most of it is just tagging. A little bit of it is useful as in arrows pointing to the direction of in or out.  

   Kenny was more interested in the cave's interior than I was.   After about the third room I was ready to get out of there.  I hung out in one spot and waited a little longer for him to explore.  I could hear him, but I did not go back far as he did.   

 Above and below are some of the rock formations inside the cave.  My camera was unable to cope with taking photos of the rooms in the dim light.   I was able to get a few shots of closer objects we could illuminate.  Cave photography is no joke. It is difficult. Way beyond my ability.

    We climbed out and found the sky rapidly darkening.  The forecast called for thunder storms.   We were able to look around briefly in the forest in the cove just before fat drops of rain pattered down.   We had to scoot.  We headed on over to John & Sharon's next.   

We were thrilled to have found the cave and will take them back to see it when they are ready.

One of my New Years resolutions was to visit two caves new to me.  I had found one.. now for at least one more.   I don't care if it is a wild cave or a tourist cavern.  

   We arrived at John and Sharon's and visited. It was so good to see them.  We did some catching up and they showed us about caring for the pets.  They are well organized so it was easy to keep up with.    Their pets are fun and are easy to love and care for.      We  went into town and got a bite to eat for lunch at Simply Fresh.    It was good.  Dining options in Jamestown, Tennessee are limited.   We came back to the house and the rain was gone and the sun was coming out.   Kenny had a good plan.  He suggested that he and Sharon go take a ride down through Lost Cane and Skinner Mountain while John and myself visited Deer Gap Falls.  John had never been yet.   We all thought it sounded like a fine idea so that is what we did. 

          John drove us over to The Jordan Motel.  I went in and asked the lady at the front desk for permission for us to walk back to see the falls, and if it would be ok to park there? She was agreeable and just told us to be careful.   We hiked the short easy hike back to the falls. It had been a couple years since I visited the falls so I really enjoyed it.   The hike is along almost flat ground going in and coming out.   The air smelled fresh and clean as we hiked thanks to the rain.  The sky was gray with bits of sunshine peeping through now and then. The air was cool and it was the perfect day for this sort of thing.     You arrive at the top of a bluff where there are places to tie up your horse while you rest or hike.    We had to ford the small stream that forms the falls.  We stopped by the very first spot where there is a cascade about 10 feet high.  

Deer Gap Falls is so tall you cannot view it in one spot. It is difficult to get a photo of the many drops of it!   

    We went over to the part of the bluff where there is a grand view of the Buffalo Cove below us!  It was beautiful.   You are looking across the cove and at Fern Camp far across the gulf.

 Above: view from the bluff at Deer Gap

  We hiked down over the bluff and through the squeeze that permits access to the lower parts of the gulf where the falls are.   It is a gradual descent on an actual trail.   We worked our way down and around toward the sound of the falls.   

 John under the bluff by the side of the falls.

 Main drop of Deer Gap Falls.  It was the first time I've been here with this much vegetation on the trees and this green.. with this much water!  Often times in hotter months the falls dries up to a trickle.  During those times it is not worth the hike down here to view them.  Today was worth it for sure! 

 Above and below.. the massive jumble of boulders to the side of the falls.  and the small pool of water just before the next big drop.   

Above: Deer Gap Falls main drop.  It has four total and this is the third one.  

During slightly drier times you can walk behind the falls and continue into the rocks on the far side to climb up and get a great view of the upper tier.  It is a horsetail form waterfall.  

Today it was so slippery and the stream running so strongly we dared not try it.

Poison ivy grows thick along the bluff as you hike to this point so avoid touching it. 

Thankfully I don't take poison ivy rash easily.   

         John really liked the falls and I was glad to spend some time with my buddy. He is a wonderful friend as is Sharon.   We had a good time and arrived back at the house about the same time as Kenny and Sharon did.  They had a good time as well.  Sharon was sure at one point Kenny was trying to get them killed.  The trail down Bill's Creek and out is rough to say the least.  The high road that avoids the worst of it is scary, but fun.

   We packed up our stuff and said our good byes.  We hated to go, but we enjoyed the day.

I felt confident the house sitting thing would go well.    I am looking forward to spending some time with them, and doing more fun stuff.    

Below is a yellow lady slipper we found today somewhere in our travels.  

      Below is a short video of the falls.  I want to go back when it is running good, but I can crawl around the rocks getting video of all the drops!