Yellow Creek Falls and Bullett Creek Falls in the Cherokee National Forest

Yellow Creek Falls and Bullett Creek Falls in the Cherokee National Forest

Dana & Kenny Koogler

 Saturday 2/15/2020

Starr Mountain Pix here

(photos start where I have it set up. Advance the photos by clicking the arrow to the right.  The album is a compilation of many trips over the years on Starr Mtn.  While we did not take a lot of photos today there are many in here from times past in Winter and other seasons.)

  We decided to do an easy hike today.  We tried this hike back Dec. 26, 2019. 

It was the day after Christmas.   We were both getting over the flu (or Covid19 without knowing it).   We set out that day to visit Yellow Creek Falls, the falls in between, Bullett Creek Falls, and Kamama Falls above Yellow Creek.

We started off by exploring the stream that day. We visited one super pretty cascade we'd not noticed before.   

Below are some of the things we saw on that first attempt. 

   Next we moved on down the road and tried Kamama Falls. It is visible from the road, but there is no trail to it.  We started off having a good time, but things deteriorated rapidly.    Kenny had been even sicker than me.  He did something I had never seen him do.  On that off trail part of our day he got winded, turned gray, started perspiring profusely and had to sit down.  I have lived with asthma for 25 years or so.   I am accustomed to being the one usually with the breathing difficulties.   Not today.   He looked like death on a cracker.  We could SEE the vehicle up the bank on the the roadside.  I was very concerned for him.

I simply said "That's it. We are done for today."  He did not have the strength to argue with me about it.   We made it back to the jeep. We sat there for awhile quietly.   I told him we'd try it another day when we felt better.  We were pushing ourselves too soon after the flu or whatever it was.  Seriously we may have already had the Rona because we were both dog mud sick for awhile.

          We did make it back down there today on a pretty, sunshiney Saturday.

I remembered very well the troubles we'd had. I told him right upfront. No more crazy offtrail stuff today.  Let's just prove we can get the usual hike done.   

We'll build our stamina up a bit at a time.   He agreed readily.

      Today we felt a lot better.  We went in with more realistic plans.  We made sure we ate before we went. That was part of the problem before.   Low blood sugar for Kenny and probably for me as well.   

    Today we got down to Yellow Creek Falls no problem.  Fording the stream was interesting.   Today there was more water coming over those falls than we'd ever seen before!   That means the usually simple creek ford was a little trickier.

We were able to use an overhanging limb to cross.   Yellow Creek Falls at this water level is pretty, but not as pretty as usual.  Once you get to a certain point it is all one big blob of white water. You don't see any details in the falls.

  Once you are across it is necessary to continue downstream to see the rest of the falls.   You follow the path from there and we usually go next to Bullett Creek Falls.  It was a pretty and easy track through the woods and down the bluff to Bullett Creek Falls.   It was running fantastic today also!

 Bullett Creek Falls with a little bit of a rainbow!

 Shot where the rainbow is not visible.  Same day.

Kenny helping put my tripod away.  Having a much better day.

    Bullett Creek Falls was lovely.  We got treated to a small rainbow in the falls.
The sky was so clear and pretty today.    We turned and mosied back to the bluff. We went upstream to see the middle falls.  Lower Yellow Creek Falls I guess it is officially called.

   Camp Crud.. under the rock overhang.. was still slightly cruddy, but far better than when we first encountered it years earlier.   Today I think all we saw was someone's nasty drawers and a few cans. 

 Above and below: shots of Lower Yellow Creek Falls and the gorgeous blue hole of water at its base.

      Today once we got done checking out the falls we turned and began our hike back.  It was all downhill on the way here.  It would be all uphill on the way out.  I was dreading it.  How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  I decided to just focus on getting one foot in front of the other and plodding forward.  About the time I began to huff and puff I glanced up and I was 25 feet from the road!  It was not near as bad as I'd imagined it would be.     We had done it.  Yes. We are getting old. Yes. We are out of shape, but we had done it.   Success today thankfully.     

Below is a video of Bullett Creek Falls and one of Yellow Creek and Lower Yellow Creek Falls.