Barum Creek Falls & No Regrets!

 

Hepatica bloom one of the earliest flowers to emerge in Spring

Barum Creek Falls & No Regrets!

Sat. March 6, 2021

Dana Koogler solo 

Barum Creek Pix Here 

  I was keen to get back to the Ballplay and Tellico Plains area on Saturday. 

I wanted to finally reach the old house I'd been hunting and the falls.  I decided that instead of going to Mudhole first I'd go back through Ballplay from Madisonville taking the same route I had Thursday.    The reason was that now I knew where all the things were that I wanted to photograph plus I knew where the pull offs were. 

  I also had some things along the Ballplay Road I did not photograph. I wished I had.  It hit me that there was not one thing stopping me from going back and taking those photos.  I'd just make a day of it and clean up my list really well.   

      I stopped first by an abandoned house becoming buried in brush. It has an outbuilding and the house itself.  It was not a real great photo opportunity, but it did not take long.  It satisfied my curiosity and that will be one and done. 

Above: front of the shed next to the abandoned house. It looks to have had chicken coop enclosures on the front of it.  

A closer look at the coops out front. 

Above: The door was blown open so I glanced inside.  It amazes me all the junk people accumulate and leave laying in buildings and houses. 

Above: there was an old outhouse next to the shed.   I wonder if the house had a modern bathroom or if this was still in use at the time the house was built?  No telling.  

Above:  The best photo I got was this one of the side of the house.  The front was far too covered in brambles to be any good in a photo.  You have to wonder how these places come to be standing empty? 

    I got back in the jeep and continued down the road.  I stopped next at the Union Hill Baptist Church.  The reason was I noticed they have a dinner on the grounds shelter.   Back during this whole corona virus thing when picnic areas and parks shut down......... this is the kind of place I'd have been hunting to have an alternative spot for a picnic.    I would not have the first compunction about pulling into the parking lot and sitting down under the shelter as long as it was not during a time the church was in use.   They have tables, benches, chairs, trash cans,  and even a grill. No restrooms here. 

Below: picnic shelter 

Below: this grill doesn't look like it sees a lot of use

Above and below:  Union Hall Baptist Church  

  I continued down Ballplay Road and photographed an abandoned store. The side of it says Welch's General Store.  It looks like it has been closed a long time. 

Above and below: A glimpse at what is left of Welch's store. 

  Next stop was another Baptist church on the hill with a nice little playground and picnic shelter.  An alternative spot for emergency picnics.   We found out the hard way that even though the Cherokee National Forest remained open many of the picnic areas were closed as well as restrooms.  

Above: dinner on the grounds shelter

Below: Tellico Baptist Church

   I drove onward and arrived at the Ballplay Spring.  Today I stopped because there was no one around.  It gave me a chance to get photos of the picnic area the Ruritan Club maintains.  It is very nice.   

Above: nice picnic area by Ballplay Road and Spring

No restrooms, but trashcan. 

Above: the old store or business that is by the spring. Ample parking here. 

Above and below: Ruritan sign and the Ballplay Spring. Ruritan Clubs do a lot of good things!  

Below is a short video of the spring

   I decided I'd turn aside and get photos of the fire department and the old Ballplay School next door.  It is not abandoned, but is no longer in use as a school. It appears someone is living in it and has converted it into a residence.  

Old fire truck at the Fire department

Above: Ballplay Fire Department

Below: former Ballplay School. 

   Next I moved on toward the road to Ballplay Falls.  I did not want to go all the way back there today, but only to the curve.  I could then turn around and head toward Tellico Plains on the Unicoi Turnpike.  

     It was a perfect day for photographing these places to their best advantage. 

I was able to pull over and get photos of pretty much everything I'd regretted not doing the other day.  

  First along the road was the little green bridge over Ballplay Creek. 

 Next was the suspension bridge over Ballplay Creek and the low water ford beside it.  

   I moved on down the road to the turn around point.  I took photos of a home that Paul says his friend Wanda  McCarter Bivens lived in at one time.  It is a quaint abandoned homestead. The daffodils coming up in the yard helped dress it up. It is shown in the image below. 

Below:  The barn across from that home place was really pretty with its rusty roof contrasted against that bright blue sky.  I have taken photos of these places before, but none of those came out like today.  I had my mojo working! 

  I finished up here and headed back out the road.  I stopped at the crest of the road and snapped a photo of a very weathered old farm I like.  There is not a good place to pull over so I had to settle for what I could get. The house sits at the point in the road where the Buck Highway intersects and it seems there is always just enough going on vehicle wise I would not linger here.   This old place looks like a great great grandma Brook's place in Pkin, Virginia beside the railroad tracks.  

Below: I made a stop and got up on the knoll at Williamsburg Baptist Church just to get a view of the valley and of the church itself. The cherry red roof and white church beneath the sunny skies of blue are wonderful.

I also photographed Farr Gap Friends Church. "Friends" for those who may not be familiar is the name for Quakers.   My great grandmother whom I dearly loved was a Quaker.   This little church is abandoned. Meetings no longer held here.  There is a Quaker church not far away at Ballplay that is still open and having services. 

Above and below:  views of the valley at Ballplay from the rise at Williamsburg Church.  Flat land where the Cherokees played their ball game. That is how it got the name. 

   I headed back out to the main road.. the Unicoi Turnpike and went left toward Tellico Plains.   I kept a sharp lookout for the first little house I wanted to photograph.  It is light green and hidden in the hemlocks.  Hard to spot.  It has a good pull off so I was able to take a few minutes to check it out.  It is so long abandoned it appears to be a hang out for area youngsters.  

Above: little green cabin abandoned in the edge of the woods

Above: out beside the road was baby hulk stuffed doll.  Hanging up in a tree. this cracked me up.  I get a kick out of weird stuff like this.

       I continued down the road looking out for the next abandoned house.  It is a very old brick house that has been white washed.   One wall of it is crumbling badly.  I figured I'd best get photos while I still can.   It won't be long for this world.    It turned out to be one of the prettiest stops of the day.  As I walked up to the old yard and house I heard a swoosh and two big buzzards flew up from roosting in a tree next to the house.   It spooked me.   I took pictures of the front which was prettiest.  I walked around the house and snapped a few shots of the out buildings.  I did not go too close to the house or try to peer inside.   

Below: barn out back of the house

  

Above: some sort of corn crib I imagine

My pal the buzzard perched in the tree. 

Blown out side wall of the pretty old brick house.   

First look at the old brick house.  I have no idea who owns this or who lived here in the past.  It would be interesting to know the history. 

Above: One of my favorite photos from today.   This old place is charming.  

   I   was eager to get on to Mudhole to find that waterfall and that long sought house.   I continued in my quest.   It was a short drive to the Rafter Road.   I took my time on that high pucker factor route!   I pulled over at the community center and parked.  I stopped to eat a quick lunch before continuing my explorations.  

I had brought rope in case I needed it, but I doubted I would.  I know Paul and Amanda are not foolish persons who take unnecessary risks.  I figured there must be a simpler way down over the bank than I'd imagined.  

 

     I strolled over to the opposite side of the road and looked down over the bank at the end of the guardrail.  Yes. This was going to be ok.  It was not nearly as bad as I'd guessed.  I still had to slide for it so I aimed for a tree that would stop me if I had trouble with the brakes!   I then picked my way among the rocks and found a place to ford the stream.   It was not real deep and I made it across with dry feet. 

 The terrain over on this side of the stream was easier going.   The little house sits right across the creek at the top of a small waterfall.   

          Below: I was rejoicing to finally be here.  I had been so intrigued by Paul and Amanda's photos of this place.  I had wanted for a couple years to find it. At last I was here!  

Can you see the little abandoned house at the top of the cascade?  It is faded and without any paint. Hard to spot in the woods. 

      I noticed that not far past the house was a narrow trail that was cut out of the bank.  It went along that side of the stream a good distance.  I followed it down to the base of the falls where I enjoyed taking photos and capturing video footage. 

I experimented with lots of different angles to show the falls off to its best advantage.   Once you get back from it a ways it is easier to see and it is larger than I originally thought.   It is not real tall, but has a good run. ... the distance it is spread over. 

         I want to go back sometime after a good rain and walk that path down as far as it will go.  I think it ends up on the opposite side of the creek just across from those wooden platforms I saw along the stream on Thursday.  I will find out.

Even if that is the case the way I went to visit today was the way to go.  It would only be 0.40 miles through from the Rafter Road.   I do not believe based on what I saw that this will be a great wildflower hike in Spring, but it will have a few along it.   

Above: a pretty closer view of the cascade

    I enjoyed the sound of the cascading water.  It is noteworth that down in here you can look up the slopes especially toward Rafter Road and see how steep this gorge is.   All kinds of debris from where the road is crumbling has ended up down in this hole.   I saw a large orange and white striped barrel that is for marking spots along the road sitting on the opposite bank.  At least it landed on its feet.  

     Quite a lot of trash was down here, but I got the feeling that while some of it was almost certainly dumped... a lot of it was down here because of wind and water.   It washed down from the road or upstream.  Some fell over the bank by accident, but larger stuff like appliances, electronics, tires, probably was tossed over the bank by slobs.    

Above: Looking down the stream I can see an old tire has made it to the creek bed.

Above: looking across from me I see boulders completely covered in vibrant green moss.  Sights like this mean no one is coming down here.  The moss is not scrubbed off from feet walking around. 

Above: a vertically oriented shot

    

 Below:  a short stroll down the "trail" and I was able to at least find a vantage point that shows the cascading stream better. 

Above: a shot of the entire cascade and the house at the top.

Above and below:  Clearsa Akin's daffodils.  

Above:  a photo from across the creek looking back at the house.  I imagine it was quite something to be able to look out at this peaceful setting each day.  

Below: an isolation shot of the cascade right back of the house.  

Front of the house... the part I saw first. It is that old insel brick.  near to my heart! 

four sets of grandparents lived in houses just like this with the old asphalt shingle siding.   So I can't help thinking the Akin's would have been my kinda people. 

I found this engraved into the rock on one side of the house.  1951

Mr. Akins passed in 1959.  I would like to know if he lived here with Mrs. Akins or if he was a widower by the time he lived here?  Their last child passed away this past August 2020 in Wisconsin.  His name was Ulysses "Bill" Akins and he was 96.   One of his grandsons was named "Lonny" after his great grandpa. 

Above and below: A couple shots taken peering in through the doors and windows.  I liked how soft the light was in these rooms.  Somehow it makes me think the place must have been pretty cozy. 

Above: I liked the ingenius way the table was constructed! 

Above: the kitchen interior.  

It was pretty cool the way this place was set up.   He had a holding tank/ septic system rigged up and rocked in with a toilet to use.   He also had a 55 gallon drum under the house for water.  It had been fixed up so a hose came up into the house for water.  

     Alonzo and Clersa Akins were married and lived in the area and had four children together.    She passed on first in 1937.  He departed this life in 1959. 

They are both laid to rest in the Hardshell Cemetery which is in Tellico Plains.

Amanda Gamble told me that by the time the Great Depression rolled around Mudhole was already largely abandoned.  It had become a ghost town.  I found a 1935 map of the area and that is accurate. It shows that nine houses were all that remained then.   The school closed and the teacher went to Oak Ridge to teach. 

Most folks had moved out to where there were jobs and more people in the Tellico Plains area.   

       I found a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Akins on Find a Grave which I am including here as a tribute to them.  It is good to remember salt of the earth people like this.

Above: Clersa Akins holds a team of horses

Above: Alonzo Akins sits for a photo.  

    I am concluding this trip report by saying thank you to Amanda and Paul for their friendship and sharing their knowledge and their interests with me. 

It has been a great blessing.  I am a sentimental someone and had the majority of my great grandparents living when I was a child.  It has marked me in that I care deeply that little bits of the past not be erased or forgotten. I was tickled I made the decision to go back and see this falls and clean up the things I had regretted not visiting on Thursday.   I felt like I accomplished something that mattered to me if to no one else.  It is good to leave no regrets. 

 Below is a video of Barum Creek Falls and Lonzo's sweet little home atop the falls

I am delighted to have finally seen it for myself.    I set it to Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Somehow it seemed fitting.