Hilliard Falls?

Off Trail hunting waterfalls 

New Years Eve Hike--Hilliard Falls? 

Thursday Dec. 31, 2015

Dana & Kenny Koogler

1.5 miles RT approx. 
Photos are here starting with frame 96

Hilliard Falls Pix

Hilliard Falls aka Mill Branch Falls on Tennessee Landforms

     I have done something to my right shoulder and at my appointment for my yearly check up

the doctor recommended I start physical therapy for it.   I started therapy in Maryville at 9:15 am on New Years Eve.    We wanted to get out and do some hiking and exploring. We both figured we'd best pick something close to home since we'd be getting a late start on our day.

The original plan was to go into Cades Cove and explore behind Kermit Caughron's old place.

I had visions of finding waterfalls back there.  After checking with Barb and with Mike Gourley that seemed less appealing.  They spoke of old home sites, but no waterfalls.  Neither of us cared anything about it at that point.  I tossed out several other ideas for Kenny and he liked the idea of going over toward Rhea County to explore.   I had been talking about my curiosity over the listing of Hilliard Falls on Tennessee landforms. It was intriguing to me because it had no photo shown and no height estimate.   We decided to go find out about it for ourselves.

Plan C was Paine Creek nearby if Hilliard Falls turned out to be a total bust.

          

           I was not done with physical therapy until 10:30 am.  Kenny was mostly ready to roll out.

I had him quickly look over the google map and satellite images of the trek today.   I printed out maps and off we went.   We stopped in Kingston to eat lunch at Zaxby's and with that over we continued toward Dayton.     Today's adventure lay atop Evensville Mountain closer to Summer City.    We rode along the plateau and without any real trouble found a powerline 

easement and parked off side the road.  We gathered our stuff up and began our hike.

It started with climbing over logs and through brush.  The day was mild and overcast.

The terrain was not too bad to begin with.  It followed the powerline and it was on a dirt track

that looked like it was being kept open by ATV travel.   We didn't go far until we passed a hunters blind turned over on its side. It looked funny.   We crossed a small stream and walked right through the way point hearing the GPS give its beep that indicates you have arrived at your destination.  No waterfall here. 

           The trail continued so we kept going.  It went left and curved down the hill where we could hear water a bit stronger to our left.   We went off the trail into the forest and came to this. 

     Certainly no waterfall, but the confluence of two streams, both flowing in the same direction.

We were now 280 ft from the original waypoint.   We had noticed a rock outcropping and a steep drop off on the satellite images before the hike. Before the trail started down the hill we were able to see the starts of the rocky place.  We headed back toward the trail and continued hoping that the way point was just off by a bit. Perhaps we'd find a falls down at this rocky drop off?     We hiked about another tenth of a mile and forded a stream.  We then went downhill and had to ford another time.   We climbed up a slight bluff and were able to get a vantage point of the stream below us.   It was a little closer to being a waterfall.   We were looking at a run of low cascades eight to ten feet high.   Further down the stream where it dropped off the mountain in the gorge was a single "waterfall" of 10 ft.   Was this Hilliard Falls?    We had found a neat overlook at least.

               

 Long, low series of cascades.  Hilliard Falls? If so the waypoint is off by 862 ft now.

I am standing on the overlook and seeing down the mountain at a rocky gorge.

  Kenny  and I both wanted to follow the trail we had been on out just a little further. It looked like it headed toward a second neat overlook.  We figured we'd walk out there since we had come this far and see the rest of what was here.   The overlook was very neat.  A piney woods and very craggy rocks with a view down off of Evensville Mountain at the valley below.  

It was nice.   Kenny began hollering "Holy smokes, Dana come out here.  There's a BIG waterfall!"  I went out to where he stood and looked off in the distance where he pointed.

Sure enough there was a large waterfall dropping off the side of the mountain. 

 Peering down thru the rocky cleft in the mountain

 Kenny out at the end of the overlook.  

A large powerful falls in the distance. 

This is the unzoomed view of the falls.  It doesn't look like much, but we could hear it roar
all the way from here.  

    We both began wondering if it would be possible to get round there to see it?  Hard to say from here.  We walked on out the ridge a short distance.  Kenny brought me to the edge of the bluff and told me to stay put while he scrambled down to see if it was going to be possible to continue.   It was no time until he hollered back to me to come on down.  We worked our way down the slopes through a tangle of logs and boulders. The woods were fairly open and we were not fighting rhododendron.    We got to a point down the slope where we could see the lower cascades in the stream boiling through massive boulders.   We did not have a ton of daylight left. Kenny  told me if I wanted to get photos of the lower cascades to go ahead and do that. While I was taking care of that detail he would go up the slope and see if there was a way to continue so that we could reach the main drop of the falls.     

        I got down there the rest of the way by myself and took photos and video of the lower drops.   It was neat, but not that great.  The boulders were so chopped up and large it made the 

stream seem tiny.  It was like that at Rock Castle gorge, but this not as attractive.   Part of the problem was trees blocking the view from lots of different angles.  Finally I put the camera away and decided I'd just head up the slope to see what was going on with Kenny.   About that time I heard the Hooty Hoo! I was hoping for. I knew what that meant! I toiled bravely up the hill.  It was steep!  I got up there and sat down by Kenny and died for a brief spell.   Once I had recovered my breath and gotten something to drink we continued toward the main falls.

Cascades through the boulders. Not a very good view of the lower part of the falls.

         The approach to the main falls is along the base of the bluff.   It is certainly not the hardest thing we've ever done.  The terrain is rugged though and it is narrow.  

It involves climbing around through boulders to arrive at the main part of the waterfall where it plunges off the mountain.   It looks like the main part of the falls is 50-60 ft high with a lower cascade part of 20 ft or so.  It is a nice waterfall and was very powerful. We were now 0.3 miles further than the original waypoint.  Was this Hilliard Falls?  Kenny believes so.  He thinks it is likely that the person who originally submitted the waypoint did a guesstimate plugging it into the google map where they believed it was.   And picked the wrong stream in the process.

That is possible, but at this point we do not know the answer.  I did not much care. All I knew was that we were having a fun, exciting adventure together.  It is greatly rewarding to find something like that and make it to the base of the falls to experience it up close!

First vantage point looking up at the falls. 

A closer, more intimate view of the falls.  

Below is a video that chronicles the journey and the various steps along the way.  

I have written to Tom Dunigan of Tennessee Landforms.   I am waiting his opinion on what is going on here?   I am eager to see if the Hilliard Falls waypoint is just misplaced and what we found is it.
or if what we found is an entirely different waterfall and will be added to the database as something new.   I will update the blog as I find out.


         We had an exciting day and it filled up our time!  We had no need of going anywhere else.
We  hiked back out to the jeep.  It was growing dark and the sun was starting to set.
We headed toward home.    The next morning I woke up wondering if it had all been a dream?

***Edited to Update*** Hilliard Falls  still appears on google maps in the spot in the middle of a power line cut incorrectly. I have reached out to them numerous times to remove it and they keep ignoring me. Kenny's first addition to Tennessee landforms!  We found something new!  Tennessee Landforms Waypoint for Mill Branch Falls  

   I later found a map of the Cumberland Plateau region around Dayton that dates back to 1909.  On that map is shown "Hilliard Falls" in the spot where we found the waterfall on Mill Branch.   The waterfall IS Hilliard Falls and is still on Tennessee Landforms.  Tom agreed that was the original name of the waterfall historically per the map. In the interest of keeping things simple he left it as Mill Branch Falls and put a foot note at the bottom regarding the original name and a link to the old map! 

Hiking with Anne-Cherokee National Forest

Its the 4th skillet in my Skillet Collection
Found at Ballplay, TN.



Hiking With Anne in the Cherokee National Forest 

Thursday Dec. 12, 2015

Dana Koogler

Mary Anne Brewer

Hike distance for the day 6.75 miles 

     I had hiked with Anne before, but it was at a Smoky Mountain Hiking Club function.

It worked out that we went hiking together last Thursday.   Discussing it I tossed out suggestions for her and sent her some photos of places we might venture. I told her to decide which ones she liked.

I also told her that we should be able to fit them all into a day.    We met at the Tellico Plains Visitor Center on Thursday morning a little before 8:30 am.   We made a quick stop at a local convenience store for a bathroom break and last minute touch ups on provisions.    We took my jeep from 

Tellico Plains for the remainder of the day.  At least two of the spots we were heading to would be rougher roads and one in particular I was concerned about.    

           It was a beautiful day. It warmed up to nearly 70 degrees, sunny with a light breeze.

Our first stop was the pull off for Fall Branch Falls.  She had not seen this one yet, but had heard someone discussing a waterfall reachable from the Rattlesnake Rock area.   We hiked down to see it

and it was flowing fantastic.  We forded the stream by rock hopping.   It is a wilderness trail, but pretty good condition.   I have been numerous times and I really see the difference in the tree canopy cover with the dying of the hemlocks and the damaging wind storms the past several years.   The falls is gorgeous and she really liked it.   

 Anne taking photos of the falls.

Fall Branch Falls, TN Southern Cherokee National Forest. 

    We headed back up and boys howdy.. it was up up and more up. But then it leveled off and we were back at the jeep!   On to the next stop!   We headed in the direction of Ballplay Falls.

                Ballplay is along the old Buck Highway way out in the country. It is in an area one doesn't typically expect to find waterfalls, but there are some in there hiding.    The extra good thing is the drive is pretty and the setting is pretty too.    We parked and sat down on the porch of the old house to eat a quick lunch before hiking.   The stream flowed past and it was quiet.     The day continued to be nice and mild.   Curious cows watched us from the nearby fields hoping we had brought hay for them.    Once we had finished eating we grabbed our hiking gear and hit the trail.   We picked up a trail behind the house.  You can see it from where we parked, but the first hundred yards of that old road are choked with rhododendron.    It is best to walk on back of the house and pick it up at another spot avoiding all that mess.     

          The hike to the falls starts out as a gradual uphill grade.  Part of the trail is narrow and crumbly.

We just took our time and eased past the bad spot.     Long way down if you miss a step here.

There is another spot where you go under and around massive tree stumps.  Another bad spot in the trail has been repaired by logs building it up and keeping it from sliding off the hillside. 

Far below us the creek murmured.   We had glimpses of blue mountains and skies and deep green pines across the gorge from us.   It was not too long until the trail made a sweeping right turn and leveled off some.     The pine woods we hiked through smelled so good.  It was quiet other than our conversation.   What a good day this was turning out to be.  

        We began our gradual descent toward the stream.   Below we could hear the creek talking louder now.   The falls were close!    I had previously warned Anne that this trail was not well maintained and some of it might be rough. I anticipated that the only place which might be tricky was the last couple hundred yards to the stream level at the base of the falls.   Anne had not been concerned about anything we'd run into up until this point.  We were in for a nasty surprise.  We were faced with a snarl of downed hemlock trees of large girth.   They were peeled of their bark and very slippery.

Anne goes off trail with Tammi Layhue, but she looked like she was dreading this mess.  I entered the  tangle and scouted it to see what was going on?  I could see it was not as bad as it looked. 

Once through it the trail was on the far side once more.   We were within feet of being at the falls.

I described to her what we were going to have to do to reach the base.  I also told her that if she was not comfortable with going into this stuff we'd turn around and do something else?  Tough as iron and twice as determined she refused to give in!  "We're this close to the falls! They are right there!

I'm no quitter!" True to her word she is no quitter.  She is instead a determined, great humored, strong hiker.   We wriggled over those downed trees, through briars and down the bank.   We made it!

We stood at the base of Ballplay Falls high fiving one another! 

             

 Anne at Ballplay Falls.

 You can count every pebble in the bottom of the stream today. It is so clear!

Ballplay Falls is forty feet high and river wide.  You cannot really get a good vantage of the upper drop of the falls. The terrain is so dramatic there is no place to stand to photograph the upper falls on the far side of the river.  On this side the rhodo has choked the bank thickly leaving to place to stand.

Our spot at the base of the falls is IT!

             We enjoyed the falls here.  The stream below where we stood rushes over stones standing at odd angles.  It pretty quickly makes a bend and disappears around it.  The stream makes several turns before merging with another stream on the next ridge.    I thought about Paul Gamble today and hope to return here with him or him and Kenny so we can find the other falls he told me about. I found the creek it was on back in Spring, but talk about being clogged with rhodo!  He says he knows a better way to access it by taking the right side of the trail we passed earlier.  Says that will take you up to a point where you can just drop off to it!  

               Eventually we headed back up the bank.  I went stupid for a minute or two.
I tried crawling up the first open hole I came to. I encountered more briars and snarled vegetation that I had on the way down?  I backed up and tried again at a slightly different spot.    I still didn't get anywhere.   It hit me "I'm making this way harder than it has to be."  I told Anne to let me take another gander at the terrain and we'd figure this out.   I turned around and upon another look realized my mistake.  Before us was the hole we'd come down.   I remembered Anne remarking on the way down that getting back up it was going to be more problematic. I agreed with here in that instant and I agreed with her now.   Yet we struggled our way back up it.   We made it.  The wet, mushy bank here is also made up of small rocks and loose chunks of dried red clay.   It isn't the surest footing, but we found that it was short lived.   I thought of Jenny and narrowed the focus to the most immediate task. Get that little thing done....... then move on to the next step in the rhodo dance.   Before you know it.... You're out of there! It felt great to get back in the clear.  We shed layers of clothing and got a drink before hiking back out.   Once back at the old house we took time to photograph the house, barn, and outbuildings.   It is a place with lots of history.   We also took a few minutes to stop off at the Williamsburg Cemetery on the hill on our way out.   

 Old home place at Ballplay

 Anne walking along the muddy lane

Barn on the left and Ballplay Creek. You can just see the edge of the house and the wrap around porch.  The bridge is constructed of old fuel tanks.

          Ancient hog pen and old tires on the far side of Ballplay Creek.  I had never walked round here to check this out until today.

A look at the Williamsburg Cemetery.  It is pretty modern and very well kept.

I stopped on the way back out the old dirt road.  I wanted to get a photo of this scene.  We had passed it on the way in.  It was still the same on the way out.   Anne asked me "How does stuff like that happen?" and it hit me that based on where I am from......... It didn't have to be explained to me.

Shades of Vesuvius and driving in South River after SOMEBODY had too much to drink and decided to not only ford the river, but drive up the river with the mower on the back of the truck.

Not naming any names.   It wont me.   Mowing the yard works up a powerful thirst though. 

        We headed back toward Tellico Plains.   We by passed the visitor center and Anne's car

so we could go to Conasauga Falls which is not far off.   A fellow had described the condition of the road to Anne as being way worse than what it truly is.   I told her to take note of it today on the drive in to see for herself.    It really wasn't that rough.  Long as she is just going to the falls and back ought to be fine.  One turn down there takes you to a drive through the creek place and that could be rough in high water.    We passed one vehicle on our way in.  A fellow in a pickup truck who appeared to just be driving round enjoying the pretty weather.

              We hiked down the trail 1 mile to Conasauga Falls. It is a pretty hike again through a pine woods.  The trail is in good condition, but it does have a few rocky sections.    It gives you more glimpses of blue mountains seen through green pine trees.   We also saw some small cascades above the main falls which are scenic.    Conasauga Falls was running great today!   

Conasauga Falls rolling along!  

          We enjoyed the waterfall and when we were ready we hiked back out.  It is downhill on the way in and uphill on the way out.  The switchbacks make it a lot easier to take!

Anne is a great hiking companion and an interesting person to converse with.   I had an awesome day with her and I very much look forward to our next adventure.    She hikes at a similar pace to me.

      We parted company and said our good-byes.   Thanks Anne for spending time with me.

It meant a lot to me.   

         

Hiking to Quilliams Falls

Hike to Quilliams Falls

Dana Koogler solo

Thursday April  9, 2015

Total hike distance= 2 miles approx. 

Pictures are here: 
Quilliams Falls Pix

   I  got to looking at the photos of my pals Mike Maples, Rhonda and Mitch Reagan from 

their hike up Sugarland Mountain the other day.  I had done that hike a lot of times, but it hit me

how long it had been since I was there last!  I also got to digging around on You Tube and realized

I no longer had any video footage of that waterfall.   I planned a tough hike for Friday so I needed to 

be careful not to wear myself out too bad on Thursday. I also needed time to do some chores around home.

I decided this would be a perfect hike for the day.    

       I took along the GPS with the way points, but I ended up not using it.  I left it on in my pack in case 

I needed it to track back, but it did not come out again until I took it out to turn it off.   I knew I would be 

able to find the place to park, but I hoped I'd be able to pick up the path since it is an unofficial one.

I had come in a different ways on various trips.  Today for old time's sake I decided to park and come in 

the same way  I did the first time ever.   I recalled pleasant memories of the joy of finding a special 

off the beaten track location with a friend.   

     I was met at once with slopes covered in white trilliums. I also saw a forest floor strewn with 

yellow trilliums and violets.   Fringed phacelia was scattered about in a few spots.   Some of the trilliums

had just begun aging to pink.   The stream looked beautiful with its rippling white water and mossy green rocks.   I had a sunny, warm day for my hike.  The air smelled fresh and clean.   

  

Slopes of Sugarland Mountain filled with patches of large white flowered trilliums. 

Hickory King Branch

Fringed phacelia growing along the banks of the creek.  This flower can form massive carpets!

    I was glad I chose to enter the woods near my jeep and amble around a little.

It gave me plenty of time to see what was blooming and to enjoy walking up the creek. I was able to photograph and soak up the sights of each cascade.   The stream here is not filled with lots

of large cascades, but small ones. It remains pretty the higher you go. It is filled with large mossy rocks.  Lots of springs come out of the earth up here to form part of the headwaters and increase 

the volume of the stream.  

      I could see in the distance to my left a flat area. I knew that was the way I'd come in before.

I finally crossed the stream and was able to pick up the traveled path.   I only had to cross once more.   Crossing number one was because of my choice of route to enter.   Hiking the old 

abandoned highway in is easier, but it is not as scenic to start off.   Higher up if you stay with it

is another old home site and some really good wildflowers.  I missed that today, but  I was not

concerned about it.    It just felt good to be in the woods.   It tickled me to see places and remember them.   My season in Hell... and my subsequent blank pages of memory have shown 

me how valuable those things are to me.  I took my time and savored the simplest things. 

Being able to remember a creek crossing. Being able to see the masses of Dutchman's pipe vine

hanging from the trees and knowing I was on the right track.  I had seen those spots before.

It felt mighty good.   

 Remnants of an old rock wall from a settlers house.  The Andy Quilliams Family lived up in here. He was said to be a moonshiner.  

Deep pink trillium 

    I began seeing old rock walls. I saw an old rock pile that was either a chimney pile or a cairn.

I saw the hole in the rocks that has a pile of stones before it.   Mike Maples said on his post this was an old timey place for refrigeration.  I have no doubt that is so.  Our friend Ed Choate's grand parents told of using Hood Cave as their refrigerator.  My own great grandmother told of  her childhood home being built over a stream. They'd take the floor boards up and set their perishables down in the creek to keep them cold. It also served to hide their food from marauders

who would steal everything you had back then.    

     

 Small attractive slide area in the creek on the way up.  

Near the slide is this "frigidaire" as my Granny Caricofe would have said.  She was deeply affected by the Civil War and would ask me what my navel was? The correct answer was always "It's where the Yankee shot me!".  How was I ever going to grow up right in the head

being raised like that?!  

               I came to the spot where the path turned sharply uphill and entered a rhododendron tunnel.   It continues on to the big rocks up there and to the falls.  Up further is Quilliams Cave.

Due to my time limits today I was mainly wanting to visit the falls and see wildflowers.   

I passed an overlook on the way and had to stop to check out the view.

 Path thru the rhodo tunnel. It was rather hot in this tunnel as no breeze was stirring!

Overlook of the Sugarland Valley 

This view was only partial thanks to the trees, but I still enjoyed it.  Can you see Chimney Tops thru the trees? 

     I passed a little bit of pioneer junk.  I also recognized a home site.  I remembered that on the first two trips up here there were white quartz rocks marking the way.   All those were gone now.

I saw some blown down trees, but was still able to recognize the path down to Quilliams Falls.

I could hear it long before I saw it.   

     

 I sat down at the foot of the falls and just soaked it all in for awhile.  I then crossed over to get 
a different vantage of it than I'd ever had before.  I got a profile shot of it.  Being over here
splashed me with water, but even that felt good.  It also gave me a view of a small spring
flowing out of the bank beyond the falls. 

Spring from behind the waterfall.

Quilliams Falls is about 25 feet high.  

   I sat and enjoyed the falls a little longer and cooled off.   I was pleased to have remembered

how to get here.    I began my hike back.    I met a group of seven senior citizen hikers coming in

as I was going out.     I greeted them and parted company.    It was a good day for a hike and I was

pleased with my choice.   I had recognized point along the creek where my route from last time

up here met up with the route I had chosen today.  I decided I'd go back out that way for variety.

It also brought me out at the other parking spot where I saw what must have been the vehicles of the senior hikers.   I thought of Everett Sherrick and his columns he wrote for the Mountain Times Press    back in the day.  I have a book that is a compilation of all his columns. It is called Trails of Invitation.   His writing style was very flowery and full of prose.  I like it.   It showed his true love of these mountains and forests.  It showed how much he appreciated where he lived.    He wrote of lots of simple old out of the way spots.  I have hiked many of them on his recommendation.   I bet he liked this place.  He had hiked lots of the old highway locations where the road was re-routed leaving the former road to deteriorate.   Much of it can still be found though.

Below is a short video of Quilliams Falls.  The music is Smoky Mountain style

and I think the song is The World is Waiting for You.   I am glad that the world waited on me

to get well and didn't move too far along without me.  :-)