Turkey Pen Falls & Happy Top Church Exploring

 

Yellow gum tree leaf near the McMurray Cemetery

Turkey Pen Cascade & Happy Top Church Exploring

Sunday Nov. 22, 2020

Dana & Kenny Koogler & grandson, Michael

Pictures are here: click right arrow to advance to next frame

Below is a map showing the general area.  McMurray Cemetery and Happy Top Church are shown on the map.  

Here is a link to Turkeypen Falls on Tennessee Landforms 

    Kenny had to work Saturday, but had agreed to go with me to do something fun as long as it did not involve a long drive.   We talked it over and agreed to go down to Vonore to the Turkeypen Area.   It is the edge of Citico Creek and we had only been there once before.   I had several things I was wanting to see.    He thought that sounded good and we would go.   Our grandson Michael called Saturday night wanting to see us on Sunday.   We asked if he and Tessa would like to go with us? For Michael it was a definite yes and for Tessa a definite no.   We came by their house Sunday morning to pick him up.   I had packed us a lunch and we hit the road.    

       We didn't take too long to get there and I had printed off directions for each thing I hoped to see and do.   They fell into a line more or less.   The first place we came to was the McMurray Cemetery along the shores of Chilhowee Lake. 

Above is a photo of some device designed to work on the dam says Kenny.  

He is of the opinion it was never put to use that they have devised better ways of doing maintenance.  

Above: Kenny and Michael at the campsite by the McMurray Cemetery.  

I would not want to camp there by the graves. 

Above: The McMurray Cemetery.  The entire area within the stone wall is the cemetery. The iron fenced in area contains three or four graves aside from the rest.  Ancient superstitions are why some cemeteries are enclosed in iron.   It is supposed to keep the dead from wandering or following you back home. 

Above: Kenny and Michael taking in the graves within the wrought iron fencing. 

above and below: It is hard to see in the photos but the graves here have settled very badly.  The areas are depressed where the coffins eroded and the soil sunk in. 

Once we had satisfied our curiosity about the old cemetery we progressed onward toward the Happy Top church.

    We had planned on doing a hike back in Citico, but forgot our blaze orange. We saw trucks of hunters parked along roads so we decided the safe thing to do was stay out of the woods.   We need to start leaving some blaze orange in our packs and in the vehicles this time of year.    We did scout an area for a hike once hunting season is over.   

        We found the Happy Top church without any difficulty.   

It got its name because of the revivals held there in the past.   Worshippers would get the Holy Ghost and get happy so thus the name.   It was originally constructed by Quakers and used as both a worship house and school.  It is a very remote area that sits on the far shores of Chilhowee Lake.   It is a quaint, historic old church and the door was unlocked.  We were able to go in and look around.   There is a wood burning stove for heat.  Lots of old hymnals lying around.   They have put a picnic table outside on the lawn so we were able to sit down there and eat our lunch.   The sun came out and it was very warm.   We soaked in it and enjoyed the pretty Autumn day.

Above and below: Happy Top Church

Below: cemetery by the church

Outhouse at the church

Interior of the church. Very simple. 

Above: wood burning stove for heat

Above:  a hand carved grave marker made of native stone.  Mattie Andrson.

Above: we passed by this old deserted lodge at Turkeypen.  It is situated on 3200 acres and they want $9 million dollars for it.   It will sit there til Hell freezes over at that price.  It is not a real desirable location.  

Above the stream that forms Turkeypen Cascade

Above: Turkeypen Cascade

    We stopped to see the Turkeypen Cascade.   Kenny was not feeling the greatest.

I could something was bothering him.   He was trying to put a brave face on it and go on anyhow.    I was still down at the base of the falls. I  noticed he and Michael going back toward the jeep.   I figured they'd seen all they wanted to see.  I  continued taking my photos and video.   

Michael appeared at the top of the cascade looking down on me from 30 feet above trying  to explain to me where Papaw had gone.  I could not hear him so he acted it out for me.  He grabbed his belly. He grabbed his own butt and squatted down.  Apparently lunch did not agree with Papaw.  Wow.  Kenny really DIDN'T feel good.   Once I quit laughing I climbed back out of there.    Kenny was in the jeep and I asked him if he was ok. He laughed and said yes. He was all better. Below is a short video clip of the falls.

          We worked our way back along the road.  I could see out on the lake the bridge supports for the former Babcock lumber company train.   We pulled over so I could get some photos of that. It was a pretty spot.  

Above: boat ramp at Citico

Above: you can barely make out the bridge supports in the lake

 We ran across what must have been a remnant of the old Citico Road. We stopped to have a look at that and see if it continued.  It had mile markers along it still!

I was prowling the woods when Michael and Kenny came toward me.   The look on Kenny's face let me know Michael and I should go back toward the jeep.

He was not alright.  

    We took a look at  Citico Creek and how beautiful it was.   I could see more bridge supports still along the edges of the stream in the distance.  This had to be where the old lumber rail line came across Citico Creek.   I tried to get photos of it but the way I tried was unsuccessful.  I will go back sometime and try to just walk down to them from the bridge.  

  

Above: I am looking upstream on Citico Creek

Mile post along Old Citico Road

What must be a portion of the old Citico Road.  This road connected Vonore and Citico prior to the lake's creation .

Above: downstream on Citico Creek. you can barely make out the bridge stanchions.

     We loaded up in the jeep and headed out to find Old Citico Road.  

Kenny pulled over to let me see if I could find the access to those bridge supports from the old rail line.  I walked into the woods alone.   I encountered a siding and a split in the line.  I couldn't see the supports or even where I was in relation to them.   This is the point where I decided to forget this approach and try walking down from the bridge itself.  

    I turned and walked out of the woods to find Michael alone.  He was holding a Christmas ornament he found lying in the road.   

Above: Joy to the World!  

Above: Babcock Lumber rail bed.  It splits eventually into a T shape!

 

    It was mere moments that Kenny came trucking out of the woods with some expletives and the very serious "We're going home now. No more stops!"  

He was carrying a roll of T.P.   Michael and I got in the jeep obediently.  

This day trip and hike sure did not turn out as planned, but there was nothing for it.   We'll have to try again another day!

    

       

Scona Lodge and Tallassee Creek Falls 2020 Second Visit

Dogwood blossom with pollinator

Scona Lodge and Tallassee Creek Falls 2021

Saturday April 11, 2020

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

Pictures here starting with this frame

(click arrow on right to advance frame)

Tallassee Creek Falls on Tennessee Landforms

   We had originally planned to get out for Saturday and do some hiking.  We were thinking of hiking off trail to Maynard Creek Falls.    Kenny decided on Friday evening he'd prefer to return to the far side of Chilhowee Lake and explore.   I was good with that so we set out Saturday morning to do just that.    We did a better job preparing this time.   We had our life jackets.  We had rope to tie up the canoe.  We were able to leave from Tabcat Bridge instead of the Scona ferry site down in Calderwood.  No worries about making it out of there before the gate closes at 3 p.m.    We were able to wait to get a slightly later start since it was in the thirties this morning. Very cold start to the day, but it warmed up nicely.   

       Only one or two other vehicles at Tabcat Bridge parking lot this morning. 

I had left my sunglasses across the lake on a log last time there so I hoped maybe I'd find them today.    Ended up not being there, but that's why you buy cheap shades at Dollar General.  So it doesn't matter if they get lost or broken.   The lake was pretty calm.   The skies were blue and the sun was coming out warming everything up.   We managed to get through the day without Kenny dumping us into the lake.  He is so big he is unwieldly in a water craft.    

      We put in at the landing for Scona Lodge Ferry and hunted around for my sunglasses.  We then continued toward the old lodge site.  I wanted to walk further up Maroney Hollow to see if anything more was up there.   One really pretty and unexpected sight was the beautiful bloom of a long abandoned cultivated azalea.  Big white blooms filled one corner of the forest near the old lodge steps.   Yellow tiger swallowtail butterflies flitted from bloom to bloom.  It was quite pretty.  

 Above: White azalea blooms from a shrub planted by people way back in the day.

Above: steps to the old lodge patio


   A walk up Maroney Hollow was not very difficult, but the only thing we spotted that we did not see last time was a dam in the creek!   The trail eventually plays out.  Wildflowers today were not as pretty as they were the previous week.  The stream did not have as much water in it today.   

 Vernal iris blooming along Maroney Creek

 Above: Logs fallen to go over and under along the path

 Above: Foam flowers along Maroney Creek.

Above: manmade dam on Maroney Creek.  Did not see anything further up here that was man made contrivance.


     Once we'd done our hike up Maroney Hollow we came back to the clearing and ate a quick lunch.   We then stowed our gear back in the canoe and headed over to the other side of the trout weir dam to get out for our hike to Tallassee Falls.   I am not 100% sure, but the map shows old structures existed over here on this side of the stream and dam.   I have a feeling it was the dwellings of those who worked at Scona Lodge and lived over here full time.    There is part of a blacktop road here.   On up the hollow less than half mile it disappears then reappears as crumbled chunks of asphalt.   The streams undercut the road over the years and washed big pieces of it away.     Along this walk you can see all sorts of signs of man's presence in the past.
Nandina shrubs and mahonia growing at sites where homes or buildings used to sit.  

 Above: One of many scarlet nandina shrubs in the woods along the path. Man introduced species.

 Above: archangel plant flowering. It is a low, spreading perennial man introduced ornamental species.  Thanks Betsy Lee for the name! 

 Above: path through the woods. Along here you start encountering chunks of what is left of the road!   

 Above: Grassy spot at the old equipment and materials depot

 Above cement pipe segments

 Above: 55 gallon drum

 Above: terracotta pipe
Below: sections of slate sidewalk.

 above: golden ragwort

 Above Mayapple bloom

Above: wild geranium
   Further back we also encountered a grassy spot that looked to have been an equipment depot.
It had cement pipe sections, terra cotta pipes, big chunks of slate sidewalk, old metal equipment.  Animal traps.  The only people we passed in the woods were two turkey hunters who were leaving as we started our hike.   We saw a few wildflowers, but they were mostly past peak bloom.   The forest over here is beautiful and looks like something from a story book.

    Not long after the grassy spot with all the equipment we ran into a spot that was so muddy and swampy we had to detour to the left to work our way round it.   We ran upon a wide, open old logging road, but unpaved.    It headed up and in the wrong direction for Tallassee Creek Falls.   ** We knew better than to follow it. We realized we'd missed a turn somewhere. Thought it had been ten years or better since we hiked to the falls we both knew this was not right.  I recalled passing animal cages.  We'd not seen those today.  We back tracked and very quickly found ourselves following the stream through the woods again.   

    The scenery was prettier near the creek.   We came to our first crossing. There ended up being four of them total one way to the falls. The hike is only 1 mile one way.   Once we got going right we did pass the two animal traps I remembered.  

 Above: shot of the road we ended up on.  I will say more about this at the end of this blog entry.

 Above: Right near this spot is an important turn to get on the correct trail

 Creek to our right most of the hike in.

 Above: animal cage #1

Above: animal enclosure #2.. much larger.  It was sixty feet long at one time. half of it has collapsed over the years.


     Seeing the old animal cages was reassuring that we were correctly recreating the original route to the falls.   My inner compass felt right too.  Unless you have experienced brain injury and memory loss... forms of amnesia.. you cannot fully appreciate how marvelous it feels to recall how to get back to a place. I have experienced being on the trail after a brain illness and learning my inner compass was wrong and realizing I had pages of amnesia when it came to recall of past trips how to reach a place.  It is very upsetting.  Today beautiful memories of our previous trip flooded my mind. I savored it all.   God is great to heal and sustain life every single day.

 "Money Shot" from along the trip. Spots like this strike my memory and form strong engrams that come back to me in waking visions and dreams.  Filling my head up with beauty.

 Above: Where I picked to cross was calm and comparatively smooth, but over the tops of my boots deep.   I did not go back this way, but used an improvised walking stick and a hand from Kenny to cross by rock hopping.

 Above: Sitting down to put my boots back on.. my view of the blown out remains of an improvised bridge.  Hard to see here, but there are nail heads sticking up all along it.

Above: Kenny ponders the bridge ruins. Where did it used to sit? 
        The scenery of the sun speckled stream winding through the forest and the new Spring green woods was a delight.    Kenny and I made the creek crossings without too much trouble.
One of them at a particular bend in the stream.. the last one before the falls I knew.... was very deep.  I had to take off my boots and wade.  Kenny is long legged and nimble so he rock hopped it without any problems downstream.  I sat down on my butt on the far side and put my boots back on.  We sat looking at the ruins of what had to be where someone fashioned an old wooden bridge across the stream.   Kenny did what he always does.  He tried to figure out in his engineer's mind how the thing was rigged and where it sat to begin with.

 Above: I remembered crossing just above this beautiful sweeping bend in the stream.

 Above: Looking upstream of our crossing at the sun sparkles on the water

 Above; carpet of dwarf iris

Above: Catesbys trilliums love pine woods and that is what we saw a lot of today.  Various shades of pink and white.  

     Once we'd made that fourth and final crossing on the hike to the falls we encountered the massive blow down that was there years ago.  It is worse now.  More trees have come down added to the mess.   Going in we chose to avoid it by climbing above it and going round.
Once around we realized that the path splits.  You can hike it up to the top of the falls where the rock at the top is like a bath tub or you can hike to the base of the falls on the low trail.
We took the low road to the base.  I went to the top the first trip to sit in the "tub" at the top and cool off and look over the brink. Not swimming weather today so I was not going to bother.

    I always love the first glimpse of a falls even if I have been before.  It means we have been successful.  We found it!  Again!   Today it was running much better than our first visit. We were there in August in high Summer.   It was beautiful even then.  If you peruse the photo album there are photos in there depicting all these things.

       Today the falls... all twenty nine feet of it... was glittering white under new Spring green leaves.    The pool at the bottom shone deep and crystal clear.   We sat down at the falls to cool off and enjoy the beauty of the scenery.   We ate a navel orange and boy was it good.  Something about hiking that makes food taste even better.   Fresh fruit on a hike is extra refreshing.  We did not see any trash today near the falls and we did not leave any.  This waterfall may not be the largest or most impressive, but it sure is pretty.  The setting and the isolation make it very appealing to me.   The forest back here is quiet and secluded.  It looks like something out of a fairy tale.   

         

 Above: one spot where we the trail could easily have been lost.  Fallen debris made it hard to spot.   We made one needless ford here or rather Kenny did before I figured out we were messing up. 

 Above: Blow down made worse over time.  

 Above: on the other side of the blow down... the path resumes, but it is narrow and harder to spot for a bit.

 Above: I can still hear Kenny hollering I see it!  

 Above and below : Tallassee Creek Falls in all its glory

Above: if you look closely there is some sort of man made object here. A chunk of concrete from something.   We found another spot downstream where a cement structure looked like an old bridge abutment. A water pipe came from the stream to the bank. Perhaps someone had a home back here long ago.  

   Finally we tore ourselves away from the falls and began our return hike.  I put my camera up so we'd make better time.   We hiked back out in around 30 minutes since I wasn't stopping to snoop and take so many photos.   Plus we avoided lots of small mistakes we'd made on the hike in.  We did lose the trail briefly in that muddy area. We parallelled it though and came out connecting with the black top road or what was left of it.   

      We saw a man and woman fishing near the old trout weir from their boat.  They were the only two other people we encountered today over here.   On the way back up the lake we passed Miry Branch and could hear the roar of water.  We diverted to go there to see if the falls was running really good.   Miry Branch cascade turned out to be as big a tease today as ever.  Though it roared loudly it was not much.   It is a pretty cove and a nice picnic spot.  Someone else was already moored there and using it so we left them to it.     

   Once I got home I later took time to review some old maps and figure where that road we encountered went to.   The USGS quad map from 1933 and 1937 shows it going straight back for a bit then hanging to the contours of Tallassee mountain and ending up at Stiffknee Gap near a trail intersection.  From there you could turn right and go out to Farr gap.     This is in Citico Creek Wilderness.  Perhaps some day we'll hike in from Citico. I'd like to be able to say I've visited the place from that way just once.   It is interesting to note that back in the day three "roads" or trails connected Scona with Mt. Pleasant/Citico.    It is also noteworthy that the 1935 map shows Tallassee Creek being where current day Milligan Branch is on the map.   It shows that the stream with the waterfall was Mill Branch. Between the two streams was Blacksnake Branch and it has not changed on any maps I've found.  One of the old paths goes along it up towards Farr Gap.  ( I have included the link to the historical overlay of the maps. I do not know if it will display correctly.  To view USGS Historical Topographic Maps go to the link shown above and type in the area you want to search... then left  click on it. It will give you a time line at the bottom that shows you what the area was like during a different time period. 
Go to the left and type in the name of the area you want to search.  Once it comes up then right click on the map and a timeline box will display various maps that exist for that area in different years. Click on the one you want and it overlays it on the current map!
    

Below is a very short video of Tallassee Creek Falls