Starr Mountain Spring Wildflowers & Waterfalls 2024

 

Looking at the back side of an oconee bell bloom

Starr Mountain  Spring Wildflowers &  Waterfalls 2024

Friday March 8, 2024

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Photos are Here Starr Mountain Pix 

     Last Spring I went down toward Etowah to try to catch some flowers in bloom, but was too late. They were already spent for the year.    I was stuck trying to figure what to do this past weekend.  Kenny suggested we try to head south.   He had an unexpected Friday off so we wanted to take advantage of it.  The next day was forecast to be very rainy and cool.  He had a couple ideas of stuff we could do.  I was good with it so down the road we went.  

        I had a theory that the oconee bells I wanted to see might be in bloom. Despite being in Tennessee they were supposed to have been transplanted from elsewhere many years ago.  I knew from friends photos that the oconee bells were in bloom in South Carolina.   Maybe they'd be in bloom in East Tennessee now as well?  I figured it couldn't hurt to check.     Last year even though I missed the flowers in bloom it provided me with a chance to begin a systematic botanical inventory of Starr Mountain.   It also proved to be a fruitful day in turning up a couple new waterfalls to us!  The scenery was lovely and we enjoyed it so much. 

        I let Kenny sleep in and we got going at a leisurely pace.   He surprised me with one of his plans. He asked me to check on my phone to see if The Farm House Restaurant was open in Etowah?    I looked and they were.  He suggested we go have some lunch before we went hiking.  I was happy with that. I'd heard so much boasting from Jared and his friends about how good this place was.  It is an area destination!  Everyone loves The Farm House for meals.   I did NOT know Kenny Koogler had already been without me.  👀   

Below:  Front porch of Farmhouse 

Below: Welcome flag on the porch.  My kind of place!  Country! 

Above: merchandise at the front counter and cash register in the restaurant 

Below:  More of their decoration up in front of the place. 

Above: You can look straight back in this view to the additional large dining area.  

Above: Cell phone shot of the dining area around us.  

Below: Kenny across from me at our table.  This restaurant is one we first became aware of when our son was at Miracle Lake getting recovered.   Hearing him tell about going there after church with his buddies really blessed me.    It was some of the first healthy, wholesome things he began participating in.  Farmhouse Restaurant will forever have a special place in my heart because of this. 

  Kenny had barbecue with macaroni and cheese and green beans. I had a house salad with a baked potato.  Their sweet tea is silky smooth. Perfection!    We enjoyed it and went on the rest of our adventure with lots of energy.    We were in and out of there in the time it takes to go to McDonald's, but with a wholesome meal that is NOT fast food!   If you haven't tried this place you should!  I almost hate to tell people about it. If I go the next time and find it covered up busy I will feel like I should have kept it secret, but it is far from a secret.   It is well known and loved. 

        We headed to Mecca Pike to begin our adventure.   On our way I did keep watch for wildflowers, but since we covered this ground in early April last year I didn't expect to see much.  We didn't see any wildflowers at all along our route.   The road is rougher than last year and more rutted out.    At least it was not muddy.   The first thing I saw with any color was periwinkle blooming near the site of the former White Cliffs Hotel.    I also learned today that the hotel did not sit where I believed it did. It was opposite of that area.  Down over the mountain side by about 200 feet is the spring where they got their water.       

      I did see a few trout lilies this season.  The ones here are very tiny and seem to have more reddish brown coloration than most others I've seen.  They are the Dimpled Trout lily variety.    

Above: close up view of trout lily

Above: Trailing arbutus was along the roadsides and in the forest.  It was such a pretty pink.   It was one of the few flowers in bloom. 

Below:  The black water of a swamp atop the mountain.   This flat, sandstone mountain is an oddity.  

Above; Beautiful clear stream of water flowing. This creek flows year round.  I've never seen it dry up.

Above: another cluster of trout lily blooms.  They weren't more than a few inches high.

  We kept looking as we went along. Nothing in bloom to speak of, but I did find my oconee bells I'd hoped for.    They were done last year. This year they were just getting started good.   These are globally rare and endemic to a few locations primarily in Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. 

The three photos above are oconee bells blooming. (Shortia galacifolia ) They are so delicate and beautiful! 

 

 We proceeded toward the rest of our route. We knew there wouldn't be much blooming besides the few things I'd  hoped to find.   We'd go see some waterfalls on the rest of the journey to fill up the day.

Recent rains have our streams flowing wonderfully!   

Below:  a partial view from the road off of Starr Mountain. It was sunny one moment, gloomy the next.  This pattern was repeated all day. 

Below:  Yellow Creek near a "camp site" that was very trashy. I'm not sure it is actually a legal campsite. 

Below: a layered cascade near the campsite.  It is about 12 feet high.  

Above:  a lovely hole of water and powerful cascade just below the first one.  Yellow Creek was one pretty cascade after another today! 

Above: Upper, upper Yellow Creek Falls.   

Below: a side view of it and the jade green water hole with it. 

Below: Ellis Branch Falls is a roadside beauty.  

I am pretty sure this waterfall is on private property, but there is nothing that says I can view it from the road.   

  

 We eased down toward the Hiwassee River and Reliance.   Kenny initially wanted to stop at Webb's store and get ice cream, but thought better of it.   We motored onward. I checked the areas along the road where I'd seen flowers last Spring. Not much out yet.  I will have to head back down there once things start blooming good if I get the chance.   I did not bother to hit up a lot of areas in the core of Starr Mountain because there was nothing blooming April fifth of last year. I knew full well there wouldn't be anything out this early.

         Below is a video of the various cascades we visited on Starr Mountain today.  

    

Notes to Self for Future Trips

Get video of Hiwassee River and Railroad bridge 

Get photos of the old store building along Mecca Pike

Located White Cliff Hotel site and spring down over the mountain

Take RZR and cross Sheehan Branch to look for additional waterfalls 

Webb's Store for a popsicle and a t shirt

Drive Spring Creek Road to see cascades and wildflowers

Stop by Starr Mountain Outfitters for a Bigfoot shirt

Lowry Falls

Left Prong Falls

Reliance Fly & Tackle

Towee Creek Picnic Area 

Check for T flexipes on the slopes near river

Spring Branch Falls

Water Tank Branch Falls

Stairway to Heaven and Bluffs view

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.   

Starr Mountain Frustration Trip

Virginia spiderwort growing on the slopes of Starr Mountain

Starr Mountain Hike

4 miles round trip approx.

Dana Koogler solo
Friday July 25, 2014
Pictures are here: Starr Mountain Pix

   I had been jonesing to get up to Starr Mountain again for some exploration.  I have a dysfunctional 

relationship with that mountain.  I've been courting it for eight years or more.   I liken it to a girl with a

bad boyfriend she should dump, but she's a stress seeker and likes pain and suffering.  I just keep going 

back for more.   It frustrates my efforts to find things. It confuses me.  I get upset and I'm ready to give up

and break it off.... then It shows me something beautiful and I'm hooked again! 

       I think for me what lured me to begin with was the pure fact it was a lonely, flat topped mountain

out there on its own.  The history of the mountain and Caleb Starr and the interesting name fueled the fire.

The stories of Mason Evans the hermit of Starr Mountain and the White Cliffs Resort Hotel added to it.

A visit there for the first time seeing  what the place looked like really took my imagination on flights of fancy.

Red dirt.  Dry. Dusty areas contrasted with black, muddy bogs snaking across the top of the mountain really 

intrigued me.    It has waterfalls on its slopes down in the Gee Creek Wilderness.  It has waterfalls on its slopes tucked in deep ravines to discover and explore down where Yellow Creek and Bullett Creek converge.   It is an isolated, remote spot on the earth. According to what I've read the stones that form the mountain were part of a billion year old ancient sea floor. They were pushed up and made into a mountain during the Alleghany orogeny 250 million years ago.  Today we see a long, flat topped mountain with sandstone texture. Parts of its forest more like the Croatan National Forest along the coast of North Carolina!  Here are some links to the history of the area: 

Starr Mountain History

Joe Guy Writes about Caleb Starr-- namesake of the mountain

White Cliffs Hotel--Taking the Waters 

Here is a piece of art that depicts the White Cliffs Hotel and the hermit Mason Evans. 

**Nov. 18, 2020 edited to add... a reader commented that this painting was done by one Robin Champagne.. a former member of the Community Artists League of Athens, TN.  A lovely work of art.  

     I learned more about its history and the botanical wonders that are concealed there.

I climbed its fire tower.  I found views in a few spots.  I came in Fall and found the creeping in of the colors of Autumn. I found blazing stars of three different sorts.   I've watched a copperhead strike a salamander

and kill it and prepare to eat it. I've ripped and run four-wheeling along its dirt roads.   I've slipped off into

tall, soft, cool green grass in wildlife clearings to have a little X rated fun with my hubby.  I KNEW there was a reason I married him.   I have experienced bliss and defeat there on that mountain. 

 Top: Copperhead has struck his prey and is fixing to have dinner up on Starr Mountain

Bottom: Blazing star blooms up on Starr Mountain in Autumn.

      My plan on Friday July 25, 2014 was to make the trip down the road count. I'd go explore Starr Mountain and hike.  Once I was done I'd head off the back side to Tellico Plains and up the Cherohala Skyway to Wolf Laurel to hike to Stratton Bald to see the turks cap lilies.   I was enthusiastic and sure 

it would all work out.  

       I always enjoy driving out Old Mecca Pike.  It is such a pretty rural drive through farm country.

I got up there and saw where one person was camped at the parking area/camping area for Bullett Creek Trail.   I had wanted to revisit the Carolina lilies I found up there two years back.   I was confident I'd find them. I knew just where to go.   I re-created my hike as nearly as I was able.  I got about a mile into it and 

the old ugliness of the mountain reared its head.   It started off with that sense of wondering am I really going the right way?  This IS the way I went last time, isn't it?  It seems right.  I kept thinking surely I'd find that right turn just around the next bend.  I hated to admit it, but I had a growing sense that I was getting played again.   I went two miles or more out and the only possible "right turn" I saw was the sketchiest of paths.

I was mixed up.  I was not lost. I knew exactly where I was. I just could not recreate where I went the previous time.   I hate that! It makes me feel crazy like I dreamed the whole thing before!  I finally 

turned around and headed back. I was hot.  I was thirsty. The gnats were in my face and eyes.  Time to 

try something else!  

       Back at the jeep I noticed the lady was packing up her stuff and preparing to leave.

I stowed my gear and wiped the sweat.   I grabbed me a big cold drink of sweet tea with lemon out of the cooler.  I drove on out to my next spot to park and try to hike.   I was not going to be so easily outdone.

    I found my parking spot and trail head and set out again.  I crossed a wildlife clearing/road and 

headed down through weeds.   I saw some pretty butterflies.  I was pleased the heat and bugs and weeds were not as bad or as scary as last attempt.  The previous two tries I had run away scared of snakes and disgusted with all the insects and high weeds.  Today I was going to make it!  And make it I did.

I forged on until I entered the woods on a real trail.    The forest was cooler and dark with a little breeze blowing.    Black mud was all around.  The path was encroached by rhodo shrubs so badly and the trail itself

was nothing but a ditch filled with stagnant water.  So many people had diverted around this section it was 

easy enough to avoid it.   The forest was beautiful.  Mushrooms of every type and description grew here. It was surreal.   Sphagnum mosses and loamy sandy soil and black mud were around.   Tannin stained streams reminded me of Panthertown in North Carolina. 

Top & Bottom.. various views of the scenery along the Bullett Creek Trail

Some sort of Dr. Seuss looking mushroom

  I was on a small spur trail that was not actually part of Bullett Creek Trail #121 just yet. It merged with it soon, but only AFTER I'd had to cross a deep moat filled with that brown water.  It was too deep to rock hop by far.  It was not bridged officially, but I found the work of other explorers and crossed on a perfectly good log and rock formation.  What do you MEAN it looks sketchy?

My bridge that I used to cross. It was at the most shallow part of the ditch. A smart feat of engineering!

     I hiked the trail out once I hit the intersection with the real trail.A ll the way to its end with the gravel road.
It was quite pretty and I enjoyed it, but I did not find many orchids and not the kind I was hoping for.
I saw some rattlesnake orchids.  They were pretty. I saw possum paw fern. I saw a glade where the forest floor was filled with ferns. I also walked through one part of the trail where ostrich ferns enclosed the trail like great plumes!   I realized I was burning daylight and not making any headway in finding rare wildflowers.

  I was frustrated at having not been able to find the area I'd visited before.  I headed back to the jeep where I cooled off in the air conditioning. I stowed my gear for the drive to Stratton Bald.  I ate lunch and drank some water and sweet tea.  I had been foiled again by this ancient place.  I left in a huff of depression, dust, mud and tears.    I made up my mind I was DONE with coming here hunting things unless I got some good tips or fresh information.   I was wasting my time I told myself.   I was so upset I almost decided to go home and not even bother with hiking to Stratton Bald today.

        On the way down the mountain I saw trumpet vines draping from the trees. I saw tall blue bellflower and starry campion along the roadsides.  I thought two things 1.  I am looking in the wrong place. 2.  I have got to start asking for assistance. 3. I've got to be willing to share the knowledge as it is not right to ask for help but never give it.

        And then I heard that mountain whisper as I drove off.. "You'll be back. You always come back."
And I knew it was true.



     

  

Gee Creek Wilderness Hike

Oconee Bell Close-up

Gee Creek Wilderness Hike

Dana Koogler solo

4 miles round trip approx. 

Tuesday March 19, 2013

Pictures are here:

Gee Creek Photos Begin on Frame 46

    I took a notion to hike Gee Creek trail again.  I had learned there was an upper Gee Creek Falls and thanks to Tennessee land forms I had the coordinates and wanted to see if I could find it?  It had been a year or two since I had hiked this small but beautiful wilderness.  My imagination was captivated again at learning there was an upper falls and it was pretty good sized based on the photos!   I had read in a guide book that there were no more falls above the fourth one and that the trail did not continue past a certain point.

It distressed me to realize I had believed it for so long.  I did read it in more than one source though.  Turned out all that was incorrect information.

     The hike is pretty straightforward to start with.  The first creek crossing is bridged and
the trail is easy to spot.  It is a wilderness and wilderness trails are not intended to be real groomed and are never maintained to the same standard as state park or national park trails.   A wilderness trail is also not as well marked.   The hike is in a narrow gorge and follows a creek so getting lost would take some work .

Waterfall #1



Waterfall #2--Here is the first creek crossing.  There is another cascade below this area.



Waterfall #3


Waterfall #4



Remember this view from a previous trip report? The trail ended here. Now some one.. I am guessing the Cherokee Hiking Club........ has constructed trail that includes stone steps!
It is wonderfully done.  Thanks to whomever was responsible. Bravo!

    I was able to continue into the upper reaches of the wilderness without too much problem.  The hairiest section of trail was climbing over a rocky outcrop that sits up like an inverted V and gave me about six inches to stand on or rather crawl over.  A fall from here would not have killed me, but it would have hurt and landed me in the creek. Thankfully there was a downed tree just on the other side of this sloped rock I had to cross.  It gave me something to hang on to as I descended to touch the trail again.

Right after this was another creek crossing.  The gorge walls had encroached too tightly so the trail was on the far side of the stream.  There was a log here to cross just by chance.
I crawled it to the other side!

   
The trail in the upper portion of the wilderness was more like this! It was so pretty.


Here is an example of what the rock is like in this gorge. 

Here is an example of the steepness of the terrain around you.


Upper Gee Creek Falls! It was about 50 ft high.  It was so worth it and so pretty. I got right in the falls to take pictures and shoot video.  Very mossy and green and lush.
I had long wanted to shoot a video and take pictures where the sun and the water intersected like this. Today I finally got my chance. I loved it!

 
Upper Gee Creek Falls in profile. This is the #5 waterfall. It is on a side stream.

   I climbed up the super steep bank and sat in the crook of a tree to eat lunch by this spot.
All around me were too many hepaticas and windflowers to count. Later there will be trilliums!   I enjoyed the sunshine and the sound of the water.  When I finished my lunch I climbed back down.   I got over confident once I arrived at the stream I had to ford.
I was being a turkey and just going to trot right across the way I had going over.
The stream was not real deep. Only about six inches or so where I forded.
The next thing I knew I was on my back in the creek. Soaking wet. Very cold.
Very humbled.  As I got up I realized one of my trekking poles was gone!
I was already soaked so I went ahead and just searched all around the water for it.
I never did find it.  It could not have gone far because downstream from me was a dam made of sticks and debris.    What a bummer!

      I was thankful not to be injured and knew that being cold and wet was survivable.
I just plowed on through the creek on the way back.  Trying to stay dry now was pointless.  I thought on the way out about what I'd do to finish up my day?
I did not really want to go home yet.  I decided if I had my Winter coat in the jeep when I got back I'd strip down to my undies and wear the coat and my sandals home. It would look hellish, but I'd be warm and dry.  I'd just head home.

   I never saw another soul today on the way in or out.   I did not have my coat in the jeep.   I recalled there being a Dollar General store up the road a few miles.  I changed into my sandals. I sat on my jacket. I drove up there and went in wild and wooly.
I bought some of the ugliest clothes you've ever seen. I went in the bathroom and put them on.  Ugly or not........ they fell marvelous!  My skin was blood red from the waist down from the cold and it felt what I call "spicey".  So cold its hot!
I put on dry undies, dry camisole, dry yoga pants, dry tunic.  My hair was now curly as sheeps wool from having gotten wet. I had some sticks in there.  I just left that stuff.
I came wading out into the sun dry and warm and happy and looking like the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.    I got lots of laughs and questioning glances. The cashier tried not to laugh, but I just winked at her and told her to go ahead.

      I felt good so I went on with my day.   I drove up to the top of Starr Mountain for a little hiking and checking for early Spring wildflowers and views.  I was not disappointed.
 I want Kenny to go back with me to hunt for Mason Evans cave up there. Even if I'd found it today I would not have gone in exploring alone.  I think it is near White Cliffs, but I am not certain. I have the GPS coordinates for it.  It will wait for another time.

    I enjoyed four-wheeling on the old red dirt rutted mountain roads and just goofing off.

View from White Cliffs out over Rural Vale


Trout lilies blooming early on Starr Mountain


   I went home dry and dirty and happy.  It felt good to get a shower and a hot cup of coffee and a robe when I got home.  I love it when I take a shower and sticks and leaves are left in the shower floor.  It makes me feel like I did when I was a child and there was a REALLY good bathtub ring after a day's play.  It was WORTH IT!  Now that's a good hike!  Just before washing my hair a spider jumped out of my fro onto the shower wall.
More evidence of having arrived at wild woman status. I love it!

 What I did NOT love was losing my trekking pole.  What I did NOT love was the days later hot knife sensation down my right leg and from my back to my front in my pelvis.
I don't know what I did to myself and it seems to be mending, but I will be  more careful from now on.   I injured myself in the fall, but while I was out having fun I just ignored it.
It is a long way from the heart and I am far too mean to kill.

        I plan to return to Gee Creek Wilderness later this Spring when the wildflowers are out in greater numbers. 

Below is a lovely video of Upper Gee Creek Falls