Waterfalls on Laurel Fork and High Falls South Fork Mills River

Crimson Bee Balm growing near Dill Falls.

Pisgah Forest Camping and Hiking Trip

Dana & Kenny Koogler
and Cathy Howell
Labor Day Weekend 
Sept. 2, 2013
Pictures are here: Pisgah Forest Hiking Pix

   We've been going through some trying times as a family the last few months. I have been going through some especially trying times with my health. I have answers at last and I'm on my road to recovery.   I've got a way to go, but just knowing what's wrong and that it is fixable is a relief.   We had planned a get away weekend to try to de-stress and have a little fun.

We took the camper to Adventure Village Campground just outside Brevard, NC on Thursday.

Once we got set up we headed out to do some waterfall hiking. We had a short day so we chose Upper Dill Falls and Dill Falls.  We passed Camp Living Waters in the way there and decided we'd stop on the way back.  We saw lots of waterfalls 
in the time we had!  We had both been to see Corn Mill Shoals Falls and 
Bird Rock Falls before, but it had been a long time. We'd only been once. 
Today there was far more water flowing than when we were first there.

Dill Falls



Upper Dill Falls


Corn Mill Shoals


Shady trail at Camp Living Waters.


Bird Rock Falls

     We checked out all we could and headed back to the camper for dinner.
We were hungry and tired. We got a good nights sleep for the next days adventure.

   The next day  we fixed french toast for breakfast outside and headed out to hike to High Falls on the South Fork of Mills River.   It was supposed to be a 4 mile round trip easy-moderate trip.  Trail and bushwhack.  We headed to Pisgah Forest and parked at a trail head that has the highest privvy I've ever seen!

Oh High and Mighty Privvy in the sky!

     The day was clear and pretty and slightly hot and humid.  We had a breeze stirring. The creek kept us company the whole time.   The forest smelled wonderful and fresh.  The trail was mostly sandy and soft under foot with some rocky areas and some muddy spots.    We enjoyed the sights and sounds of late Summer wildflowers, birds and butterflies as we went our way.   We decided to hike up to Billy Branch Falls first.

Billy Branch Falls is 20-25 ft high and quite pretty.


View of South Fork Mills River on the way.

     We enjoyed the hike to High Falls which is only about 20 ft high...but was very pretty.
The entire hike is along the river and it is filled with numerous scenic cascades along the way.  Today the water level was just enough to call for caution approaching some of them.  Yet we forded S. Fork Mills River without any trouble in a wide, calm spot. It was a deep wade in water shoes.   Crossing back we saw a foot long hellbender in the river!
Kenny was stepping pretty high and jabbing at him with his trekking poles.  :-)


High Falls on South Fork Mills River


Below is a video of High Falls on South Fork Mills River

   We hiked back to the trail head and saw the only other group of persons using the trail  all day. It was a group of four or five fishermen.   We had passed the trail for Barnett Branch on the way in and I knew there was a set of falls on that trail. I had directions to it from Rich's website printed off the computer this go round.  We were a little tired, but since we were close and it was a short hike we went back to check it out.  Barnett Branch is a nice falls. The area it drains is very small so while we were pleased with the view of the main falls.. the upper falls was not worth a photo today.  The higher into a headwaters you go.. generally the less water there is.  I also think a recent rain would have helped some.  
Barnett Branch Falls

   We had wanted to go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway today for some views.
We were camped near Hwy 215 so we went up Hwy 276 and turned and drove back in the direction of Hwy 215. It would be a varied and slightly closer way back to the camper.
The parkway was quite pretty, but the views a little hazy.   The Summer wildflowers were ample and mostly yellows of sunflowers, coneflowers, and yellow and orange jewelweed.


View of Looking Glass Rock from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved how the sunflowers framed it and there were butterflies all around!

   We were surprised what a short jag it was on the parkway to reach the junction of route 215.   The few miles up near the top portion of the road were new territory with different sights to see, but we had driven all the rest of it on Thursday.   Still a beautiful drive to be enjoyed.  It is a residential area.   Camp Living Waters and the turn off for Dill Falls is here along this road.  I got a glimpse of something small and bright orange on our ride out.
I was sure it was yellow fringed orchids so Kenny looked for a place to turn around to let me get out to see.  It was quite a production finding a turn around, but we made it back and I was rewarded having found 18 or more plants in full bloom!  We had passed all these the previous evening without spotting them.  I had not seen any this year so I was thrilled.  We saw more on the way out, but just one here and there. No more big clusters of them by the road.
Here is a photo of the best one. I'm using it as a blog banner currently.

    We also passed  two massive fields of  deep purple ironweed intermingled with goldenrod, sunflowers, coneflowers, spotted jewelweed, and pale pink Joe Pye weed.
I sure do enjoy the late Summer wildflowers. The colors are rich and varied.
Spotted jewelweed by the road


Fields of Late Summer wildflowers. What I call the Season of Purple and Gold.


    Back at the camper we fixed chicken quesadillas for dinner and relaxed. It was a great day.  I finally heard from Cathy. Cell phone reception down in this hole is sketchy at best.
We made plans to meet the next day in Brevard to do some hiking and bushwhacking together.

       We met Cathy the next morning at The Hub camping, biking, outdoor store and pub in Brevard.  We car pooled to the trailhead. We had first decided in the parking area to go see two waterfalls in one day. Waterfall on Laurel Fork and the one on the tributary stream not too far away.  We were feeling froggy and said once that was done.. we'd eat lunch in town at Hawg Wild BBQ and  go hike to High Falls on the Thompson River.
Remember that for later.  We reached the trailhead and parked and began trying to decipher Kevin Adam's directions.   We opted to try the upstream approach.
We  had to pull out all the stops with the women folk using their map orienteering skills to prove the logic of it.  Thank goodness we were correct. Kenny was of the opinion he could write a better guidebook easier to understand. Cathy set him straight saying probably so, but it would not be a book, rather a pamphlet! haha! Score one for the ace female bushwhacker.

    We came at last to this beautiful falls shown below.


   

Twenty foot sliding cascade on tributary of Laurel Fork.

   Once down here to view this falls we had to back track. We were not going anywhere from this vantage point.  Back on the very rudimentary "trail" we found that we had missed the "sloping rock you have to climb over".  described in the trail directions.  We made it but it was a tense moment. This hike was less than a mile in distance.. I'd put it at 0.9 miles though and rated a 7- 10. It is challenging to be sure.  We hiked through lots of black mud where we sunk in.  Most times bushwhacking rhododendron and dog hobble are undesirable but by the time we finished we were darn glad to have it around to use as hand holds.   Both these hikes today were on steep, slippery terrain with lots of spots where you can see the way  you need to go , but it makes you want to cry.  Up and up and up. Knees to the shoulders. Through brush and brambles.  Under logs and fallen trees and sometimes over them.  We followed the suggestion to go UP the first stream first and then double back to see the second waterfall. Thanks Kevin. Had we done it in reverse we'd have been put off from going to the 2nd one at all.  Hard bushwhacking  honey. Both these falls involved reaching headwaters split by a ridge. Each part was about 0.9 miles to reach.  Both hard as hell.   Both WORTH IT!

  We had moments of confusion along the trail as to which was which. I was of the opinion that the first trek was to the Waterfall on Tributary of Laurel Fork, but Kenny and Cathy thought otherwise.  It did not matter. We found both.  I turned out to be right, but it did not make a lick of difference or make the trips any easier.  None of us wants to be 'right" at this age. We all just want to see the falls and be happy.

    We finally glimpsed the falls on the first leg of the journey and Cathy pointed out something that was a revelation.  High in the trees you could barely see movement.
Water moving in the tree tops! It let me know this falls was going to be a doozy!

And was it ever! 75 ft high. If not higher!

Waterfall on Tributary of Laurel Fork. The photo doesn't do it justice. It had a pretty good amount of water on it today. The only thing that would have helped even more was a recent rain and we were glad for that to have held off!

    We made our way back down to the turn off to start the bushwhack to Waterfall on Laurel Fork.  We forded the stream and began working our way up the side drainage.  It was just about the same as the previous hike. Steep but not that bad yet. Through Summer growth,but mostly open woods.  Cathy by this time has recalled that she was already up to the first waterfall once before. We were not surprised. It somehow makes me disgusted that she has forgotten more waterfalls than we'll probably ever hike to.
We trudged along on this tough little leg of the journey.  Over and under obstacles.
Hunting for the way.  There comes a point on every tough journey where you have an epiphany as to just how bad a situation is. I had one.  We struggled and toiled along and I came to a point where I watched the longer legged Kenny and Cathy ahead of me. I saw a bend in the way as we climbed the drainage. Not a glimpse of white water yet. Can't hear a thing except the wind, ourselves and a gentle stream below trickling.

Below is a video of Waterfall on the tributary of Laurel Fork 

    I knew when I got to this point that when I drew nearer to where Kenny stood.. and could see...beyond it... that the track was going to go UP UP UP and more UP and that it was going to be ugly.  And I arrived there to learn it was so.  Kenny admitted later he thought I was going to say heck with it and that I was done.  I was not going to quit after coming this far.  I was just resigned to it.  We were at the crux of the thing now.  I've gotten good at reading the lay of the land.  Up to the base of a rock ledge then left would be the only way we could proceed. A strong, tough tangle through rhododendron and dog hobble would be next.  It was true. It involved the removing of packs, passing ahead trekking poles, dragging ourselves and wriggling through tight spots in rhododendron trunks and trees.  Claustrophobia begins to set in.  This is where physical determination, and a bull dog grip on your mind is necessary.  We finally got where we could glimpse the falls, but getting down to where we could really see it was going to be hard.
We tried first one way. Then another.  The vegetation was all we had to hold onto and it was slick with spray.  We all made it down to the base of the falls unharmed save a few dog hobble scratches.


Waterfall on Laurel Fork in Pisgah National Forest, NC  It is 55 feet high
and well worth the energy and struggle to visit.  I admit now that getting down to it
was so treacherous I had a reaction to it similar to Gragg Prong's base.
( some of you may remember that Gragg Prong vs. Little Lost Cove Falls trip)
I was dreading getting back up out of there so bad I did not enjoy it fully.
I did not feel relaxed again until we were back up and past the big rocks on this trek.
 It made me rather nervous.

The water here all channels down a gully, under a rock and emerges on the other side
in two streams. Then down over the mountain it goes. This stream has several other pretty falls and cascades, but I was too tired and stressed out to care.

We made it back out of there and I was absolutely filthy. I was grimed in black mud and drenched in sweat.  On arriving back to the truck I grabbed a bag of dry, clean clothes and a towel. I got under the bridge near the parking lot. I got under there and stripped off all my clothes and bathed in the creek. It felt great to get clean. I scrubbed off the stink and the black mud. I dried off and dressed in clean clothes. My hair was perfectly wet and wild, but I did not care.  I was at least fit to  ride in the vehicle and go in to the restaurant to dine.    Not one of us was interested in hiking to High Falls on the Thompson anymore.
We are getting older and slowing down.  I was once again ready for the nursing home.
A good hot meal and some rest was fantastic. We hugged and kissed Cathy good bye for now.  I always hate to see her go.  I love her dearly.  She is a great Christian friend. She knows how to have a good time.

     We had a tough task to face on this trip.  We tried to talk Cathy into going along but she politely declined.  We had to go to Jared's former residence and gather up his HEAVY lawn furniture and move it back home. He has moved and is better satisfied, but doesn't have a place for that anywhere.  He met us to help load it.  While there we finally met the local witch. Yes. I am serious. A witch... on a lawnmower. She was something to see.
We visited with Jared a little and did not tarry. He had to work that night and needed a nap.  We hauled all that stuff back with us. The witch still mowing the lawn furiously as we drove away.  I was sorry Jared had to move, but proud of him for having the gumption to do it. He was living with a couple of friends who were into some occult things he was not willing to accept.  Since moving he feels better and has been blessed for his obedience to God.  Way to Go Jared! Thank you Lord!

     We went back home and rested in the camper and had a good fire that night.
I read a book and enjoyed the quiet of the campground. It had quite a few families here and it was just right. Enough going on to be fun and lively without annoying anybody.
Just cozy and sweet.  Our bed in the camper felt great that night.  I slept like a log.

We woke in the morning and fixed a hot breakfast of french toast and bacon.
We did a short, leg stretcher hike to Moore Cove Falls and Little Moore Cove Falls.
We went early so there was only one other couple and their dog on the trail.
On the way back to the parking area we met the start of the thundering herds for the day!
It is a popular hike and is very easy.


Moore Cove Falls


Little Moore Cove Falls

   We went back to the camper and prepared a lunch of cheeseburgers on the grill and watermelon.   We enjoyed that and packed up.  We headed home. It was great to go and Kenny said something that really endeared me to him on the hike back out of Moore Cove Falls. He remarked pitifully that he wished we could stay a couple more days because he was having such a good time. I told him when he says things like that for me it is like the Heavens open and the angels sing!  It lets me know we will be back again and soon!
I love this man so much.

  

Waterfall Weekend in North Carolina : Big Bradley Falls from the Base

Old log barn in Saluda, NC.

Waterfall Weekend in North Carolina

                                                  

Pictures are here starting with frame 195

Waterfall Pix

Below is a video of Big Bradley Falls

   I had an opportunity to enjoy a weekend with my best friend Cathy Howell 

the weekend of August 9 & 10th.   Kenny was working out of town so I took the time

to enjoy Cathy's company. We added some waterfalls to the completed list of the Carolina Mountain Club's Waterfall 100.    We had time to catch up and visit. It was very nice.

   She had heard from a co-worker who lived in the Saluda area that there was a waterfall in the vicinity of Camp Bob Hardin. It is a local boy scout camp.  We went hunting for it.

We were unsuccessful.  The caretakers of the camp said there were no waterfalls on the property. They pointed us instead to Big Bradley Falls.  The search will continue after she has had time to talk it over a second time with her co-worker.  We've learned that it is not uncommon for the serious hiker to know of places even other locals are unaware of.  

He described a falls you can walk behind.  Big and Little Bradley Falls  do not fit that description.  So we'll have something else to look forward to finding!

     The back up plan was to get me to the base of Big Bradley Falls.  Kenny and I had hiked to it before but viewed it from the overlook.   Today we approached it the way Johnny Corn had showed Cathy, KT and Rich.. from Wilderness Cove.  The approach the first way involves a short hike and a treacherous climb down a rope.  Kenny and I did not spot the rope climb the first time and even if we had ... he refused to do it or to allow me to try it.   Today involved an approach from the opposite direction.  Upstream we went from the vicinity of Wilderness Cove tubing and camping business.  

      Today's hike was beautiful. The weather was overcast alternating with periods of drizzle then the sun would come out. It was very hot and humid. The first part of the hike is along an old gravel road and some through the woods.  We passed along the edge of a planted bean field.   The woods smelled great today.  The gnats were ready to carry us off.  I got a dozen or so in my eyes.  Hiking in this way afforded some chances to see other beautiful stretches of the river as well as some other pretty waterfalls and cascades.

    

One of several cascades along the river below Big Bradley Falls. This one had the best and biggest, deepest swimming hole.  I did not care if it did look like an old cow creek. I was burning up so I got in. It was great. I did the back stroke looking up at the sky. It was grand! Cathy did not want to get in so she climbed up on the rocks around the falls and explored.  I felt MUCH better after I got in swimming.


      The trail to Big Bradley from this direction is probably a better approach for some folks.  I am not usually bothered by steep terrain, but my nerves have been real bad lately.
I was able to do this but I felt ready to jump out of my skin on the narrow, steep parts.
I will be glad when I am back to my old self.



Ninety foot high Big Bradley Falls. The spray down here and the noise was intense!
So worth it!  I am glad to have a friend to show me the way.

    We hiked back and explored one small stream across the creek for a short distance.
What looked like a nice waterfall turned out to be a small cascade.  I took another dip in the creek and sat right in one of the cascades. It was icy cold and wonderful!

  We made our way back slowly. I am not in my best health and was in pain all day.
We saw apple trees. We saw a hawk. We saw cranefly orchids, maryland meadow beauty, and other pretty Summer wildflowers. I felt too bad to take pictures.

     We went back to Cathy's and cleaned up. She bought me a lasagna dinner at Mills River Restaurant.  We can both highly recommend this attractive and delicious eatery.
The service was fast and friendly.  The prices reasonable. Portions large. The menu is varied.  We went back to the house and played games for awhile. She beat me bad at the marble game. :-)  We turned in and slept late the next day.

       We had planned to go hiking today to see five waterfalls. Foul weather and my poor health had us only making it to three, but they were quite pretty.

   We visited all the waterfalls on Log Hollow. The Southern tributary falls is the furthest one and it is on the Waterfall 100 Challenge.  The upper one is little known and we were the only ones there.   We saw one other hiker all day.    The hike was really pretty and the drive was as well.   Pisgah Forest is always a great destination.  We will save Waterfall on Billy Branch and High Falls on the South Fork Mills River for another trip in 2 weeks.

 
Waterfall on South Tributary of Log Hollow Branch


Log Hollow Falls. I had been here before.


Upper Log Hollow Falls


Carolina Lily growing along the roadside on FR 475-B

Below is a video  of Log Hollow Falls to conclude the trip report.

Dismal Falls & Wintergreen Falls Weekend

White squirrel peeping round a tree at Cathy's house.

Dismal Falls Hike & Wintergreen Falls

Dana Koogler & Cathy Howell

Friday June 14 & Saturday June 15, 2013

Western NC Mountains

Dismal Falls 4 miles round trip

Wintergreen Falls 2.64 miles round trip

Pictures are here:
Dismal Falls Pix

   I had long wanted to do a hike to Dismal Falls in the mountains of western North Carolina.   I had heard how difficult it was from friends who had done it before.

I had read about it in Jim Bob Tinsley's book Land of Waterfalls.  I had read about it on Rich's website ncwaterfalls.com I read it in Kevin Adam's book about waterfalls.  Cathy recently said to me that we needed to do some of the really hard waterfall hikes while we were still physically able to do them.  I agreed and took that

quite seriously.    

       I called her up and planned to come over for a visit two weeks from the last time I was there.  I figured we'd just go ahead and do it now. She had said it could be a really hot hike and that it might be best to wait til September when things cooled down a bit.  Kenny was going to end up working all weekend. We'd had lots 

of rain and unseasonably cool temperatures.  I could see no reason to wait. 

She was agreeable so that was what we planned to do.

     I stopped in Asheville to visit  Jared Thursday morning.   Once he went to work

I finished up what I was doing at his house and set out for Mills River.  I stopped at the Ingles long enough to purchase groceries. I went inside Cathy's house just as the first drops of rain started to fall.    Thankfully we did not get much rain or wind off

the line of storms passing through.   She got home a little after 7 pm and we ate a nice spaghetti dinner and visited.  We  did some planning for the next day.  We read

Kevin Adams book and looked at the map.  We did not look at Rich's website tonight because the computer at Cathy's is kind of slow.  It was a mistake that cost us a lot of trouble. 

        We had to go by Cathy's bank when they opened at 9 a.m.

We finally got on the trail at 10:25 am.   The delay came from trying to find the starting point.   She had done this hike twice before, but not recently.  Kevin Adams

mentions in his directions .. published in 2005 that there was a planned repaving project.  It would obliterate the previous parking area.  One of the descriptors he used to help mark the starting place was the parking area along Hwy 281 being directly across from the gate.  He also used the mileage and the point at which the road went from paved to gravel.   I would highly recommend to anyone planning on doing this hike: USE THE DIRECTIONS GIVEN ON Rich's website which is the most current. Kevin Adams book Waterfalls of North Carolina  has great directions, but the book is eight years old and he mentions himself that it has its limits.

         We floundered around trying to find the starting point.  

We both had serious doubts we'd even be able to find the trail to do this hike today.

The way things were going we were not off to a good start.   Something about a trail sign we'd passed saying "Trails Carolina" kept coming back to mind. I could not recall the significance so it was useless.   We finally decided we'd try to begin the hike, but if we were unsuccessful in finding the starting point we'd go hike Flat Ceek Falls instead.    

     Cathy suggested we just strike out through the woods in the general direction and hope to find the trail.  I agreed, but still had serious doubts.  We were in rhododendron, but it was not that thick.   I looked down and saw a track about six inches wide. It was clearly an animal path, but the only path around.  We followed it.  I soon found myself at the edge of a low bank looking down at an old weedy logging road.  I was encouraged that this was a good sign.  Cathy helped get us going the correct direction on that road and we only walked a few short steps until we saw pavement end and a forestry gate!  I knew this had to be it.  During the road paving they had changed the access to the trail.   Cautiously optimistic we continued down the trail before us.

Nice level trail with soft pine needles underfoot to start the hike.

      
  The forest was beautiful and smelled good. The weather was perfect.  
Sunny, clear and cool.  We had a slight breeze and blue skies.   We hiked 
through a pine forest.    We had the guidebook with us and the map and 
checked the directions against the map and what we were encountering. 
It was lining up and looking right.We came to the first point where we
could turn right.  We could hear the rush of a waterfall not far away.   
I was hopeful this was Aunt Sally's falls!?  I hoped it was because while 
it was not the most spectacular falls it was new to me. It would be a sure sign we were on the correct path.

  

      We walked a couple hundred yards into the woods to the right and there was a pretty waterfall about 25 ft high. It was indeed Aunt Sally's falls!  We had found the right way!  

Aunt Sally's Falls

    The next sticking point along this hike is finding the West Fork of the French Broad River and fording it.    Sounds easy? It sure sounds that way, but when you are crossing stream after stream along the way it is not as easy as it sounds.  Once we found and forded the main stream we knew the next big creek would be Dismal Creek.  We had four more falls to locate along our hike. Once across the West Fork French Broad  the terrain began to steepen.  We came next to an un-named but very pretty falls on Dismal Creek.


Un-named Falls -Waterfall #2 on this hike


      The trail went up and up.  I just had to take my time.  I use the Messner step
when I am on steep uphills or steady uphill climbs.   It is a rest step used by mountaineers.
It helps me to maintain the pace rather than so many outright starts and stops.  It may sound quite silly to some serious mountaineers on something so piddley by comparison.
It doesn't matter to me how it sounds. It works for me. My heart and lungs are small.My legs are short. I will never be able to keep up with the pace, stride and heart-lung capacity of men. The thing I have on my side is dogged determination.  We pushed on and before long swung round a beautiful rock outcrop and I could hear the sound of another large waterfall.   A quick walk to the right and down off the trail and we were at Rhapsody Falls.    It was gorgeous!  It had lots of water coming over the gray, rocky cliffs. Green
leaves on the trees and green plants in the spray zone and sunlight filtering down through
the rivulets of water looked beautiful like a tropical rain forest. 

Rhapsody Falls with beams of God Light shining through it!

Below is a video of Rhapsody Falls 

     The first time Rich came here he thought this was Dismal Falls.
Standing here now I told Cathy I could easily understand why he thought that.  Our final
destination lay far up the mountain yet, but we spent time resting here and enjoying the view.   The mist and breeze from the falls was cooling and fresh.  I sat down and soaked up the scene and ate a quick snack and took a hydration break.  We had seen three falls thus far and had two major ones to go!

     Back on the trail for more uphill then a small level stretch.   It was a blessed break.
We finally came to an obvious intersection at a big tree.  The trail was marked here with two chunks of survey tape. One lead down and the other up.  I figured the bottom one must be Lower Dismal Falls.  Neither of us had seen that yet so we'd do that first. We turned and headed downward along the ridge.

   We soon came to a point where there was more survey tape and a path to the left indicating we needed to go down.  We could hear the falls below us.   We climbed down
steeply hanging onto saplings, roots and rocks.  Kevin Adams book warns that the climbs involved in this trip will require having both hands free to hang on. I draped my trekkers over my wrists and used them when I could which was not often.  The rest of the time I just let them dangle out in space while I swung like an ape.  The advice was sound, but what are you to do when you've brought them along? I could have left them up top and come back after them I suppose. We never saw another soul today and I know no one would bother them.  I wanted them with me in case I needed them in the creek.
Lower Dismal Falls is not mentioned in the guidebook, but was discovered by Waterfall Guru, Bernie Boyer. 


Great Wall of Dismal also discovered by Bernie.

     We hiked along the great rock wall on the way to Lower Dismal. It is approximately
four hundred feet long and probably 100 feet high. It is beautiful and gloomy dark. Photos cannot do it justice.  It drips water all along it.  Crevices burst forth with every manner of green growing plant.   Near the base of this cliff we also saw a man made wooden structure. No idea what it was. It looked like a box or a step.   The rock wall acts as a parabolic microphone capturing the roar of the falls and making it seem water is rushing off the cliff at you.  It is a phenomena I never quite get used to.  It made me shiver.

      We arrived the end of the great wall and before me I could barely see a glimpse of
Lower Dismal Falls around it. The cliff walls encroached and forced us into the stream over boulders and up through them to access the falls. We had to get in the stream as there
was no way around.  We climbed rocks and slippery logs to reach the falls. It was treachery.   We risked not death here, but injury a long ,long way from help.  Climb the rocks and logs or get in the cascades and climb them.  The flow of water was intense enough it would have meant a certain fall.   The squeezed in area of cascades was quite pretty itself, but I was unconcerned with picture taking and all about making it up to the big falls.   We got there and by then I was nervous.

      Lower Dismal Falls is beautiful in its own right.  It is 50 t0 60 feet high and
today it was flowing powerfully.   It drops sheer and flows down to one side.  From there is ends in a series of cascades through boulders.  The stream contains mica as do many
others in the area.   One chunk of mica had us thinking someone dropped a dime in the creek!  It was round and perfect and silvery.    We stood taking in the falls. It was hard
to get back far enough to get a good photo.  The base of the falls is choked with sticks and logs in one big debris mat.    I dreaded climbing back down out from this spot.
I also dreaded climbing back up the mountain!

Lower Dismal Falls. The rock here is striped dark and light similar to that of
Raven Rock Falls.
 
 Top of Lower Dismal in the sunshine. So pretty!

       We worked our way carefully back out of this spot. Back along the rock wall.
We began our climb up the bank hand over hand.  It was not possible to see the top of the climb from the bottom.  It was a longer climb than some.   We got back to the top
and to the intersection.   Lots of huffing and puffing and more uphill to come!

      The fifth and final falls lay up the mountain on Dismal Creek.  The last quarter mile
hike to Dismal Falls is brutally steep.   I did not like it, but  my knees liked it a lot less coming down than I did going up!  I don't have any lasting knee problems, but today I felt something straining in my left knee.  The only thing that was going to get us there was lots of Knees to the Shoulders!  We pressed ahead. The climb was tough, but finally I began to see a glimmer of hope.  We were running out of mountain so we could not have far to go!
Sure enough the climb leveled off and then it was time for another wicked down climb.

     We hung on tight and climbed down the steep mountain side hanging on to more rhododendron shrubs, roots and rocks.  The climb was long enough and layered enough that we could hear the falls, but it was a soft sound for a huge 150 ft falls.   It still sounded off in the distance.   We slipped and slid. We sent our trekking poles skidding down the mountain ahead of us in places to have hands free.  Finally I could see the creek and began to really be able to hear it.   We spotted two survey tape flagged routes to different vantage points of the falls.   I just picked the lower one first and went ahead. Finally before me was the legend.. Dismal Falls in its glory.  

150 ft high Dismal Falls

    I was not disappointed!  We did some victory whoops and hollers.  We made it!

I could not believe I was finally standing here! I was elated.  I was also very sweaty, tired, and hungry.  We had waited to eat lunch til we were at the main falls.  We sat down and soaked up the sight of the massive waterfall while we ate our sammidges and chips.

Cathy remarked she had not seen this much water on the falls on previous trips. 

I knew just from checking out Rich's photos it was high flow by comparison.

Cathy found a cap at the falls on that log. Rich, did you leave one behind? If so Cathy has it and regardless where it came from.. she wore it!  She was trying to show that unlike you she is not a germphobe! She put it right on her head!  I had mixed feelings about that.

I wished I knew for sure if it was yours or not. I also wondered if you'd wear it again after

it got left there in the weather? It had a few pine needles on it.  

Closer view of the top portion of Dismal Falls

Below is a video of  both Lower Dismal and Dismal Falls 

      We left the falls around 3 pm and began our trip back.   The climb up and out was tough, but we made it safely. I swallowed a bug of some kind. Cathy got me to laughing
and wanted me to make chimpanzee noises as I climbed.  I was happy to oblige but then the laughing started! We had to be giddy by now.   The hike out was rough on the downhill part, but leveled off finally.  I sat down and put on dry socks which helped my sore toes feel better.

      We had the last bit of trouble when we got back to our starting point.  She preferred the idea of just going back the way we came. She picked the shorter, steeper route back to the vehicle versus a longer, more gradual path.   I was ok with that, but she then took us back up the logging road.  I had thought she meant go back the same way.  No.. a different way.  It took us through briars which had me cursing. I got stabbed in the knee by a stick.   We finally came  out at a thicket of rhodo far worse than the first one we'd faced.  I knew the road was below us somewhere but could not see it.  It sounded far off.
I had no desire to get clawed up more. I also refused to risk the climb down not knowing
where we were in relation to the vehicle.  I had the sense that our luck was about to run out with the snake population.  Evening is when snakes crawl out to bask and move.
I told her I was turning around and heading back and going to walk the road back to the car.   I was in a foul mood from being tired and in pain. I had scratches upon scratches.
My legs were bleeding and bruised.

      We walked the road and it turned out to be Trails Carolina property.
We should have parked here and walked. It would have simplified things greatly.
We had a hot road walk back but it was shaded and very little traffic.  We had a little breeze.   Any future trips we'll know. It all made sense now.  Trails Carolina meant something to me and I had been correct, but it was all for nothing now.

I should have spoken up sooner.  Hind sight is always 20/20.


  Back at Cathy's home we ate dinner and were ready for bed by 9:15 pm.
We did not set alarms for the next day.  We slept in and each got 10 1/2 hours of much needed rest! We were both stiff sore wimmens that night.  Next day we were fine.

We had some breakfast and went for a nice EASY hike today.  Wintergreen Falls in DuPont State Forest. It was the last waterfall to see for us there.  It was a super easy hike and very pretty. It was another bluebird day.  I feel fortunate indeed to have a best friend like Cathy to have these adventures with!



Wintergreen Falls in DuPont State Forest is about 25 ft high.



Below is a video of Wintergreen Falls in Dupont State Forest. Another Wintergreen Falls is listed on the challenge. It is located on the Toxaway River and is much more difficult to reach. 


**Edited to add: Dismal Falls is a part of the Carolina Mountain Club's Waterfall 100.
I mention this because the entire route was flagged with survey tape and appears to be traveled more than in the past.  The days of trying to locate this falls and the accompanying difficulties are greatly reduced because it is now a better known hike.
While screwing up directions on parking areas and access were a P-I-T-A... it was probably the only navigational challenge left associated with the hike.  Kevin Adams, Rich Stevenson, Harry Jones,Kelvin Taylor, Cathy Howell, Bernie Boyer, Jim Bob Tinsley and past hikers
who braved this trip before it was well known are trail blazers.  Those of us who visit the falls now will never experience the trip in quite the way they did.
 Props to these brave souls!