The Waterfalls of Crane Creek
Sumter National Forest
Oconee County, SC
Saturday, October 20th, 2018
Jenni and Me at Crane Creek Falls
This past Saturday I offered to guide Jenni on an off trail waterfall adventure to the Waterfalls of Crane Creek. She saw my blog post from January 2017 and has been wanting to visit these falls ever since then.
Since this would be our first time hiking together, my wife Amy and I invited Jenni and her husband (also named Jack) over to our house for dessert a few days prior to the hike. I basically wanted to make sure that everyone would be comfortable with the two of us being alone out in the woods together for most of the day.
I also wanted to better understand how we would communicate throughout the day. Jenni is deaf and I have never had any close interaction with a deaf person prior to us meeting. It was quickly obvious that she was fully aware and prepared for the type of adventure we had in store for us!
We started our hike from the Cherry Hill Recreation Area Campground along the Winding Stairs Trail. Our plan was to head off trail at the first switchback and hit Deadfall Falls first and then continue downstream.
The terrain ended up pushing us a bit closer to Yellow Jacket Falls, but we still decided to head upstream first and then hit the falls order going downstream from there.
Deadfall Falls on Crane Creek
Prospector Falls
Jenni and Me at Prospector Falls
Jenni at the long slide above Yellow Jacket Falls
Yellow Jacket Falls on Crane Creek
Crane Creek Falls
Crane Creek Falls
Crane Creek Falls
Jenni at Secret Falls
Secret Falls on Crane Creek
From Secret Falls it was a short bushwhack back to the Winding Stairs Trail which would take us back to our starting point at the Cherry Hill Campground. Here is the GPS Track from our adventure!
Cool Log along the Winding Stairs Trail
Interesting Mushroom
But before we finished up first we would hit one final waterfall! Miuka Falls on the West Fork of Townes Creek!
Miuka Falls
Me at Miuka Falls
Miuka Falls
Jenni at Miuka Falls
Miuka Falls
This was a perfect day for a waterfall adventure! Nice overcast skies with just a few light sprinkles throughout the day. Other than at the campground, we did not see a single other human during our hike.
I enjoyed hiking with Jenni for the first time! I love the peacefulness of being out in the woods, so having a deaf hiking partner is definitely not a problem for me! Jenni and I had no issues using non-verbal communication methods when needed, but for the most part we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery around us in silence!
We made one quick stop on the drive back to check out the view from Wigington Road.
Roadside view from Wigington Road on the Drive Home
My complete set of photos from Saturday's Adventure is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157702709373985
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