Step Around Adventure with The Captain
Gorges State Park
Transylvania County, NC
Auger Fork Falls, Maple Spring Branch Falls,
Four Foot Falls, Step Around Falls, Double Drop Falls
February 1st, 2021
with Captain John Podlewski
When the Captain and I realized that neither of us has ever been to Step Around Falls, we decided to remedy the situation! In hindsight, an adventure that requires wading across the Toxaway River four times is probably not the wisest choice for a cold day in February.
Captain John Crossing the Toxaway River
We started at the Gorges State Park Frozen Creek and hiked in on the Auger Hole Trail. Captain John had never been to Auger Fork Falls and Maple Spring Branch Falls, so we did the short side scramble path down to these two impressive waterfalls on the hike in.
Auger Fork Falls
We pretty much followed the directions in Kevin Adam's "North Carolina Waterfalls - Third Edition" to get to Step Around Falls. Along the way we too a little time to enjoy "Four Foot Falls" and to let John recover from his unintentional Polar Plunge during his no so smooth crossing of the Toxaway River. I sure wish I would have gotten it on video!
"Four Foot Falls" on the Toxaway River
The Captain presents Step Around Falls
On the hike out, we took the short scramble from the main trail to check out Double Drop Falls on Auger Fork Creek.
Double Drop Falls on Auger Fork Creek
Double Drop Cave
The total hike was about 8.4 miles according to my GPS. This adventure should only be attempted to those familiar with bushwhacking, off trail navigation, and waist deep river crossings with strong currents!
It was a beautiful day for a hike and great to catch up with Captain John for the day.
My complete set of photos is posted here:
.
No comments:
Post a Comment