2016-04-23 Waterfall Wandeing

Awesome Waterfall on Private Property

and Fungi Falls

Henderson County and Polk County, NC

Saturday, April 23rd, 2016
 

Me and Mark by an Awesome Henderson County, NC Waterfall

Note: for the second time this year I managed to forget my camera, so these photos were taken with an IPhone 4

  

There is a certain waterfall that I have known about for years, but have never visited since it is on private property.  I recently got a tip from one of my Team Waterfall buddies on how to access this falls fairly easily without passing by any no trespassing signs.

The land where this waterfall is located is part of a conservation easement.  But since it is still technically private property, I am not going to post the name or location of this waterfall.

My buddy Mark joined me on the short hike to this awesome waterfall!

Unfortunately, I somehow managed to forget to pack my camera!  So all my photos from today were taken with my Cell Phone  (Apple IPhone 4).

 Roadside Waterfall - not sure if this one has a name

Mark had also not been to Fungi Falls, so for the second part of the day visit Fungi Falls!

Fungi Falls

Fungi Falls is a long series of drops along Ostin Creek in the Green River Gamelands of Polk County, NC.  Since this was a Saturday in the middle of Wild Turkey Season, the access road was open allowing us to drive most of the way.

A GPS track and directions can be found in my original Fungi Falls Trip Report:
http://scjack.blogspot.com/2015/03/2015-03-29-fungi-falls-and-little.html

Mark and I fully explored the section of Ostin Creek know as Fungi Falls!

Fungi Falls

Fungi Falls

 Mark at Fungi Falls

 Mark at Fungi Falls

Fungi Falls

Me at Fungi Falls

 Mark at Fungi Falls

It was also a great day for wildflowers!  I did remember to bring my Macro Lens, but that didn't do me any good without my camera, so again these wildflower shots were taken with my IPhone 4
 

 Showy Orchid

 Pink Trillium

 White Trillium

 Dwarf Iris

 Jack-in-the-Pulpit

White Trillium

The complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157667541399016

2016-04-16 Waterfall Wandering

Falls Creek Falls, Headforemost Falls, and Tankersley Branch

Jones Gap State Park, SC

Saturday, April 16th, 2016

 

Me and Mark at the base of Headforemost Falls

Several years ago Andy and I did some off trail bushwhacking around Jones Gap State Park.  Our goal was to get to the base of Headforemost Falls without blatantly trespassing across private property.

Trip Report from Andy and My Original Visit to Headforemost Falls

On a separate trip, Andy, Brenda, and I did some off trail exploring of Tankersley Branch.  Both of these trips were a success!

Since posting these trip reports, several of my other hiking buddies have expressed interest in getting to these locations.  So this past Saturday, I led my buddy Mark to Headforemost Falls and to the Lower Waterfall on Tankersley Branch.

Mark and I started out at the Falls Creek Falls Trailhead and hiked the trail up to Falls Creek Falls.

 Falls Creek Falls

This one is spectacular in person, but I don't think it makes for a very good photo.

From there we pretty much followed the path that Andy and I took on our first trip to Headforemost Falls.

Shortly past Falls Creek Falls we left the trail and bushwhacked over to Headforemost Creek.  We pretty much just following the path of least resistance while keeping on a fairly constant elevation.

Mark along the bushwhack portion of our hike

This is definitely not the most difficult bushwhack, but I would not recommend it unless you are experienced with off trail exploring!

It took us a little over an hour to travel approximately one mile.  We arrived at Headforemost Creek a short ways below the main drop at a nice waterfall that Andy and I missed on our initial visit.

Waterfall downstream from Headforemost Falls

From there we worked our way upstream to the base of the main drop of Headforemost Falls.

 Mark and Me at Headforemost Falls

 

Nice cascade at the base of Headforemost Falls

 Cool Bark!

 Headforemost Falls

 Rhododendron Bloom at Headforemost Falls

Andy and I found several additional drops upstream from the main drop, but I didn't think they were worth the time and significant effort to get to!  Especially since Mark also wanted to get over to Tankersley Branch.  So we were satisfied with just the main drop and a few of the scenic cascades and smaller drops downstream from Headforemost Falls.

near the Falls Creek Falls Trailhead

After returning to the Falls Creek Falls Trailhead, we drove over to the Tankersley Branch parking area described in the post from our original visit to Tankersley Branch

Trip Report from Andy, Brenda, and My original visit to Tankersley Branch


On this trip Mark and I only made it to the Lower Drop of Tankersley branch.

 Lower Waterfall on Tankersley Branch

 Me and Mark at the Lower Waterfall on Tankersley Branch

The bright sun, 70 degree temperatures, and low humidity made for a perfect day of hiking, but not a great day for Waterfall Photography!

My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157667256729791