Rachael Creek, Yucca Falls, Lower Mill Creek Falls
Table Rock State Park
Pickens County, SC
Monday, January 21st, 2019
Me and Jenni at Upper Rachael Creek Falls
I had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day, so Jenni and I decided to get together and visit Rachael Creek and Yucca Falls.
At 20 degrees starting out, it was the coldest day of the year so far!
We started our hike from Hwy 11 at the gated Alewine Road. This route is probably the easiest access to these off trail waterfalls and it is entirely on public lands. We hike Alewine Road to the Palmetto Trail. We left the Palmetto Trail where it crosses over Yucca Creek (unnamed or non-existent tributary on most maps) and began our bushwhack downstream from there.
It is a fairly open forest and an easy bushwhack to Upper Yucca Falls!
Upper Yucca Falls
Upper Yucca Falls
Jenni and Me at Upper Yucca Falls
From Upper Yucca Falls, it is a very steep scramble down to the main drop of Yucca Falls!
Jenni using the butt slide technique to bushwhack down to Yucca Falls!
Shortly after the above photo was taken, Jenni set down her backpack for a second. The backpack proceeded to roll down the mountain about 300 feet or so, stopping just before the final plunge into Yucca Creek! Fortunately, it stopped one roll short of the creek and I don't think anything was lost or damaged!
I was a bit disappointed about the lack of ice at Upper Yucca Falls, but the main drop of Yucca Falls more than made up for it!
Yucca Falls Icy Selfie!
Yucca Falls
Jenni at Yucca Falls
Yucca Falls
Ice is Nice at Yucca Falls
An Icy Yucca Falls
From Yucca Falls, we continued on to Upper Racheal Creek Falls (also known as Middle Rachael Creek Falls or Pretty 10-footer on Rachael Creek). The bright sun is horrible for waterfall photography, but at least this one was 100% shaded by the cliffs above Rachael Creek!
Upper Rachael Creek Falls
Upper Rachael Creek Falls
Upper Rachael Creek Falls
Upper Rachael Creek Falls
The most difficult part of this adventure is getting to the main drop of Rachael Creek. We stayed river right crossing Yucca Creek just downstream from the main drop and continuing on downstream alongside Rachael Creek! Don't be tempted to drop back down to the creek too soon! It is much easier to descend down well below the main drop of Rachael Creek Falls!
Somewhere along the way, the ground managed to swallow up the lower section of my hiking pole never to be seen again! This is now the second hiking pole of mine that Rachael Creek has managed to destroy!
Rachael Creek Falls is rather impressive, however photo conditions were horrible today! Half of the falls was in the shade and half was in full sun! On top of that, there was a bunch of deadfall at the base which was not there during my last visit exactly 7 years ago!
Jenni hanging out with the deadfall at Rachael Creek Falls
Rachael Creek Falls Selfie (Me and Jenni)
Jenni sitting on a Log at Rachael Creek Falls
Jenni and Me at Rachael Creek Falls
From Rachael Creek Falls, we pretty much returned back the way we came. I did not get a clean GPS track, but the total hike is about 5 miles. Most of it is fairly easy except for the bushwhacking portion of the adventure!
After our main hike, we had a little time left over, so we also visited Lower Mill Creek Falls which was a first for both of us!
Jenni and Me at Lower Mill Creek Falls
The bright sun did not make for good waterfall photography, but it was still an awesome day of Waterfall Wandering.
My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157704614389601
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