2014-03-02 The Waterfalls on Little Cove Creek

The Waterfalls on Little Cove Creek

Green River Game lands

Polk County, NC

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

 

Me at Bradley Cooper Falls on Little Cove Creek

One of the things we like to do is seek out, find, and visit new waterfalls.  Most of the time we base these visits off of information received from other waterfall enthusiasts.  However, occasionally we find some new waterfalls all on our own!

A little over two years ago, Andy and I agreed that Little Cove Creek in Polk County, NC looked like it had some waterfall potential.  So we planned an exploratory hike to check it out.  We were successful in finding (3) significant waterfalls and were quite proud of our discovery. 

This past weekend, we decided to make a return visit to show off our discovery to some of our other "Team Waterfall" hiking buddies.  Brenda and Johnny were up for joining Andy and I on this hike.  Also joining us would be Andy's Canine Companions; Boone and Kona!

 Kona

 Boone

Most of this hike is on North Carolina Game Lands where hunting is allowed and highly encouraged.  Therefore it is best to hike this area on Sunday, the one day of the week when hunting is illegal in the State of North Carolina.

I was concerned about limited parking so we decided to meet at the Columbus, NC Food Lion and combine vehicles there for the short drive to the trailhead. 

It turns out that since our last visit, they have significantly expanded the parking area off of Green River Cove Road where we would start our hike.  It would have been no problem to fit all (4) of our vehicles (with plenty of room to spare).

The first mile or so is an easy stroll along a wide track dirt/gravel road.  You could actually drive this section if it was not for the fact that the road is gated.  Eventually we came to a couple of old cabins and farm buildings.  To get to the much more well know Big Bradley Falls, you would turn right here.  However, we turned left to head to Little Cove Creek.

 Old Cabin along the Trail

But first, we would have to cross Cove Creek.  On both our original visit and this visit, water levels were a bit higher than normal and we found no way across without going through knee deep water.  During times of low flow, and/or if you are very comfortable making long jumps across slippery rocks and logs, you may be able to keep your feet dry.  However, I would definitely plan on getting wet!

 Andy and Kona Cross Cove Creek

Past the Cove Creek Crossing, we continued on through a series of corn fields which I believe are planted to attract the deer and make things real easy for the hunters!  At about the two mile mark of the hike, we reached Little Cove Creek.

Heading upstream on the right (South) side of Little Cove Creek would have kept us entirely on public property.  However, it is a much easier approach if you cross over to a section of private property on the Left (North) side of the creek.  The land is not posted, but we knew we were trespassing.  We justified our actions by doing a little bit of trash picking up along the way leaving the land in better shape than before we arrived.

Obvious remains of an old dirt road make heading upstream on this side of the creek rather easy.  The road peters out as we entered back into the public game lands.  However it is still easy going to get to the first waterfall on Little Cove Creek.

As far as we know, none of these waterfalls have official names, so Andy decided to name them during our last visit.  This first one he called Milton Bradley Falls.

 Side view of Milton Bradley Falls on Little Cove Creek 

Photo conditions were lousy as the sun was shining directly into our lens making photography very difficult, especially for a straight on shot.  So we didn't spend a whole lot of time knowing that we would be passing by again on the hike out.  Hopefully by then, the lighting would be better.

Now for the most difficult part of the hike!  Continuing upstream!

On our initial visit, Andy and I tried to stay close to the creek.  That turned out to be a very difficult bushwhack.  Heading up the steep bank a bit leads to a much easier way to get upstream.  Note:  Much Easier does not mean Easy!  This is still a tough bushwhack.

We eventually made our way back down to the creek just downstream are from the next two waterfalls at a series of nice cascades.

 Nice Cascades on Little Cove Creek

The next two waterfalls are located immediately upstream from where Little Cove Creek splits off into two tributaries.  Each tributary featuring a really nice waterfall!

This made for a great place for a lunch break.  There are plenty of nice rocks to hang out on and two waterfalls to photograph.

 Brenda and Johnny enjoying a nice Lunch Break

Andy named the Waterfall on the Right (South) Tributary Bradley Cooper Falls.  I think this name had something to do with Andy having a Hangover during our initial visit.

 Bradley Cooper Falls

 Bradley Cooper Falls (side view of upper drop)

 Bradley Cooper Falls

He named the Waterfall on the Left (North) Tributary Marilou Bradley Falls, after a good friend!  Only time will tell if these names stick.

Marilou Bradley Falls

 Me at Marilou Bradley Falls

 Marilou Bradley Falls

 We spent a little over an hour enjoying our lunch break and photographing these two waterfalls before Andy started pulling out his maps!

On our initial visit we explored upstream from Bradley Cooper Falls (the south tributary).  We found some nice cascades but no additional significant waterfalls.  This time Andy had his sights set on exploring upstream from Marilou Bradley Falls (the north tributary).  Looking at the cliffs above, this would be very difficult!  Brenda, Johnny, and I didn't think this was a good idea and managed to talk Andy out of it.

2015-08-30 Update:  A year and a half later with lower water flow we were able to safely climb up the right side of Marilou Bradley Falls and continue upstream.  WOW! is what I have to say (see my post from our 2015-08-30 hike)

So we returned back the way we came

 We did make another stop at Milton Bradley Falls since the lighting was much better! 

 Milton Bradley Falls

Me at Milton Bradley Falls

 Milton Bradley Falls

It was about 3:00pm by the time we arrived back at the cabins.  Andy was still up for more exploring, while Brenda and Johnny were ready to call it a day.  I was actually leaning more towards calling it a day, but since I rode with Andy and he had my truck keys held hostage in his glove compartment, I decided to go along with him and head up Cove Creek.

Our plan was to explore Casey Branch, a tributary to Cove Creek that joins just downstream from Big Bradley Falls.  While we were not expecting to find another Big Bradley, we were expecting to find something significant.

The good news was that the "trail" to the base of Big Bradley Falls is much more established than it was a few years back and we made it to Casey Branch much quicker than I was expecting.

The bad news is that crossing Cove Creek proved rather difficult.  The rocky creek bed was as slick as black ice.  If the water levels were any higher, I would not have felt safe crossing.  Fortunately we made it across without any issues.

 Andy and Kona Crossing Cove Creek

More good news is that we found a trail that parallels Casey Branch all the way from Cove Creek to the Boy Scout Camp (Camp Bob Hardin).  The bad news is that this trail really sucked!  However, we followed it almost all the way to the camp without seeing anything significant along Casey Branch.

We did venture down to the creek at a spot that we thought had the most potential and found a few little cascades.  But nothing I would call a major waterfall. 

 Cascades on Casey Branch

 Cascades on Casey Branch

Since the trail stayed well above the creek the whole time, it is very possible that we might have missed something.  However, I believe Casey Branch is mostly just a long slide with a few nice cascades. 

Oh well, a few failures every now and then is what makes the successful discoveries that much sweeter!

And it was still a great day to be outside with my "Team Waterfall" friends!

 Team Waterfall Buddies!

L to R:  Brenda, Johnny, Andy

The complete set of photos is posted here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/sets/72157641879371085/

2014-02-12 Spartanburg Snow

Spartanburg, SC Snow

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

Today we had some rare South Carolina Snow!  In preparation for the snow event, schools were closed yesterday and I am sure they will be closed for the rest of the week!

I could have made it into work, but I decided to be like 98% of the South Carolina population and took the day off from work!

Amy and I decided to enjoy this rare occurrence and take a stroll around the neighborhood.

 Our House

 Amy

The entrance to our neighborhood

 

 Reidville Road  (not very often you see it without traffic!)

 Amy

 Me

 We were not the only ones out for a walk

 Our Street

 Our Back Yard

The snow is still coming down, so I might just have to take tomorrow off from work as well!

Kuykendall Falls and Catheys Creek Falls

Pisgah National Forest

Transylvania County, NC

Sunday, February 2nd, 2014

Brenda, Van, and Me at Kuykendall Falls

It is hard to believe that it has been over 9 years since Waterfall Rich first posted about this Waterfall on Kuykendall Creek.  This one has been on my to do list ever since, but for some reason I have never gotten around to it.

So when Brenda left it up to me to come up with a hike idea for Sunday, I suggested Kuykendall Falls.  Brenda was up for the 10-mile hike and Bushwhack.  A last minute eMail that I sent out encouraged Van to join us as well.

We met up at the Golf Course Parking area outside of Brenda's Development (Sherwood Forest), off of US276 South of Brevard, NC.  Since we were not sure what condition the Cathey's Creek Road would be in, we decided to pile into my truck for the 15 minute drive to the trailhead.

It turns out the road is in good enough condition for just about any vehicle, but you just never know with these dirt Forest Service Roads.  We started the hike at FR5361 which is located off of Catheys Creek Road (FR471), about a half mile past the pull-off for Catheys Creek Falls.  We thought about checking out Catheys Creek Falls, but decided to save that for later if we still had time.

If it wasn't for the fact that FR5361 is gated, the road is in good enough condition that you would actually be able to drive most of the 4.6 miles to the point when we would leave the trail.  But since it is gated we would have to hike it!

The hike along FR5361 was pleasant but very uneventful.  Temperatures were right at freezing starting out, but would quickly rise.  There were just a few very small patches of snow in areas that never see the sun and some lingering ice formations from various seeps alongside the trail.  There are a few "through the trees" wintertime views, but no wide open vistas.

 Brenda taking a photo of some ice along the trail

The hardest part about getting to Kuykendall Falls is finding the best spot to leave the trail and begin the steep bushwhack down to Kuykendall Creek.  In Kevin Adam's "North Carolina Waterfalls" book he recommends leaving the road at 4.62 miles.  I am not sure if we left the trail at the exact spot that Kevin recommends.  Our descent down to the creek was definitely steep, but fairly easy.

We arrived at Kuykendall Creek a little bit upstream from the falls, but easily worked our way downstream to the waterfall.

 Kuykendall Falls

This one is definitely worth a visit if you are up for a 10-mile hike that includes some off trail bushwhacking!

Me at Kuykendall Falls

We took our main break of the day here to photograph the Falls.  It was overcast almost the entire day, except for the 45 minutes or so we spent at Kuykendall Falls.  For some reason the sun decided to shine brightly during the short period of time that we least wanted it to!

 Brenda and Van Bushwhacking alongside Kuykendall Creek

The bushwhack back up to FR5361 was definitely steep, but as far as bushwhacking goes, it was not overly difficult.

Rather than returning back the way we came, Brenda suggested making a loop out of the hike, so we continued North on FR5361 and soon joined up with the Art Loeb Trail near the base of Cedar Rock Mountain.  We took the Art Loeb Trail to the West for about a mile to the Butter Gap Shelter.

 Van at the Butter Gap Shelter

We left the Art Loeb Trail at Butter Gap and took a trail that Brenda knew about, but does not show up on any map that I have seen.  Despite the fact that it is not on my Pisgah Map and is not blazed in any way, it was well maintained and easy to follow all the way back to FR5361.  This unofficial trail is probably the remnants of an old logging road.  It parallels Cedar Rock Creek most of the way, crossing it a couple of times.

I sometimes get a little nervous doing long loop hikes when you are not 100% sure of the route you are taking, but Brenda seemed confident and it turned out to be a much more enjoyable return hike than just heading back the way we came.

Here is the GPS track from our hike

 GPS Track

Also, you can read Brenda's trip report with a little more detail about the route we took here:
http://www.brendajwiley.com/kuykendall_falls.html


Catheys Creek Falls
By the time we finished up our hike, there was still plenty of time left to make a visit to Catheys Creek Falls and still make it home in plenty of time for Super Bowl Kickoff!

Catheys Creek Falls can be viewed from the road, however a short path takes you to the base and offers of a much better view.  There is a small pull-off with room for one or two vehicles.  The path to the base starts from this pulloff.  It is very steep and badly eroded, but is still the best way to get to the base of Catheys Creek Falls.

 Catheys Creek Falls

 Brenda at Catheys Creek Falls

After a few shots from the left side of the creek, I decided that I wanted to get across to the other side of the creek for a different angle.  I basically had (3) choices:
1.  Scramble across some wet and icy rocks right about another 10 foot drop
2.  Shimmy across a downed log suspended about 5 feet above the creek, or
3.  Wade across the creek

Since my boots were already wet, I chose option #3.  The deepest part looked to be about knee high, but turned out to be a good bit deeper than I was expecting! 

 Me in the Creek (Photo by Brenda)

While the air temperature had warmed up to near 70-degrees, the water temperature certainly had not.  But for me it was worth it to get a angle that most people don't get!

 Catheys Creek Falls

We also decided to explore a short distance downstream where there are a few more smaller drops below the main waterfall.

 Brenda (near top of the photo), and Van (closer to the center) downstream from Catheys Creek Falls

 Nice Cascade downstream from Catheys Creek Falls

This turned out to be an awesome day of hiking and waterfall wandering!  And I did make it home in plenty of time for Super Bowl Kickoff! 

My complete set of photos is posted here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/sets/72157640504282406/

2014-01-25 Reece Place Falls

Reece Place Falls

Transylvania County, NC

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Reece Place Falls

Andy eMailed me about checking out a waterfall on the East Fork of the French Broad River than none of us had ever been to.  I have heard about this one and was very eager to check it out.  However I already had dinner plans and would need to be finished up with the hike by about 3:00pm.

Andy convinced me that would not be an issue with this statement:
 "The hike is only 5 miles, and will be mostly on old dirt roads. I expect very little to no bushwhacking, so it should be a fast, easy hike."
This statement would turn out to be false!


Brenda, Jonathan, Jess, Andy's wife Cristy, and their two dogs would also be joining in on this hike.


The hike started out just as we anticipated with nice wide-track, old dirt roads.  However, there were quite a bit more turns than we were expecting.  Brenda and Andy had to consult their maps and gps at every intersection.  Without a map, you could easily get lost here!

Temperatures in the area had been well below freezing for the past few days, but fortunately we were all prepared for the cold and the 25-degrees at the start of the hike did not feel too bad.

 Frozen Mud Crystals along the trail

The hike was going as planned until the road we were following completely petered out high up on a ridge above the creek we were trying to get to.  At this point we could see and hear the creek, but there was no more trail to follow.  Jonathan and Jess started bushwhacking down the steep bank, so naturally I followed.

Christy was not up for any steep bushwhacking, so Andy, Christy, Brenda, and the dogs decided to follow the ridgeline downstream in hopes of finding a gentler way down to the creek.

It was definitely steep, but Jonathan, Jess, and I safely made it to the creek and arrived at the base of a really nice cascade.

 Nice Cascade upstream from Reece Place Falls

From there, Jonathan, Jess and I continued downstream.  Freezing cold water and ice covered rocks made creek walking difficult, so most of the way we bushwhacked alongside through the rhododendrum covered bank above the creek.

It was slow going, but we eventually made it to the top of the main waterfall.  Getting to the based proved to be quite the challenged!  Some of the steepest scrambling and butt sliding I have ever done!  Fortunately we made it safely back down to the creek a short distance downstream from Reece Place Falls.

 Jonathan and Jess Bushwhacking up the creek

As we made our way up the creek, we passed by several nice cascades which I stopped to photograph

 Cascades downstream from Reece Place Falls

 Jonathan and Jess

Eventually we made it to the base of Reece Place Falls which proved to be absolutely spectacular!

Reece Place Falls

Reece Place Falls

The bushwhacking portion of our hike was much more difficult and longer than I was expecting and it was looking like my plan to finish up by 3:00pm might not happen.  Just as Jess, Jonathan, and I decided it was time to head back up to the ridge to hopefully find the others, Andy and the dogs made an appearance at Reece Place Falls.

So we hung out at the falls a little while longer to give Andy a chance to photograph this spectacular waterfall!

  Andy and Kona at Reece Place Falls

The route we took back up to the ridge was steep, but nowhere near as bad as the way Jess, Jonathan, and I came down!  It was 2:00pm by the time we met back up with Brenda and Christy.  The only possible way to get back to the trailhead by 3:00pm would be to go into speed hiking mode.  So again, Jess, Jonathan, and I split off from the rest of the group for the 3.25 mile hike back to the vehicle.

We actually turned the 3.25 mile hike into a 4.0 mile hike when we missed one of the turns.  After about a quarter mile of not recognizing what we were seeing, we backtracked and found where we made the mistake.

We made it back to my truck at 3:02pm which meant we averaged about 4.0 miles per hour on the hike out. That is a pretty darn fast hiking pace, especially since the return hike was mostly uphill.  Even with temperatures right at freezing, we all had worked up a good sweat!

Here is Brenda's GPS track from the hike.  

I ended up making it home in time to take a shower before our friends showed up for our dinner plans, which turned out to be a very enjoyable evening after a very enjoyable hike!


This waterfall is definitely one I will be back to! 

The complete set of photos is posted here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/sets/72157640233024405/


Also, if you want to read Andy's take on the hike at get a lot more detail as to the location of this waterfall, you can check out his trip report here:
http://www.angelfire.com/trek/fungi/NC/Pisgah/East_Fork_1-14.html

Christmas 2013

 Christmas 2013

Each year we alternate whose side of the family we spend Christmas with.  This year it was Amy's turn so we headed up to her parents place in Rutherford, NC to spend Christmas with Amy's family.

 Christmas 2013 with Amy's Family

We also made a visit to Amy's Grandma.  However, since Grandmas keeps the house at about 95 degrees (not an exaggeration!), I spent most of my time their roaming around her farm taking photos.

 At Amy's Grandma's Farm

After a few days in Rutherfordtown, we returned home to Spartanburg, SC.


My brother and his family, and my parents decided to come down and visit us in Spartanburg for a few days extending our Christmas 2013 Celebration!

 My Niece and Nephew, Marielle and Liam

My Brother Bill and his wife Michelle  (the Qtips are an inside joke)

We made a visit to Greenville, SC

Amy with my Parents

Visited the Greenville Model Train Museum.

 At the Greenville Model Train Museum

Explored a bit around Reedy Falls Park

 Reedy River Falls

 Liam and Marielle running across the Liberty Bridge

 My Brother Bill and his Family

 Liam and Marielle

Amy with Liam and Marielle

Had a nice dinner downtown and Sampled some Moonshine!

 Bill and Michelle sampling some Moonshine at the Dark Corner Distillery

The next evening we decided to light a fire in our fire pit and make some S'mores!

 Amy with Liam and Marielle by the Fire Pit

Marielle enjoying a S'More

It was a very enjoyable Christmas Holiday!


The Complete set of photos is posted here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/sets/72157639268649526/