FOOLS IN THE RAIN
Darrin
is a regular volunteer at the Len Foote Hike Inn in Amiacola
Falls State Park in Georgia. He usually
gives his presentation on waterfalls of the southeast. In exchange, he’s granted free room and board
for one night. Even better, he’s allowed
to bring one guest along. Last weekend
he invited me to join him for another visit to the inn and some waterfall
exploration.
I
joined Darrin at the inn almost exactly a year ago. On that visit, we took a short detour from
the hike to the inn to check out a waterfall.
That exploration led to the brink of Cochrans
Falls. It’s an awesome spot, with a
gorgeous campsite and a couple of smaller waterfalls just upstream from the
main event. However, getting a good view
of the falls from that vantage point is impossible. We debated trying to find a route down from
the top of the cliff, but it didn’t look promising. Darrin had tried the right side (facing
downstream) previously and had gotten to a decent vantage point, but couldn’t
reach the base. I thought it might be
possible on the left side, but he scouted it, and wasn’t encouraged. Plus, we didn’t have time for a lengthy
adventure. We decided to save Cochrans Falls for another time.
Cochrans Falls was at the top of the to-do
list for the weekend. However, we
decided to ease into things with a hike that is a little less demanding. Bernie had given me a tip a few months
earlier about the Wildcat Tract in the Dawson Forest east of Jasper. According to one website there are 43 (!) waterfalls
in that corner of forest. I’m skeptical
about that number, but we thought we might check out a few of them on our long
weekend.
Here
is a map of the Wildcat Tract. We found
4 waterfalls on Falls Creek, but don’t ask me where the other 39 are!
And
this website is the authority on Georgia waterfalls:
http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/fallscreekfalls.html
We
both took Friday off from work so we’d have more time for waterfalls. I met Darrin at his office in Duncan, SC and
rode with him from there. It was a cold,
rainy day, but a little bit of nasty of weather wasn’t about the stop us. We drove past Amiacola
Falls State Park and used Darrin’s GPS to reach the Tobacco Pouch
Trailhead. It was raining, the wind was
howling, and temperatures were in the 30’s when we parked. Sensible people may have had second thoughts,
but not us. We encased ourselves in Gore
Tex and hit the trail.
For
this hike I wore my new pair of Five Ten canyoneering boots. There was no practical reason to do this,
except that I wanted to try them out and break them in. One thing I didn’t think about is that they
aren’t waterproof. That was a major
oversight on my part, and I ended up with wet feet well before the end of the
hike. Otherwise, they seemed to do fine. I’m looking forward to trying them out on a
hike with a lot of scrambling and creek walking.
We
immediately reached a kiosk with trail information. Apparently you are supposed to have some sort
of permit to hike here. This is the
first we’d heard of it, and it was entirely too cold and wet to worry about
it. We decided that rainy winter days
should be “permit-free” days as a matter of principle, and carried on.
We
hiked down the Tobacco Pouch Trail (an old road) a short distance to the Falls
Creek Trail. This trail starts out on an
old road, but becomes a footpath before long.
Fortunately the wind died down as soon as we dropped off the ridge. We were actually reasonably comfortable for
most of the hike thanks to our rain gear and the heat we were generating while
hiking.
Before
long the trail crossed Falls Creek. We
were able to rock hop despite the high water level. A couple of minutes later we passed by the
beginning of the first waterfall on Falls Creek. That one is a long run of cascades, mainly
well below the trail. We thought about
scrambling down to get a better view of the upper portion of the falls, but
decided to save it for the return hike.
The other cascades are quite a bit farther from the trail. To really see the first waterfall on Falls
Creek, the best approach would probably be to bushwhack from the trail down to
the bottom and then follow the creek upstream.
From
there we descended away from the creek, before enduring an annoying climb over
a spur ridge. Another descent brought us
back down near the creek just downstream from the second waterfall on Falls
Creek. We followed a spur trail to
access the base. Unfortunately getting
to it required crossing the creek. Rock
hopping wasn’t really an option, but Darrin was able to use his long legs, a
boulder, and a fallen tree to vault across.
I didn’t think I could pull that off, but there was no way I was passing
up the base of that waterfall. I decided
to wade – after all, it wouldn’t make me much wetter than I already was! I switched to water shoes to keep my boots
and socks dryish.
The water was cold, but this beauty was worth it:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/9067009@N03/X706VR
I
brought an umbrella with me, and we took turns using it to shelter our
cameras. That helped, though stray
raindrops still managed to ruin most of my photos. We had a quick lunch there before I waded
back across and changed shoes to resume the hike.
We
resumed the descent, and rock hopped the creek again. One more downhill brought us to a point downstream
from the third waterfall. This time a
little bit of mild bushwhacking was necessary to reach the base. This waterfall didn’t excite me much, mostly
because of the abundant deadfall covering the falls. In fact, I didn’t even get the camera out for
it.
We
returned to the trail, and followed it to a junction with the Tobacco Pouch
Trail. The car was directly uphill on
that trail, but we decided to extend the hike to include one more waterfall. We descended to a junction not far above
Wildcat Creek. We turned left there and
hiked to a ford of Falls Creek. We more
or less managed to rock hop there, with only a little bit of collateral damage. Then we followed a spur trail upstream to the
base of the fourth waterfall. This one
is really pretty – it is almost as impressive as the second waterfall. There are two levels, and there is a rope in
place to climb up for a better view of the upper portion. We decided to skip that, as the rocks were
wet and slippery.
After
a few photos we doubled-back to the Tobacco Pouch Trail. We followed it all the way back to the
trailhead. This trail has only one
redeeming quality – it is a quick, direct route back to the trailhead. The trail is an old, eroded roadbed featuring
a series of steep climbs broken up by the occasional slightly less steep
climb. There is no scenery to speak of,
either. If you do this hike, I actually
recommend hiking the Falls Creek Trail out and back, rather than doing the
loop.
The
weather hadn’t changed much by the time we reached the car. From there, we started the long drive over to
Neels Gap.
Darrin has adopted a 1-mile section of the Appalachian Trail, and he
needed to check it. Our plan was to camp near Neels Gap and check
the trail Friday afternoon or first thing Saturday morning. Since it was already late afternoon and the
weather was nasty, it was looking like it would be Saturday morning.
The
weather wasn’t bad when we arrived at Neels Gap. Temperatures were still in the 30’s, the wind
had eased up, and there was only some lingering drizzle. The weather map suggested that the worst of
the rain was past us. There is a
perfectly nice hostel here, and we could’ve stayed there, warm and dry, for $15
each. But would that be fun? Maybe…but not camping fun. We decided to stick with the original plan,
which was to camp along the A.T. a short distance beyond the gap.
We
hauled all of our gear up to the campsite.
This included Darrin’s canopy, which promised to keep us from getting
any wetter than we already were. Unfortunately,
the ground was very uneven near the fire ring, so we had to set it up about 20’
away. We made camp, and managed a
roaring campfire despite the wet weather, thanks to dry wood and lots of firestarters. I
started out the evening under the canopy trying to cook dinner. This was a struggle, as the stove was wet and
just wasn’t doing much. In fact, I
probably could’ve put my hand right on the burner without noticing it. Eventually I gave up and cooked my jambalaya
over the campfire. Darrin made his
dinner over the fire, and ate long before me.
The
wet and cold eventually caught up with Darrin.
He couldn’t get warm, even right next to the fire. He returned to the truck to change into warm,
dry clothes. After a few minutes in the
cab with the heat on, he hurried back to camp and went straight to his
tent. I stuck it out by the fire for a
little longer, before bailing when a sudden squall brought heavier rain.
Saturday
morning was worse. Much
worse. I woke to howling winds
that were threatening to uproot the tent.
The rain had stopped, but the wind was wicked and there were flurries in
the air. Packing up was miserable. Our gloves had gotten soaked the previous
day, and they were frozen solid.
Dismantling the tent was awful, as the poles had frozen together. Everything seemed to take an eternity, since
we had to constantly warm our hands.
Needless to say, cooking breakfast was completely out of the question.
Darrin
still had to check his section of the A.T.
He gave me a pass on joining him, and I actually took him up on the
offer. I sat in the truck with the
heater running the whole time. I think
he did the 2-mile round trip in about 30 minutes!
PUCKER UP
From
there we drove in Dahlonega and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Then it was on to the main event for the
weekend – Cochrans Falls. We’d found directions to a trailhead
downstream from the falls. We thought
that approach might be easier and safer than trying to descend from the top. However, we’d been warned by some of Darrin’s
friends at The Hike Inn to avoid this waterfall. Apparently there have been several deaths and
numerous rescues there. While trying to
reach the base from the top is obviously dangerous, apparently the route from
downstream is pretty sketchy, too. We
were warned that most of the accidents occurred when people climbed up to get a
better view, but then couldn’t get back down.
This was certainly in the back of my mind as we left town.
Surprisingly,
the sun was now out and the morning was warming quickly. We followed these directions to the
trailhead:
http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/cochransfalls.html
The
road was a bit rough, but reasonable. We
forded the creek once, before reaching an unmarked junction not mentioned in
the directions. I suggested the right
fork, since it led back down to the creek.
We found a parking area and a nice campsite here. It looked like the road forded the creek
again, as described in the directions, but the far side of the creek was
definitely not passable to vehicles. We
puzzled over this for a bit, before finally wading the
creek. On the far side we found that the
old road had been blocked with boulders.
Apparently the forest service was tired of retrieving stranded motorists
from the Cochrans Creek valley.
Once
across the creek we enjoyed a fairly easy stroll along the old road. The only challenge was avoiding the frequent
mud puddles. Unfortunately the easy
walking didn’t last long. We reached
another junction, with the trail ahead fording the creek. We turned right and followed it
upstream. The road dwindled to a trail,
and before long it became faint. Meanwhile, the placid stream had become a
roaring channel of whitewater. Still,
the hiking was pretty easy until we reached the first obstacle. We rounded a bend and found a cliff blocking
our route. A narrow path skirted the
cliff face, 8’ or so above the raging creek.
We had to turn and inch along the wet, slippery shelf sideways, pressing
our chests into the rock. This was
pretty intense, as the creek roared below us.
A slip there may not have been tragic, but it certainly would’ve ended
with a swim in icy water! I gave it a
pucker factor of 5.
We
made it, and reached the base of the first big cascade a minute later. The "trail" goes up the rock face
on the right side. It's steep and wet, and there wasn't really anything
to hold on to. Darrin was about half way up, but I didn't like the looks of
it. I thought I might be able to climb
it, but I couldn’t imagine coming back down without sliding right into the
creek. Also, I was still wearing my new
canyoneering boots, and I wasn’t sure I fully trusted them yet. Instead I
waded the creek and bushwhacked up the left
side. That was actually pretty easy and much safer. Darrin will have to assign the route he took
a pucker factor, but it looked like about a 7 to me!
If you
do this hike I recommend hiking the trail as far as the ledge described
above. At that point, backtrack until you find a good place to cross the
creek. Bushwhack up the left side, at least as far as the top of the
first big cascade. That will enable you to avoid those two tricky
areas. You may even want to consider staying on the left side, but we
didn't do that. From the top of the first big cascade we climbed up the
right side, steeply along a fallen tree. Then there was a long stretch of
sidehilling with a few spots that were very narrow
and exposed. A fall along here would be
ugly. Pucker factor 6. After that
we arrived at what I'm calling the base of the falls. From there we could see the main upper drop
and the long run of steep cascades below it. The initial plunge is maybe
an 80’ sheer drop, followed by a horsetail and another drop. Beyond that is a run of very steep cascades
for maybe 150’.
From
that point the "trail" climbs another section of wet, steep rock
without much of anything to hold onto. Darrin went that way, but I
balked. Again, I thought I could climb
it, but wasn’t so sure about getting back down. Instead I waded and went up the left
side. Once again the bushwhacking on the left was pretty easy and much
safer. We ended up in pretty much the same area, a short distance
downstream from the bottom of the main drop. Darrin's route had one
advantage - he had a much better angle for photos from the right side. My vantage point wasn’t far from the base of
the main plunge, but I was looking straight up at it.
I tried
to get a better angle. I crossed a
smaller channel of the creek to a small island hosting a few trees. I thought I might get a better vantage point
from the upper end of the island.
Getting there required a short but steep climb. I pulled myself up using some trees. I managed to peak my head over the top, and
saw the full force of the waterfall raging below me. Yikes!
Pucker Factor 7! This end of the
“island” was a razors edge. It might be
possible to get up on it, but the risk of sliding over it and into the creek
was significant. I was at the top of a
150’ run of steep cascades. The risk was
too great for a photo. I backed off and
retreated the way I’d come.
Darrin
and I regrouped at the base and had lunch.
We were both thrilled to have finally reached the base of Cochrans Falls! We followed the trail down to the top
of the first big cascade before crossing over and bushwhacking down the west
side to avoid those first two sketchy areas. That was actually quite
easy. One more wade brought us back to
the trail well downstream from the difficult terrain. From there, we enjoyed an easy stroll back to
the car. As usual, we didn’t see anyone
else all day.
THE DRIVE INN
It
was mid-afternoon, and technically we still had to make the short drive to Amiacola Falls State Park and hike the 5-mile trail to The
Hike Inn. However, Darrin had called the
manager of the inn earlier and gotten permission to drive up. That is normally frowned upon – after all, it
is called The Hike Inn for a reason.
Still, if we hadn’t been able to drive, we would not have had the chance
to hike to Cochrans Falls from downstream. Instead, we would’ve attempted it from the
top, which probably wouldn’t have ended well.
In fact, after being at the base, I doubt that it is possible to get
down from the top safely, without rappelling.
A
long drive on a rough road brought us to the gate. We used the combination the manager had given
us and continued up to the inn. There we
met two employees that are good friends with Darrin, Bill and J.P., along with
a fairly new employee, Matt. The inn was
completely full, so we ended up taking a room in the building that houses some
of the employees.
After
a couple of days of cold and rain, with lots of creek wading, a hot shower
never felt so good. Dinner was
wonderful, too. There we found out that
most of the inn was rented by a group called “The Trail Dames”. At first I thought we might be at the other
end of the rainbow from our last visit.
https://www.angelfire.com/trek/fungi/Georgia/The_Hike_Inn_2-14.html
I
don’t think that was the case though.
Apparently “The Trail Dames” are a large national hiking group with over
1,000 members. Darrin’s presentation was
outstanding as always, and well received. That night we relaxed and partied a little
bit with Bill, J.P. and Matt. After all,
we had a lot to celebrate!
BEARDEN
The
next morning we had breakfast and packed up.
Before heading for home, we decided to squeeze in one more waterfall. Our final
goal for the weekend was Bearden Falls. We’d
heard about Bearden Falls from some of Darrin’s friends at The Hike Inn. They had always hiked to it from the inn, but
that required a long approach. We had a
long drive that afternoon, so we followed the route described here:
http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/beardenfalls.html
The
last couple of miles of forest road were pretty rough, but nothing that Darrin’s
truck couldn’t handle. There is an
actual trailhead parking area down a spur road to the right, but it seems to be
lightly used. It was a warm, sunny
Sunday, and we didn’t see anyone else all day.
In fact, over 3 days of hiking, we saw exactly zero other people on the
trail.
There
is no official trail to the falls. From
the parking area, we followed an old road, which runs parallel to Nimblewill Creek but stays well away from it. We crossed a couple of tributaries before
dropping down to ford Nimblewell Creek. This was a bit of a relief, because I was
concerned that we might miss our turn up Bearden Creek if we stayed on the
south side of Nimblewill Creek. Now that we were on the north side of Nimblewill, we couldn’t miss it.
The
old road led to a crossing of Bearden Creek a short distance upstream from
where it joins Nimblewill Creek. We rock hopped and reached a junction. One old road goes left here, roughly
following Nimblewill Creek, but staying well above
it. We turned right, to continue
upstream along Bearden Creek. The old
road gradually deteriorated to a footpath, but that was ok. We had been prepared to bushwhack the entire
1.5 miles (one-way) to the falls! The
trail continued the whole way there, though there were several additional creek
crossings. Some of them were a little
tricky because the water was up and the rocks were slippery, but we managed to
rock hop all of them.
The
terrain finally began to steepen, and the waterfall came into view. Wow!
Bearden Falls is quite tall, and is more impressive than I expected. We had a pretty good view from a fair
distance away, but of course we wanted a closer look. The last part of the trail was steep, but it
took us right to the base of the falls.
Just before it, I noticed a faint, steep path continuing up the hillside
towards the top of the falls.
We
took a break there for some photos before heading back. On our return, we decided to skip the rock
hopping, which had been a bit tedious and time consuming. By wading, I managed to soak my regular
hiking boots. I already had soaked my
canyoneering boots and my water shoes. I
also sacrificed my last pair of socks.
Luckily the car wasn’t far away!
Thanks
again to Darrin for inviting me along!
The weekend was a huge success, featuring 6 waterfalls we hadn’t seen
before, including the elusive Cochrans Falls!
Back to Georgia
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!