DIVIDE AND CONQUER

Last weekend the Badger invited me on a hike to Stillhouse Falls on Stillhouse Branch. This stream is a tributary of the North Fork of the Catawba River. It is just west of Linville Gorge, down from the Kistler Memorial Highway. I’ve been aware of this waterfall for a year or so, but Kevin Adams recently added a description of it to his website. That renewed my interest in visiting this waterfall.

The Badger, Kitty (the Rock Sprite) and Brett Haas had come up with a plan that was very different than the route Kevin had taken. Their plan was to follow the ridge south of Stillhouse Branch and descend to the creek well downstream from the falls. After following the creek up to the falls, the plan was to follow Kevin’s directions for a (hopefully) easier exit route. I was pretty much open to anything. I was just glad to join a hike without having to plan anything for a change.

Badger and I invited some of our other Team Waterfall friends. In addition to Kitty and Brett, Jack and Dillon decided to join us. Scott also planned to join us, but was running late Saturday morning. He texted me and said that he was going to try and meet up with Spencer and Stephanie. I wasn’t sure what their exact plan was, but hoped that the could catch up with us somewhere along the way.

The six of us met at the parking area where Dobson Knob Road meets Kistler Highway. It was great to meet Brett for the first time. Brett has quite a reputation for his explorations in Linville Gorge. It was nice to hike with Badger, Kitty, Jack, and Dillon again, too. While I’d hiked with Badger and Kitty only a couple of weeks earlier, I hadn’t seen Jack or Dillon in quite some time.

It was a cold morning – a rarity this winter. We hiked up Kistler for a few minutes before turning off to begin our bushwhack down into the promised land. We turned off a little too soon, and ended up bushwhacking on a contour below the ridgeline. It was thick in there with lots of scratchy shrubs and briers. This was rather slow and unpleasant, and if we had continued at that pace it would’ve taken us several days to reach the falls. Unfortunately, being just slightly off target with our navigation was an ongoing theme throughout the day.

We eventually fought our way up to the ridge, where we found a perfectly nice jeep road heading in the correct direction. If, for some reason, you try to replicate our hike, I strongly recommend getting on this road right from Kistler.

We had just started down the road when Brett realized that he he’d lost his hiking stick. He backtracked a bit, but there was no hope of finding it in the jungle we’d bushwhacked through.

The hike down the old road was fast and easy. Along the way we spotted a huge jumble of boulders on the ridge on the far side of Stillhouse Branch. It was a really cool feature that begged to be explored. Everyone agreed that we should try to incorporate that area in our exit route, as it was close to the route we planned to hike out, anyway.

We followed the old road to the (unposted) private property boundary. At that point we left the road and made a long, steep descent to the creek. The woods were open along the boundary – apparently it was used as a fire break during one of the recent wildfires. This made the “bushwhacking” easy, but it also meant that there wasn’t much to hold onto during the steepest descents. There were a number of well-executed badger slides along here. It was a relief to finally reach the creek.

The hike upstream was tough. It was a good half mile from where we reached the stream to the falls. The creek was bigger than expected, and nobody wanted wet boots on a cold January day. Walking up the creek would’ve been pretty easy, but we were avoiding it. We ended up all strung out, with some folks close to the water and others on the hillside above. Unfortunately, there was no easy route. The creek was choked with rhododendron, and the hillside above was a mess of briars and fallen trees. There was a lot of shouting back and forth during this stretch, with everyone involved convinced that the route they were on couldn’t possibly be worse. Badger took a fall along here and landed in a briar patch. The bleeding eventually stopped, and he was able to resume the hike.

Things got interesting a short distance downstream from the falls. Cliffs began to appear on both sides of the creek, particularly River Left. We reached an area of jumbled boulders. Navigating that led us to a substantial cascade. Immediately upstream was an incredible 80’ cliff on River Left. The cliff looked like it was a layer cake of individual rocks. It reminded me of the cliffs in the canyons of the Cumberland Plateau. The stream runs right along the base of the cliff, and even undercuts it in one place, creating a small cave. This area was my favorite part of the whole hike.

Jack, Dillon, and Brett had arrived here well ahead of Badger, Kitty, and me. We all regrouped, and Jack and Dillon decided to start the hike out. They attempted to follow a route that would incorporate the rock outcrops we’d spotted from across the valley that morning. They found some of the rocks, but missed the main attraction. However, they did run into Spencer, Stephanie, and Scott, who were on their way down from Kistler. It’s pretty hilarious that they all ran into each other miles from the nearest road or trail. Spencer, Scott, and Stephanie had originally planned to visit the rock outcrops (which we are calling the Petrified Playground) before hiking down to the falls. It turns out that the rocks are full of fissure caves. They had so much fun exploring that area that they decided to skip the falls.

This is how Team Waterfall operates. There is just too much in that area to explore in a single day. So we split it up, and thoroughly explored a rarely visited slice of wilderness. Not that that was the plan or anything – really there was no plan. That’s just how it worked out.

Thomas, Kitty, Brett, and I continued upstream a short distance to the falls. Stillhouse Falls is only about 20’ high, but it is a beauty! We took a short break there for photos, but didn’t linger long. It was cold in the shade down by the creek, and we still had a long way to go. We left there a bit before 4pm with hopes of making it out before dark.

We attempted to follow Kevin’s directions on the way out. This was difficult, since they were written from the perspective of coming from the opposite direction. Despite this, we did a pretty good job. We followed the creek upstream beyond the falls before climbing the ridge that Kevin had recommended. I’m not sure that we climbed it in the optimal spot though. The ridge was a nasty tangle of shrubs and briars, without even a hint of a trail.

We didn’t see any better option, so we plowed ahead. Eventually the ridge narrowed, and we found ourselves on a faint trail marked with the occasional ribbon. It wasn’t much of a trail, but it was a big improvement from the shrubs and briars. There were some rock outcrops along here with nice views, too. The rocks we found were modest compared to the Petrified Playground, but they added some scenery and interest to the trudge out.

My goal was to reach the saddle at the base of the final ½ mile climb to Kistler before dark. Kevin describes a faint, overgrown old roadbed along that stretch, and I knew that finding it would make the final climb much easier. We failed. We reached the saddle in total darkness, and couldn’t find the roadbed. It is there, but we couldn’t find it in the dark. Eventually we decided to head uphill and follow the path of least resistance. This was particularly difficult since Brett didn’t bring a headlamp. He used the flashlight on his cell phone for illumination. That works in an emergency, but it really kills your phone battery.

The path of least resistance was terrible. It was one giant tangle of rhodos, shrubs, and briars. The darkness may have been a blessing – it least we couldn’t see the horror in front of us. On two occasions I scouted to the left and right for some distance in hopes of stumbling upon the road. Chances are I walked right past it in the dark. Jack and Dillon also missed it (in the daylight), though Spencer, Stephanie, and Scott found it. If you plan to visit this waterfall, I highly recommend follow Kevin’s directions down and recording a GPS track. Then you can follow your track back up. http://www.kadamsphoto.com/north_carolina_waterfalls/stillhouse-falls/

Jack recorded a GPS track of our hike. Their exit route was slightly different than ours though. https://www.gaiagps.com/public/PCIju71hshGk4Dgnds1SwvXm/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet

We stumbled out of the woods around 8pm. Fortunately, Brett had shuttled his car down there earlier that morning, so we were able to drive back to our original meeting place at the junction of Dobson Knob Road. Before we left, I noticed that Scott’s truck and Stephanie’s car were parked just down the road from where we came out. They were still on their way back up from the Petrified Playground, though we didn’t know that at the time.

Back at the cars I cooked dinner and Brett, Badger, and Kitty headed out. Spencer, Stephanie, and Scott eventually caught up, and we backpacked together out to Little Shortoff to camp. I almost bailed out on the camping because I’d left my bag with extra warm clothes at home. Scott let me borrow a wool sweater though, and I have a very warm sleeping bag. With that gear, I felt like I’d be fine. Little Shortoff is an exceptionally scenic spot, but there aren’t many good tent sites. Kyle and Angelina were already out there, but they’d gone to sleep to get out of the cold. I found a marginal spot for my tent, but I was so tired that I didn’t care. After setting up, Scott and I enjoyed a couple of beers while admiring the lights of Morganton twinkling beyond Lake James. We decided to skip the campfire because it was very windy and we didn’t want to risk it.

I woke around 6:15 the next morning. It was too early for sunrise, and too cold to sit outside. I dozed off and missed a great sunrise! I woke in time to catch some nice light, but the best of it was gone by the time I got dressed and out of the tent.

Later that morning we made breakfast at the trailhead. Kyle and Angelina decided to do the short hike to the waterfall on the Yellow Fork of Paddy Creek. Meanwhile, Spencer, Stephanie, Scott and I hiked Rockjock. We shuttled my car up to the Conley Cove Trailhead. We started our hike at the south end and hiked down to Balanced Rock and T-Shirt Point. Scott decided to head back, as a major snow storm was expected that afternoon, and he wanted to get home ahead of it. Spencer, Stephanie, and I continued ahead. This was Stephanie’s first time on the Rockjock Trail, and I was honored to show her some of its best features. Unfortunately, I missed the spur trail to the overlook of Crevasse Canyon. We’ll have to come back another time for that one. We did hike down to Razors Edge Point though, and Spencer and Stephanie continued down to Razors Edge Rock. I had fun taking photos of them on the rock from Razors Edge Point and Zen Point.

It started snowing when we regrouped on Zen Point. We continued north and noted the entrance to the LOST route. Then we went up through Split Rock and past trickling Bluejay Falls. Bluejay Falls only looks great after a major storm, or a long cold spell. After that we paused briefly at Hackers Point. The view was limited because it was snowing hard immediately to the north. Hawksbill disappeared from view due to the whiteout.

One feature caught my eye here that I hadn’t noticed before. It looks like there is a big cave in the cliff on the north side of Fern Canyon. I’m not sure if it is accessible. I wonder if anyone has explored it?

Our final stop was at Lost Dog Camp and Lost Dog Pond. It was snowing hard now, so we hurried out to my car at the Conley Cove Trailhead. The snow had just started to stick on Kistler, so we didn’t have any trouble getting back down the mountain.

Rockjock was the perfect choice for the day. It is one of my all-time favorite trails, and it was nice to take a break from the bushwhacking after Saturday’s brutality. It was great hiking and camping with old friends and new last weekend. I wonder what we will get into the next time we are in The Gorge?