THE ORIGINAL
Recently
Jack and I joined the CMLC for another hike.
This one was on private property, so it offered us a rare opportunity to
visit a place that would normally be off-limits. The hike description stated that we would
visit Tumbling Fun Falls. I was
thrilled, as it was a waterfall that has been near the top of my to-do list for
a long time. I’ve made two rather
half-hearted attempts at this waterfall over the years, and failed both
times. Unfortunately, it’s still near
the top of my to-do list, as I didn’t quite make it there this time, either.
It
turns out that the CMLC hike wasn’t to the Tumbling Fun Falls on Mill Creek,
which is a major tributary of the Thompson River. Actually, it was to the Tumbling Fun Falls on
a tributary of Corbin Creek, which is a tributary of the Whitewater River. Oddly, the two waterfalls are separated by no
more than a couple of miles. I found
this out before our hike, but I was still puzzled as to how there could be two
totally separate waterfalls with the same unusual name in such close proximity.
The
mystery was solved shortly after we arrived.
I rode with Jack up from Spartanburg, and since we were early we made a
brief stop at Whitewater Falls. Instead
of visiting the usual tourist overlooks, we drove farther up highway 281 to an
obscure pulloff at the base of a steep incline. We scrambled up, anticipating a great view of
Whitewater Falls. We did get a view of
the Whitewater River, which was roaring over its namesake falls. I was amazed at the volume, particularly
since it was mid-summer. The view wasn’t
that great though, as there was just enough vegetation in the way to make
photography difficult. The light didn’t
help, either, as the sun had broken through the morning fog shortly before we
arrived.
We
drove on up to Whitewater Church Road and found our way to the meeting place,
where we met the property owners. We
were early, and they showed us the way down to the base of the waterfall. It’s situated below a lovely lily pond surrounded
by a lush garden.
Tumbling
Fun Falls is lovely, but difficult to photograph. Jack and I were thrilled to find some
rhododendron blooming at the base of the falls, which did help our photos quite
a bit.
The
group arrived just before we returned from the falls. We arrived just in time to find out how there
ended up being two Tumbling Fun Falls within a couple of miles of each
other. Apparently early property owners
got tired of waterfall enthusiasts (!) visiting their waterfall. So they simply exported the name “Tumbling
Fun Falls” to an unnamed waterfall on nearby Mill Creek. The name stuck, and now that waterfall is
fairly well known. Meanwhile, the
original Tumbling Fun Falls has slipped into obscurity.
We
took a brief tour of the pond and gardens before starting our hike. The hike proved to be more of a nature walk,
but there was plenty to see. Most
impressive was a mammoth fungus called Chicken of the Woods (not to be confused
with Chicken of the Sea, which comes in a can).
There were still some rhododendron blooming, and many of the hemlocks
still appeared to be healthy. The
property owners aggressively treated some of the hemlocks on their property
with beetles that eat the adelgids that are killing
the hemlocks.
We
also visited another waterfall along the way.
Dorothy Falls is a pretty cascade on a small stream upstream from the
pond. I failed to get good photos thanks
to marginal light and a vantage point that was too close to the falls. Jack had a little better luck with his wide
angle lens.
Our
hike was cut short by thunder. We
hurried back to the house, but got caught out in a fairly impressive
thunderstorm. Storms have been a regular
feature in the area lately. Through the
first 2/3 of July that area has received 14” of rain!
The
hike finished up shortly after lunch.
Jack and I parted ways with the rest of the group and went
exploring. Although the rain had
stopped, more storms seemed imminent. We
decided to do some short hikes to waterfalls.
That way we wouldn’t be too far from the car if the weather turned
hostile.
We
started at Twin Falls on the Thompson River.
Twin Falls is spectacular, but unfortunately it is on private
property. We drove over there anyway to
check out the situation. A huge, ugly McMansion has been built on one side of the river. Why would anyone spend that much money on
such an ugly house? I actually thought
that it was an apartment complex at first.
Luckily, the lot on the other side of the river is still
undeveloped. Jack and I are always on
the lookout for mountain property for sale (typically near waterfalls). We decided to take yet another look at this
particular lot, even though the $600K price tag is a bit out of our range.
We
followed a gravel road down to the river without passing any no-trespassing
signs. The road ended shortly before the
river, and continuing from there required wading through briars. Eventually we fought our way to an appealing
vantage point. We took a few photos, but
mainly stood around waiting for the light to improve. The sun had returned, and although there were
lots of clouds around, they seemed to be avoiding us. It did finally cloud back up after we
returned to the car.
From
there we drove a couple of miles back over to Mill Creek. We parked near the bridge and found the path
down to the base of the Slippery Bitch Falls.
This is also private property, but it wasn’t posted with no-trespassing
signs. Our luck with conditions was
better here, as the clouds stuck around long enough to allow for some nice
photos.
From
there we drove over to the intersection of highway 281 and Brewer Road. I was surprised to find 5 other cars here
when we arrived. I’d never seen another
vehicle at this trailhead, despite hiking here several times. Despite all the cars, we didn’t see any other
people during our hike.
We
hiked the old road down towards the Thompson River. Along the way we turned off onto a slippery
side path to check out the waterfall on Reid Branch. I’d never visited that one before, and didn’t
have high expectations. I was pleasantly
surprised to find a really nice waterfall!
It isn’t particularly large, but with the high water flow it was quite
attractive.
From
there we returned to the main trail.
After a few minutes we turned off onto another old road. This one took us to a scramble path that led
down to the Thompson River just downstream from High Falls. We had to wade the
river to get a good view of the falls, but that wasn’t a problem even though
the water was up.
High
Falls on the Thompson has always been one of my favorites, and with the extra
volume it was even more impressive than normal.
We took a long break (and lots of photos) before debating our next move.
I
suggested hitting a couple of additional waterfalls downstream. Big Falls wasn’t a
consideration, as it was already late afternoon, but there are a couple of
others farther upstream that are quite nice.
However, we ultimately decided that it was too late in the afternoon to
begin a more ambitious hike.
We
returned to the trailhead. However, we
made two more stops on the way home. We
drove highway 281 to its crossing over Mill Creek and parked. First we took a short walk up to D.E.W.
Falls, which is small but pretty. Then
we backtracked, crossed highway 281, and descended to the base of Johns
Jump. Johns Jump has never excited me,
but on this occasion, with the extra water flow, it was looking pretty
good. We took a few more photos before heading
home, happy with another great day of waterfall wandering.
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