NO
HANGOVER
We
got up early on Friday. The Weather
Channel forecast called for a sunny morning, followed by building clouds in the
afternoon and rain in the evening. I
made breakfast and we broke camp quickly, in an attempt to reach the Hangover while
the skies were still clear.
The
Weather Channel – the original fake news.
It was a surprisingly long drive on a dirt road from our campsite near
the Cherhola Skyway to the trailhead at Wolf Laurel. By the time we reached it, the sky was
overcast. The clouds were high though,
so I was hopeful that we would still get some views from the Hangover.
I
was wrong. We climbed steadily to Horse
Cove Ridge. We continued to climb, bound
for the ridgecrest at Stratton Bald. We were closing in on the summit when it
started to rain. It was only 10am, so
this was a wee bit earlier than expected.
A couple of minutes later, it changed to sleet. The temperature was in the 30’s, so this
really was delightful.
Incredibly,
I had a cell signal. I pulled up the
weather radar. It looked terrible –
there was a massive storm to our west.
We were only catching the beginning of it. We still had a long way to go, and the next
ridge to the north was being swallowed up by clouds. Pressing on seemed pointless – there was
little chance of getting any sort of view from the Hangover. We decided to turn back.
The
sleet changed over to rain shortly before we reached the car. We jumped in, cranked up the heat, and turned
on the seat warmers. Ahh. That was better.
It
was late morning on the last day of our trip, but I wasn’t willing to
concede. On the drive to the trailhead
we had passed a couple of waterfalls on Cold Branch that were visible from the
road. I figured we could check them
out. I took a minute to study the topo
map. Sand Creek was in the next
valley. I vaguely recalled reading about
a waterfall, (or was it two waterfalls?), on Sand Creek. I was pretty sure it was two on Cold Branch
and two on Sand Creek. Unfortunately, I
didn’t have the Kevin Adams guidebook with me, as I hadn’t planned on visiting
North Carolina waterfalls on this trip.
Oh well, I’d have to rely on my memory and instincts.
My
instincts are pretty good, but my memory is not. Kevin’s book mentions 4 waterfalls on Cold
Branch and 1 on Sand Creek. Unfortunately I discovered that after we returned home. That will teach me to leave home without
Kevin’s book.
I
looked at the topo map and noted two spots on Sand Creek that looked
promising. The upper one was directly
below the road we were on, but down in a steep gorge. The lower one was much farther down the
mountain, but it looked easier to reach.
I decided to try the upper one first.
We
pulled off at a spot that looked convenient.
I pulled on the rain gear, as it was still raining steadily. Christy decided to skip this one.
I
crossed the road, climbed a minor ridge, and contemplated the descent
ahead. The creek was a long way
below. The slope was very steep and
littered with fallen trees. Everything
was wet, including me. I wasn’t feeling
it.
I
returned to the car and we drove down to Cold Branch. We pulled off the road above the upper
waterfall we had spotted. This hike was
much easier than the bushwhack to Sand Creek.
The initial descent was steep, but short. After that, a short, easy bushwhack led to
the creek. Along the way I passed a
bunch of trilliums in bloom. The
waterfall is a nice, two-tiered drop among mossy rocks. I took a few photos before returning to the
car.
We
drove down the road a short distance to the lower falls. I passed through a lovely cove full of
blooming trilliums before descending to the base of the falls. The most accessible spot was a ledge at the
brink of the final drop. This waterfall
is unusually wide, and I liked the angle from my vantage point. Getting to the very bottom required some
nasty bushwhacking and tricky rock hopping.
I managed to get to a decent vantage point, but it wasn’t really a better
spot for photos. That effort was
probably not worthwhile.
I
returned to the car, and we drove down to Santeelah
Creek Road. We followed that road all
the way to a bridge over Sand Creek.
There are a bunch of nice, primitive campsites along here. We parked at one just beyond the bridge. Christy considered joining this hike as the
rain had eased, but she decided against it.
I
followed an old logging upstream, roughly parallel to the creek. Eventually the road curved back to the right,
away from the creek. I had a decision to
make. Continue on the road, or head for
the creek? The spot I had targeted,
where Wolf Laurel Branch and another tributary join Sand Creek, was not far ahead. I decided to follow the creek.
Initially
I was able to follow the remains of another old road. Before long I spotted a promising cascade
below. I bushwhacked down to it, and I
was stunned at its beauty. It was no
more than 10’ high, but it was surrounded by huge rocks covered in neon green
moss. I immediately realized that the
only good spot for photos was on the far side of the creek. The water was up, and rock hopping wasn’t an
option. Oh well, it was the last day of
our trip. Time to dunk the boots!
I
waded across and worked my way around to a mossy boulder in front of the
cascade. From there I had some great
options for photos. My favorite included
that boulder in the foreground.
Incredibly, there were bluets blooming in the moss. This little cascade isn’t big enough to be a
true waterfall, but it was the highlight of my day.
I
attempted to bushwhack upstream from there.
However, the vegetation turned hostile, and my progress was slow. Wading upstream was my best strategy, but it
was still slow. I alternated between the
creek and the bank, but both were tedious.
Incredibly, I saw a few ribbons along here. I’m not sure what they were marking, but it
certainly wasn’t a trail!
The
map shows a triple confluence with Sand Creek, Wolf Laurel Branch, and an
unnamed tributary. That’s not quite
accurate. Actually, the unnamed
tributary joins Wolf Laurel Branch just before Wolf Laurel Branch Branch joins Sand Creek. This was still a neat area, but the
vegetation was so thick it was hard to enjoy it.
I
gave up on following the stream.
Instead, I climbed up the bank above the confluence. There, I had a view of the spot I had
targeted. There was a run of cascades
there, but not a true waterfall. It
didn’t look all that exciting, and I decided to return to the car.
Returning
by the same route was not appealing.
Instead, I continued up the slope.
Before long I stumbled on an old road – the same one I had started the
hike on. I quickly realized that the
road contoured around before passing just above the cascade I could see. Getting there looked easy, so I decided to
get a closer look.
There
are more cascades upstream from the portion I’d spotted initially. One stretch looked really neat. It was a chute zigzagging below a huge
boulder. I bushwhacked down through
another cove full of trillium for a better look. This effort yielded another cool spot for
photos, but the real highlight was all of those trilliums. There must have been hundreds.
I
headed straight back on the road.
Christy and I drove into Robbinsville and continued on to Yellow
Creek. Yellow Creek Falls would be our
last stop of the day. Christy decided to
do this one, as the rain was holding off.
A good trail leads all the way to the falls. It has several nice cascades along the
way. A couple of them are almost as
substantial as Yellow Creek Falls. The
waterfall isn’t big, but it is quite scenic.
We spent a few minutes there enjoying the scene and taking photos before
heading back.
We
stopped in Robbinsville at a coffee shop that is also a BBQ restaurant. We had planned on dinner in Asheville, but we
were already hungry and the pulled chicken looked good. We had an early dinner and got coffee to go
for the long drive back to Charlotte. We
returned Friday evening, as my mother’s 80th birthday party was set
for the next day. It was nice having a
full weekend to recover from our trip!
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