CASA DE GRILLOS
I
travel for a living, and sometimes my job takes me to fascinating places. On other occasions, I can’t wait to get
home. Lately, it seems like there has
been less of the former and more of the later.
A
few weeks ago I suffered through one of my worst trips. I was sent to Orange, Texas, which is about a
2 hour drive east of Houston. Hoo boy. Where should I begin? One evening after running, I was walking
through the grass back to my hotel. I
was in the middle of the lawn when I realized that something invisible –
actually, make that many somethings – were biting my
legs. I’m not certain, but I suspect
they were fleas. I ran for the shower,
which would’ve been pleasant if the water hadn’t reeked of bleach. I’ve
never been a fan of bottled water, but I sure drank more than my share that
week. Oh, and did I mention the hotel? I stayed at the finest hotel in town, but it
was infested with crickets. Is there a
more exciting way to wake up in the morning than to be roused by crickets
jumping across your pillow?
The
worst thing about Orange though was the general stench. The whole place smelled like rotten
eggs. If I had to sum up Orange in two
words, I’d probably go with “who farted?”
Last
week I was originally scheduled for one of my favorite destinations –
Greenville, South Carolina. At the last
minute though, it was changed first to Atlanta (bad) and then to Dallas
(worse). After my experience in Orange,
I was definitely not looking forward to returning to Dallas.
Dallas
wasn’t as bad as Orange, but it was still a relief to return to North
Carolina. By the time I got back, I was
itching for some fresh air. The weekend
was already full of obligations, and the weather forecast looked nasty, but I
knew I had to get out.
At
the last minute I was able to round up some friends for a hike first thing
Saturday morning. Bob and Joel were
itching to hike, too, and Myron and Dorcas were eager to get out for their own
reasons. They were staying in Morganton,
but didn’t have a shred of hiking gear.
Luckily, everyone else was able to bring enough stuff to outfit them.
We
all met at South Mountains State Park at 8:30.
I chose this destination because it was a short drive, and I needed to
get home in time for a 4pm football game.
South Mountains was convenient to everyone else as well, particularly
Myron and Dorcas, who were less than 30 minutes away.
The
plan was to meet at the trailhead at the end of the road, but somehow we all
found each other at the new Visitor’s Center.
We poked around there briefly before relocating to the trailheads at the
end of the main park road.
It
was a chilly, cloudy morning, with a cold rain expected to start that
evening. We didn’t loiter around the
parking lot for long, as everyone was ready to get the blood flowing. We found the Little River Trail behind the
old Visitor’s Center and started up an old roadbed. A steady climb quickly warmed us up, and
before long we joined a horse trail coming up from the road. We were hoping that we wouldn’t run into any
horses, as Myron and I both had our dogs off leash (in violation of park
rules). It was a cold winter morning
though, and we hadn’t seen any trucks or trailers in the official equestrian
parking area on the way in.
A
bit later we passed a modest view to the east at a small clearing. We climbed a bit more from there, before
cresting a ridge and beginning a mild descent to the Little River. We crossed the infant river on a footbridge
and followed it briefly. A couple of
minutes later we reached a spur path leading to a fence decorated with signs
warning of imminent death. At this
point, we knew we had nearly reached our goal.
I
have wanted to visit Little River Falls for years, but for some reason I hadn’t
gotten around to it. There is no
official trail to the falls, and to further complicate matters, the lower part
of the waterfall is on private property.
I’d heard that the private property wasn’t posted though. We decided to at least give the falls a look.
Beyond
the fence is an old road, but Bob spotted a footpath running closer to the
river. We followed it briefly, and
arrived near the brink of the first drop.
Little River Falls is actually a series of waterfalls, slides, and
cascades. The first fall is a pretty
impressive sheer drop, but dense vegetation makes it difficult to get a good
look at it. I spent quite a bit of time
searching for a good vantage point, but never found a spot where I could get a
photo. Descending to the river below the
falls and working back upstream might’ve worked, but it would’ve required
getting wet and climbing across icy rocks.
I decided to save that for another time and concentrate on the falls
further downstream.
The
woods from here down are mostly open, and the “bushwhacking” to the base of the
middle drop was actually pretty easy.
This time, our efforts were rewarded with a view of a long, sliding
cascade. The far side of the gorge here
is a sheer rock wall, and on this chilly morning it was covered in ice. I did manage a few photos here before
continuing downstream.
The
final plunge is a long, steep slide over open rock. This part of Little River Falls reminds me of
North Harper Falls, in the Wilson Creek area, or the lower part of Bridal Veil
Falls, in DuPont State Forest. Bridal
Veil Falls, coincidentally, is also on the Little River, but it’s a completely
different Little River from the one in South Mountains State Park. How many Little Rivers are there in North
Carolina, anyway?
Bob
and I worked our way down to the bottom before it was time to head back. Seeing Little River Falls turned out to be a
real highlight of the day. Now I wonder
why it took me so long to visit it!
The
climb out of the gorge was a bit of a grunt, but we made it back to the trail
without much difficulty. From there we
continued ahead on the Little River Trail.
My plan was to make a loop connecting to the Chestnut Knob Trail, which
would take us back to the parking area.
It
wasn’t long before we ran into the first group of horseback riders. We managed to corral the dogs without too
much drama. When we met another group a
few minutes later though, it was time to leash them. At that point they were pretty much
exhausted, although their fatigue had a lot more to do with playing with each
other than with the actual hike.
The
rest of the hike was largely uneventful.
We passed the Sawtooth Trail Campsites, and
yet another group on horseback. By the
time we reached the spur trail to the Chestnut Knob overlook, it was
12:30. Originally I had planned on lunch
at the overlook, but nobody seemed particularly enthusiastic about making the
side trip out there. We ate lunch at the
junction, and I didn’t linger long afterwards.
I was eager to get back for the previously mentioned football game, and
according to the sign, we still had 2.2 miles to go.
I
started down ahead of everyone else and set a brisk pace. Although I was moving pretty fast, I was
shocked when I reached a sign stating that I had 0.7 miles to go 18 minutes
later. Had I really covered 1.5 miles in
18 minutes? I rather doubt it, as I
certainly wasn’t hiking at 5mph.
Apparently the mileage on the trail signs is a little bit off.
I
endured some painfully slow drivers on the way home, but still made it back
with plenty of time to split some firewood before the game. Unfortunately, the game didn’t quite turn out
as I’d hoped. Although it was extremely
exciting, my ASU Mountaineers lost in the semifinals of the playoffs at Montana
in a blizzard. They had a chance to tie
the game in the final seconds from the Montana 3-yard line, but came up
short. When does the 2010 football
season start?
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