IMPOSSIBLE
There
is a documented waterfall on Shoal Creek in South Mountains State Park. Kevin Adams give is a brief mention in his
book. When the Foothills Conservancy
acquired the land a few years ago, they posted a photo of the waterfall on their
website. Despite this, the waterfall
isn’t well known. Although it is in the
state park, there is no easy way to get to it.
In fact, a park ranger told Kevin that it is impossible to get to
without crossing private property.
The
ranger was wrong. There is developed
private property downstream from the falls, which prevents direct access. Apparently the ranger meant that it is
impossible to get to EASILY without crossing private property. Impossible?
No. Team Waterfall has never been
about doing things the easy way anyway.
I’ve
been working on this one for a couple of years now. On my first scouting mission, I checked the
obvious approach from downstream. There
is nowhere to park, and getting to the falls would require walking right past
several houses. Next, I tried driving up
a road in the next valley to the west.
The map shows the road passing through private property but ending
inside the state park. From there, I
figured I could hike over England Knob and down to the falls.
My
drive up the road ended prematurely, at a gate to some sort of compound. It looked like some sort of cult. They were handing out free Kool Aid, but I
decided to pass.
I
came up with a better plan. We would
start at Clear Creek (Broughton Hospital) Reservoir, inside the park. That would offer ample, safe parking. Using topo maps and the Burke County GIS
website, I plotted out a route that was entirely on public property. It would require careful navigation to avoid
private property, but that was feasible with a GPS. It would also require bushwhacking over a
mountain, but that isn’t unusual for Team Waterfall.
Matt,
Rick, Bob, Sean, and I met at Clear Creek Reservoir on Saturday morning. It was a sunny but chilly day – perfect for
bushwhacking. We got a late start by
design, as we were confident that the hike wouldn’t take all day. We started out with a pleasant stroll through
a field and up along the spillway below the lake. Our first challenge was crossing it. My dog Boone ran right across the dam, but
that looked slippery. The water below
the dam was very shallow, but there were icy spots. With careful footing, we were able to dance
our way across it without soaking our boots.
A steep climb up the opposite bank brought us into open forest. Surprisingly, we stumbled upon a trail. It wasn’t going in the correct direction, but
we decided to follow it around the west side of the lake.
After
a few minutes on the trail we decided it was time to start up the ridge. The forest was wide open, which was a pleasant
surprise. I was expecting thick
bushwhacking. The climb was fairly
steep, but manageable. Once on the
ridge, we continued through open woods to a saddle. From there, we angled a bit to the south to
climb more gradually up Stony Ridge. We
joined a road briefly on the ridgecrest, but quickly
left it to follow a spur ridge down the west side. The park boundary is on this ridge, and we
followed a survey trail the whole way.
It brought us to a small dam and reservoir on Shoal Creek. I’m not sure what this reservoir was for, but
it is a swamp now. The pond has filled
in with silt, creating a huge pool of mud behind the dam.
We
found a broad woods road on the far side.
This road is actually shown on the map.
It continues all the way back to where we parked. Unfortunately you can’t follow it here
directly because it passes through private property.
We
were able to follow it briefly, as it parallels Shoal Creek. After a few minutes though it turned
northeast, away from the creek and into private property. We left the road and bushwhacked
downstream. After only a few minutes we
reached the brink of a waterfall. This
was a bit of a surprise. We were at
1,560’, but I was pretty sure that the waterfall was down around 1,400’. Still, the horizon line just downstream
clearly indicated a waterfall. We
scrambled around and down to the base of a 12’ drop. It was nice, but there was too much deadfall
to get a good photo. Immediately
downstream was the brink of another, larger drop. We crossed to River Right and scrambled down
to the base. This is a pretty 20’
waterfall. It’s the same one I’d see a
photo of a few years earlier.
We
declared victory and had lunch in the sunshine.
But I was puzzled. The topo map
indicated that there was probably another waterfall downstream. In fact, it looked much more promising at
1,400’ than at 1,560’. Could there be
another waterfall?
We
had to check. We found a trail leading
away from the base of the falls and followed it downstream. After a short distance it turned away from
the creek, towards private property. We
stayed with the creek, sidehilling above it. After a long flat stretch of creek the
terrain became more rugged. We began
seeing rapids and small cascades in the stream below. Then the world fell out from underneath us.
We
found ourselves high on a rocky point, with the creek tumbling dramatically far
below. We regrouped and then started
down. There were lots of thick bushes
and briars here, so I followed a combination of my instincts and the path of
least resistance. Bob and Matt took a
slightly different angle and reached the creek farther upstream. Before long, I found myself directly above
the brink of a huge waterfall! Matt and
Bob worked their way down towards the precipice. Meanwhile, I swung around the cliff to the
entrance to a towering stone amphitheater.
The cliff loomed above the falls, but it looked like it might be
possible to scramble down through it. I
seriously considered it, but it was impossible to tell whether I’d be able to
make it all the way down. The slope was
very exposed, and there was nothing but a steep rock face to hold onto. Having Boone with me pushed me towards
caution. Rick and I decided to climb up
and around the cliff that forms the amphitheater. It looked like it would be safer to descend on
the far side. Sean (and later Matt and
Bob) took the direct route and made it unscathed. Matt said it was sketchy, ending with a 10’
slide down a wet rock. Climbing back up
that way would be impossible without a rope.
Once
Rick and I cleared the cliff we had our first clear view of the falls. It’s spectacular! It is at least 50-60’, and nearly vertical,
as it is surrounded by cliffs. We picked
our way down the slope right on the state park boundary. Then we worked our way up to the base.
It
was a sunny day, so conditions were poor for photos. The waterfall faces north though, so it
wasn’t hopeless. We spent quite a bit of
time admiring Impossible Falls and taking photos from a variety of angles. While we were down there we noticed an old
rope dangling from the brink of the cliff adjacent to the falls. It is on a wet cliff, and looked like a death
wish. Who would “rappel” on that?
We
decided to make the hike out more fun by scrambling up the series of rock
outcrops adjacent to the amphitheater. This
was grueling but fun, and we were rewarded with a thru-the-trees view of the
Black Mountains from the uppermost outcrop.
After a break we climbed a bit more before turning to contour across the
hillside along the park boundary. The
boundary forced us to descend gradually back towards the creek, which was
inconvenient, but we were being purists about staying on public property. Also, the ridge above seemed to be covered
with clearings and deer stands, so it’s probably wise to avoid wandering through
there.
Before
long we found ourselves back at the base of the upper falls. One more steep climb and moderate
bushwhacking brought us to the dirt road that led back to the Upper
Reservoir. Earlier Rick had realized
that he had dropped his gloves. He thought
it had happened near the Upper Reservoir.
As luck would have it, he found one of them shortly after we reached the
dam. There was no sign of the other one. Since we weren’t in a hurry I suggested that
we take a few minutes and look for the other one.
Rick:
“Good idea, since we have 5 sets of eyes”.
As
he said this, Sean walked into a tree branch and poked himself in the left eye.
Me:
“Well, four and a half”.
Although
Sean may lose his eye, at least Rick found both gloves. We declared victory and followed our GPS track
back to Clear Creek Reservoir. Along the
way, one member of our group, who shall remain nameless, dropped back to use
the bathroom. When he caught up a few
minutes later he exclaimed, “my legs are really sore and cramping”. Sean responded with, “that must’ve been one
hell of a dump.”
For
variety, we hiked around the upper end of the lake on the return. The descent to the lake was much more gentle
than the route we’d climbed in the morning.
There we were treated to nice views across the water towards the Black
Mountains. We also passed a beaver dam
and a small cascade with a pothole on Clear Creek. After rock hopping Clear Creek and a
tributary we picked up a trail along the northeast side of the lake. This trail provided us with more views across
the lake and lots of signs of beaver activity.
We
returned to the cars around 5:30, which is pretty reasonable for a Team
Waterfall hike. We celebrated our
successful adventure with a beer (thanks Rick!) and headed for home.
Here
is a GPS track from our adventure: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/spjKYSSegpxPdhYTKjyWH4kB/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet
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