TRYING TO REASON WITH HURRICANE SEASON
Hurricane Ivan brought
massive flooding to the North Carolina mountains for the second time in as many
weeks. By Friday, the rain was
pounding, and we were debating our weekend plans. The forecasters were expecting Ivan to hang around and generally
make a mess of the weekend. Christy was
signed up for a 190-mile bike ride from Weddington to North Myrtle Beach as a
fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Would the ride go as scheduled? Kevin and I had planned on backpacking, but
we were having second thoughts.
I decided to skip it, and
woke to beautiful blue skies on Saturday.
By that time, Christy was already on her ride and was enjoying a lovely
morning. I endured a beautiful day on
the back deck, but could only wish I was in the mountains indulging in the
perfect weather. I called Kevin, and we
decided to dayhike on Sunday.
I met Kevin early that
morning and rode with him towards Hendersonville. This was not your average drive to the trailhead. Kevin showed up in a red convertible Porsche
Boxster that he had borrowed from his girlfriend (who had borrowed it from a
friend). We didn’t have any sort of
registration for the car, and I was sure we’d be spending some time in some
God-forsaken prison in Polk County (the Polk County Pokie?) for it. Kevin was driving like a fool, but somehow
we managed not to draw the attention of the local law enforcement.
I’m not that much of one for
sports cars, but everyone should ride in a car like this at least once. If every man goes through a mid-life crisis,
I’m glad to say I got mine out of the way in a single sunny day. I directed Kevin up a series of hairpin
turns on a back road leading up to Tryon Peak outside of Columbus. My goal was a roadside waterfall, but
Kevin’s goal was to drive really fast on an impossibly curvy road. In any other car I would’ve been hanging my
head out the window, but the Porsche handled so well it hardly felt like we
were flying through switchbacks on the edge of a precipice.
We stopped at the waterfall
and gave the Porsche a well-deserved rest.
The falls are pretty, but all attempts at a photograph were
thwarted. The batteries in my camera
were dead, so I went back to the car and put in my spares. The spares were also dead. Here’s a little consumer tip for you. Sunpak rechargeable batteries are
worthless. If you have a digital
camera, do yourself a favor and buy some Energizers or another reputable brand.
We left the falls and drove
to the top of the mountain. If you ever
drive I-26 north from Spartansburg toward Hendersonville, this is the first
serious mountain you pass on your right.
Unfortunately, most of the mountain is covered in summer and retirement
homes. What isn’t soon will be, judging
from the construction. At the very top,
we did find a rock outcrop that provided a great view to the north. I had considered hiking out the jeep road to
Tryon Peak from here, but the road is gated and heavily posted. It’s government property, and signs warn
that the area is monitored with security cameras. What in the world is the government hiding out there?
We continued down the other
side of the mountain on a washed-out dirt road. We were halfway down when it occurred to us that this was
probably not what the Porsche had been designed for. Somehow we made it down without bottoming out along the way. Once we were back in Columbus, we headed up
the highway to Saluda for our hike.
From Saluda we drove the
Green River Cove Road down another breathtaking series of switchbacks. We reached the banks of the Green River, and
continued downstream a couple of miles to the highway bridge. We parked there, and began our hike on the
Green River Cove Trail.
We followed an overgrown
path through a field and into the woods.
We’d gone only 100 yards before reaching the first fallen tree. We crawled through, only to encounter
another. After climbing over, under,
around, and through about a dozen deadfalls, we reached a huge washout that was
nearly impassable. We continued a little
farther, but ultimately gave up. One of
the hurricanes had devastated the trail.
There’s no doubt that lots of the trails in the mountains were badly
damaged in the storms.
We headed back through the
gauntlet of trees. We reached the
Porsche, and debated taking a scenic drive in lieu of a hike. I needed some exercise though. I suggested making one more attempt at
hiking, and we drove to the trailhead for Big Bradley Falls. It’s only a short hike, but the way things
were going, it might be enough. Plus,
I’d never seen this waterfall before.
We found several other cars
at the trailhead, which was an encouraging sign. We hiked through a pleasant meadow and into the woods, arriving
at Cove Creek a few minutes later. We
switched to sandals and waded through knee-deep water to the trail on the far
side. A few more minutes of hiking
brought us to a prominent side trail heading down to the left. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any fallen
trees on this trail.
We descended steeply and
reached a fork. We continued ahead
through the rhododendrons and reached a boulder at the top of Big Bradley
Falls. Views are limited here, but it’s
still a powerful spot at the brink of the falls.
We backtracked to the fork
and descended a steeper path. It led to
a sheer rock face where a fixed rope was in place. However, even with the rope, the rock looked slippery, and the
path beyond was obscured by fallen trees.
We decided against it and returned back to the main trail.
We hiked a few hundred yards
and passed several more side trails heading down. Finally we tried one, and it led down to a cliff with a fantastic
overlook of the gorge and the falls.
The view is a distant one across the gorge, but the waterfall is
beautiful. In fact, it’s almost two
falls in one. Most of the water
cascades over the right side, but a smaller branch drops in an elegant freefall
on the left.
The overlook was a great
spot for lunch. We explored some paths
leading from here, including one that might lead to the base of the gorge. We turned back though, in favor of hiking
the main trail to see where else it would lead. The answer? Not far. After another 100 yards the path narrowed,
and seemed to end at an illegal campsite.
I found a primitive path leading off from here, as it descended into the
gorge.
We still had some time, and
decided to follow it. The path tunneled
through rhododendrons and across huge boulders before plummeting towards the
creek far below. We reached the stream,
and found a faint path wandering upstream.
We worked our way along the creek in search of the base of the
falls. At one point, we spotted some
other hikers on the far side of the stream.
We were making progress, but it was impossible to tell how much farther
it was to the falls. Kevin had to be
home early, so we turned back. I’ll
have to return another time to see the falls from the base.
On the hike back we passed a
bunch of teenagers coming down the same way we had. Once we climbed out of the gorge, it was an easy hike back to the
car. We enjoyed another thrilling ride
in the Porsche, but found ourselves back in Charlotte all too soon. We’d have to make another attempt at
backpacking the next weekend.
Back to The Pisgah Ranger District
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!