Exploring Upstream from Maidenhair Falls
Transylvania County, NC
Saturday, January 8th, 2011
By Jack Thyen
Blog Post:
http://scjack.blogspot.com/2011/01/above-and-beyond-maidenhair-falls.html
Photos:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/579485633Bgcqis
Back in November I suffered a Herniated Disc in my lower back which pinched my Sciatic Nerve. This was the most painful thing I ever gone through and any hiking was out of the question.
I am feeling much better now (almost 100%) and was yearning to get out for a hike!
Andy has never been to Maidenhair Falls before, so we decided we would do that short and easy hike and then maybe head over to DuPont for some more easy hiking. Best to start out with easy hikes when recovering from an injury!
Andy and Boone met me at my office in Spartanburg and we combined into my truck for the hour long drive to the trailhead. On the way, we decided to check out a couple of other roadside waterfalls.
First up was Key Falls (Page 251 of Kevin Adam's North Carolina Waterfalls Book). I knew I had visited this one many years ago, but just could not remember anything about it.
Turns out that Key Falls is a very un-impressive waterfall and neither Andy nor I felt the urge to get out of the truck to take any photos. Sorry Kevin, I don't think this one deserves the smiley face you gave it!
This photograph (not mine) gives a good idea as to why we didn't stop:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keyfalls.jpg
Next up would be Glen Cannon Falls. This one is located behind the 2nd Green of the Glen Cannon Country Club. I am not sure how they feel about visitor's stopping by to photograph the waterfall, but since it was too cold for anyone to be golfing I didn't think it would be a problem.
Despite it being part of a golf course setting, Glen Cannon Falls is still well worth a visit!
Our main hike of the day would be to Maidenhair Falls. I definitely consider this waterfall to be a must see! And the hike is fairly short and easy!
However, Andy and I had a bit more of an adventure in mind. We have heard rumors that there are upwards of a dozen additional waterfalls upstream from Maidenhair Falls. However, to our knowledge, none of our waterfall seeking buddies have ever explored upstream.
The trail ends at the base of Maidenhair Falls. A faint path does continue on a short distance to a cave behind the main drop of Maidenhair Falls. Andy discovered that you can actually crawl through the cave to get to the other side of the waterfall, while staying completely dry. This gave us the option of heading up either the left side or the right side of the creek.
However, getting Boone through the caves to the other side would prove next to impossible, so we decided to stick to the left side of the creek for our adventure upstream.
We were no longer on any semblance of a trail, but the forest was fairly open to start out. We just started climbing up hill following the path of least resistance and used our instinct to determine when to head back over to the creek.
As we got closer to the creek, the forest got thicker and thicker with Rhododendron and Briars, but still not too bad of a bushwhack. Our instincts proved correct as we eventually could see and hear some whitewater through the trees!
The final descent down to the creek and the base of this waterfall was very tricky. A better angle would have been to cross the creek or set up right in the middle, but I wasn't willing to wade through near freezing water.
Before continuing upstream, we decided to try and explore downstream to see if we missed anything between here and the top of Maidenhair Falls. There is no easy way to make you way alongside the creek, so we traveled through the Rhododendron to find another small waterfall.
Again, the final climb down to the base of this waterfall was definitely not easy.
We retraced our steps and continued upstream through the forest before deciding it was time to work our way back to the creek. We arrived right at the junction of the main Creek (Hogsed Creek) and Phillips Creek (at least that is where I think we were).
Both Kevin Adams and the late Jim Bob Tinsley mention (2) waterfalls on Phillips Creek, however we had no idea how far upstream we would have to go. Plus with the creeks at near freezing, we decided to save further exploration for warmer weather when wading through the creeks would be a much more viable option.
Instead we retraced our steps and made our way back to my truck. It was still early enough in the day for another short hike, and we elected for something a bit easier than the bushwhacking we had just been through.
We decided to head to DuPont State Forest for a nice little loop hike encompassing the following trails: Big Rock Trail, Cedar Rock Trail, Little River Trail, and Corn Mill Shoals Trail.
Just a few hundred feet of elevation takes you to some nice views on the mostly open rock summits of Big Rock and Cedar Rock Mountains. The wind was brutal up there, but the views were well worth it!
The remainder of the hike along the Little River was fairly uneventful, but very enjoyable. There was a very slight frosting of snow on the shady sections of trail and we also made a few stops to check out the Little River and an interesting frozen Bog.
It was great to finally be able to enjoy a day of hiking after several months of inactivity. While I believe we only scratched the surface of what is to see above Maidenhair Falls, it was still a success to be able to find a couple of waterfalls that none of our other Waterfall Wandering Buddies have been to!
Additional Photos are located here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/579485633Bgcqis
Back to The Pisgah Ranger District
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!