GET
GREASY
https://youtu.be/EjIyebaiJUI
Christy
and I decided to do a family backpacking trip over Labor Day weekend. We wanted to visit a scenic destination that
would be dog-friendly, but not crowded.
With a perfect weather forecast on tap, we knew that every place would
be busy. I figured that we had two
options – either go somewhere way off the beaten path, or hit a popular area,
but avoid the most crowded destinations.
We ultimately chose the latter approach.
I planned a route through the Shining Rock Wilderness. It would be a loop hike that would pass near,
but not through, some of the most popular spots in the North Carolina
mountains.
At
the last minute we decided to start our trip on Friday and finish Sunday
afternoon. One of our favorite bands,
Robert Randolph and the Family Band, was playing a free show at the Whitewater
Center in Charlotte Sunday evening. By
starting Friday, we could get a head start on the crowds, do a 3-day trip, and
get back in time for the show. It would
mean having to work on Monday instead of Friday, but that was a fair trade. The only drawback was a marginal weather
forecast on Friday due to a passing hurricane.
The forecast really only called for lots of clouds and maybe a passing
shower or two. That didn’t sound too
bad, and it would make nice light for waterfall photography.
The
Friday start almost didn’t happen. My
flight home from Kansas City Thursday evening was diverted to Columbia, SC due
to thunderstorms in Charlotte. After
sitting on the runway in Columbia for a while, the crew announced that there
would be one opportunity to voluntarily get off. Since there was no telling when the plane
would get to Charlotte, I volunteered without hesitation. I had already pulled up the Avis website on
my phone, and quickly completed my reservation for a one-way rental car from
Columbia to Charlotte. That ended up
saving the evening.
As
15 of us were lining up to depart, one chatty (by chatty, I mean loud) woman in
an aisle seat told me that we were very brave for getting off. The word she used was brave, but her tone of
voice said “crazy”. It’s funny how
different people look at a situation. I
think being trapped on an airplane intentionally, at the total mercy of the
weather and American Airlines, is crazy.
I’ll take my chances in a rental car.
The
rental car area was a zoo. Only 15
people got off of our plane, but there were many more looking for cars. When I reached the Avis counter, they
announced that they were out of one-way rentals. Luckily, I had a reservation. I was feeling pretty up beat as I walked out
to my car.
The
drive was awful. There was one huge
thunderstorm, and then a massive wreck involving numerous trucks that
completely shut down the other side of the highway. There were trucks everywhere – on their
sides, upside down, on fire. Our side of
the road was fine, but the rubbernecking still caused a major delay.
I
made it home at 9pm. It was halftime of
the Appalachian State / Tennessee football game. App State was up 13-3. Unfortunately, it got away from us in the
second half. Tennessee tied it in the 4th
quarter, and ultimately won in overtime by recovering their own fumble in the
end zone.
The
travel delays meant that we didn’t start packing until Friday morning. I also had to return the rental car at the
Charlotte airport and drive my car back home, which killed an hour. It was late morning before we got on the
road, and early afternoon when we reached our trailhead. We started our hike in light rain and fog
from the Looking Glass Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was almost chilly, too.
My
plan was to do a loop hike. We actually
flip-flopped the direction at the last minute, mostly because Christy wanted to
swim at Skinny Dip Falls. That wasn’t
appealing in Friday’s weather, but it would be a pleasant way to end the trip
on Sunday afternoon. So, we would
descend the Bridges Camp Gap Trail to the Big East Fork and then ascend Greasy
Cove and Grassy Cove Ridge. Our first
campsite would be in a fern filled forest on the ridgecrest. The next day we would brave the crowds and
hike over Tennent Mountain and Black Balsam before picking up the Mountains to
Sea Trail (“MST”). We’d camp the second
night near the top of Yellowstone Falls, before following the MST down to
Skinny Dip Falls and back to the car.
I
screwed up the navigation right off the bat.
From the parking area, we hiked a short spur trail to the MST. We then followed the MST back towards the
Parkway. A bit before reaching it, we
saw an unmarked trail heading steeply down.
This was a short distance south of where the trail is shown on the
map. I scouted ahead, but didn’t see any
sign of a trail where the map showed it.
It had been many years since I’d hiked this trail, and I didn’t remember
much about it. I figured that the side
path had to be it, so we headed down.
The
trail was steep and slippery and difficult to descend with big packs. It took us to the Yellowstone Prong of the
Big East Fork of the Pigeon River, as expected, but then disappeared. We waded the river, which was running strong
due to the recent rain. On the far side
we found a path, which we followed to a campsite at the confluence of Dark
Prong and Yellowstone Prong. There was a
guy camped here, and he was surprised to see us! It turns out that we were well off-trail –
the Bridges Camp Gap Trail actually reaches the Yellowstone Prong a bit
downstream from the Dark Prong confluence.
We left him to enjoy his peace and quiet and headed that way. We waded the river again and met the trail
where it comes down from the Parkway.
We
really did that the hard way. It had
taken us over an hour to reach this point, too.
That part of the hike should’ve taken 20 minutes.
We
followed good trail to the confluence of Yellowstone Prong and Greasy Prong,
where the Big East Fork officially begins.
There is a nice campsite here, (and, as it turns out, an even nicer one
on the far side of the river). Christy
was stunned when I dropped my pack and suggested that we camp there. It was a good spot, with nobody else
around. Plus, I wanted to spend the rest
of the afternoon exploring Greasy Cove Prong.
If we backpacked up to Grassy Cove Ridge I wouldn’t have time to do
that.
The
rain had stopped shortly after we started the hike, so Christy set up the
hammock. The dogs and I waded the river
and headed up the trail that parallels Greasy Cove Prong. After a quick climb we waded that creek and
continued following the trail on the hillside above the creek. I wanted to check out several waterfalls
farther upstream. Based on information
in the new guidebook by Kevin Adams and the topo map, I figured that Lower
Greasy Cove Prong Falls was around 4,600’.
I stayed on the trail as long as possible, even though it was gradually
climbing high above the creek.
Eventually I reached a small tributary.
I left the trail there, crossed the stream, and began contouring along
the opposite hillside. I actually
spotted a small vertical waterfall on the tributary stream. It was neat, but less than 10’ high, so
probably not big enough to be a true waterfall.
From
there I stayed on the hillside above the tributary and headed down towards
Greasy Cove Prong. The bushwhacking was
moderately challenging, but not terrible.
Incredibly, I reached the creek right at the base of the lower falls. It’s a pretty waterfall, and one that has
been seen by only a few people. Surprisingly,
there were a few Carolina Rhododendron blooming near the falls. Those flowers occasionally bloom a second
time, in September, if the weather is cooperates.
After
a few photos I headed upstream. Both
sides of the lower falls looked terrible.
I climbed up through the woods on River Left. This required crawling under lots of rhodo and briars.
Once above the falls, it was easier to walk in the creek. The water was up though, and the rocks were
wet. Wading upstream in those conditions
was slow. Fortunately
it wasn’t far to the base of GPS Falls.
Apparently Kevin named this waterfall after his GPS, which he lost in
the creek here.
GPS
Falls is neat, but because it curves, the upper portion isn’t visible from the
base. I climbed up the rocks on River
Left, which were steep and slick. The
dogs did not enjoy this, and I wasn’t crazy about it either. After reaching the top of the lowest part of
the falls we were able to get into the woods.
More crawling through rhodo, mud, and briars
ensued. Eventually I worked my way back
to the creek a short distance upstream from the top of the falls.
The
low point of the hike came while bushwhacking around GPS Falls. On the return hike, I got tangled up in a
giant briar. What is sad is that I’d
gotten tangled up in the same briar on the way up.
A
long creek walk followed. It was slow going, and I eventually reached a
spot that was going to be tricky to pass.
There were big boulders on both sides of the creek, and the woods looked
inhospitable. I could climb around on
River Right, but it looked like it would take several minutes to go 20
feet. Did I have time for this? I checked my watch. 6:15 pm.
I really didn’t want to be creek walking or bushwhacking in the
dark. I checked my location on my GAIA
app. Yikes! I still had about ¼ mile of relatively flat
creek walking before I reached the base of the next drop, Ivestor
Ridge Falls. If I kept going, I’d
probably have to bushwhack out in the dark.
Turning around was hard, since it meant that I would have to come back
and do the whole thing again to see Ivestor Ridge
Falls.
It
was the right choice though. I didn’t
realize until later just how lucky I was to use good judgement. That evening, I reached the final ford of
Yellowstone Prong at dusk. I had brought
my lightweight headlamp rather than my heavier, high-powered one. When I reached the ford, I discovered that the
light had a crack in the housing. The
light still worked, but it wouldn’t stay on my forehead. I’m lucky I wasn’t bushwhacking while trying
to hold that light in my hand!
Christy
and I had more light related challenges.
Her headlamp was in good shape, but the batteries were nearly dead and
it was barely putting out any light. I wandered
around with both headlamps and the flashlight on my phone for several minutes
trying to figure out where I’d hung the food bags. By the time Christy found them it started
raining. Sigh. Luckily the shower passed quickly. By the time dinner was ready the stars were
coming out.
We
slept great that night, serenaded by the rushing waters of Yellowstone Prong
and Greasy Cove Prong. Another group did
end up in the campsite on the far side of the river, but they may as well have
been on another planet.
I
got up at first light the next morning to check out the lowest stretch of
Greasy Cove Prong. There are no true
waterfalls along that part of the creek, but lots of nice cascades. I got photos of a couple of them before the
sun rose above the hillside above.
Back
at camp I made oatmeal (gross) and coffee (disappointing) and we packed
up. Then we hiked back up the Greasy
Cove Prong valley. I checked out a
couple more cascades, but the light was deteriorating due to the sunny
conditions. A steady climb out of the
valley led us to a campsite at the headwaters of the tributary I’d followed the
previous evening. After a break there,
we continued up to the top of the ridge.
Grassy Cove Ridge is a beautiful hike through lush, fern-filled
forest. We passed two nice campsites –
where I’d originally intended to camp Friday night.
Beyond
the campsites we climbed gradually at times, and steeply at others. We passed through narrow tunnels of
rhododendron, and under blueberry bushes that were at least 10’ high! We finally popped out of the woods into a
small meadow. There are nice views here,
so we stopped for lunch. There is a
small spring just down the trail from here, which was convenient since we were
out of water.
We
actually saw some other hikers along this stretch. A couple of groups passed by, including two
girls that had heard that this trail led to a waterfall. I couldn’t imagine what waterfall they were
looking for, and I think I managed to convince them that they wouldn’t find it
on that trail.
We
hiked towards Ivestor Gap. We reached the junction with the Graveyard
Ridge Trail and noticed a huge campsite with a bonfire in the meadow above us. We met a hiker here, who warned us of the
massive campsite and a zoo of people up on Tennent Mountain and Black
Balsam. I still wanted to include those
peaks in our hike, but we were way behind schedule. Also, it was really beginning to cloud
up. The weather had been beautiful at
lunch time, but conditions were deteriorating.
We decided to take a major short cut and headed down the Graveyard Ridge
Trail.
This
trail is an old rocky railroad grade that alternates between rocky and
wet. Aside from a couple of views and a
fair bit of solitude, it doesn’t have any redeeming qualities. We did pass above the Upper Falls on Greasy
Cove Prong, which was audible from the trail.
I’m guessing that is the waterfall those girls were looking for. Unfortunately there
is no trail to it.
We
were almost to the crossing of Dark Prong when Christy realized that she didn’t
have her glasses. Crap! She’d left them back at our lunch spot. They were expensive, so I saw no choice but
to go back and look for them. After a
bit of debate we revised our plan. I knew
there were some campsites a short distance ahead. Christy dropped her pack and carried mine in that
direction. Hopefully she would find a
nice campsite. Meanwhile, I ran back to
our lunch spot to look for her glasses.
That
extra hike killed an hour and half, but I found her glasses right where we’d
eaten lunch. I hurried back and met her
on the trail shortly after picking up her backpack. She had set up camp at a nice site in a
meadow near the junction of the MST and the Graveyard Ridge Trail. She had just started back to get her pack
when I met her.
It
was early evening, but I wasn’t ready to quit for the day. I debated hiking up the MST to a meadow with
a nice view on the shoulder of Black Balsam.
However, it had really clouded up.
That vantage was on the wrong side of the mountain for sunset, too. Instead, I decided to make an attempt at the
Upper Falls on Dark Prong. I’d never
been to that one, and it was pretty close to our campsite.
Kevin
Adams says that the waterfall is at 5,000’ and he is precisely correct. I made a long bushwhack from the MST down to
the creek, and came out right at 5,000’.
The bushwhack was moderately steep and fairly thick, but not
terrible. When I reached the creek, I
found a small cascade and a pretty swimming hole. I scrambled up the cascade and around the
corner to the base of the waterfall. It
is pretty nice, as Dark Prong cascades steeply about 30’ over open rock. I liked this waterfall, but it isn’t one that
would be worth the effort for the average hiker, or even the average waterfall
enthusiast.
I
returned to our campsite before dark. We
only managed a meager campfire due to wet wood, but it was enough to make S’mores. We finished the evening off with some
moonshine and another great night of sleep.
At
one point I considered getting up early and hiking up Black Balsam for
sunrise. It didn’t happen. I think that was a good choice. We woke Sunday morning to lots of clouds and
pockets of fog. We could see the
mountain top though, so it wasn’t like the summit was above the clouds.
Christy
and I took turns lounging in the hammock for a bit before packing up. We managed to get Kona in with us. At first she was a little anxious, but she
actually relaxed after a few minutes and snuggled with us. After we put her back on the ground she acted
like she wanted back in! Boone was a
different story. He freaked out and fell
out. He landed hard, but seemed to be
ok. So much for that idea.
We
packed up and started our hike on the MST.
We had originally planned to hike through Graveyard Fields, but we’d
done such a great job of avoiding the crowds that we decided to take the path
less traveled. This section of the MST
contours along Graveyard Ridge high above Dark Prong. It led us through lovely forest and past some
nice campsites before we came close to the Yellowstone Prong just upstream from
Yellowstone Falls. There were a few
folks around here, but it wasn’t too busy, and there are a lot of campsites in
the area.
We
headed up a spur trail leading to some additional campsites. At the top of the ridge we dropped our packs
and hung our food in preparation for our attempt at reaching the base of
Yellowstone Falls. I had tried to reach
this waterfall twice back in the 90’s.
The first time I attempted to descend from the top on River Left, but
was stopped by a cliff. The second time
I tried to rock hop and wade upstream from Skinny Dip Falls. That was long before GPS, and we gave up
before making it there. I suspect we had
been very close.
My
third attempt was nearly a failure, too.
I wasn’t sure of the route. Kevin
Adams describes a descent route on River Right, but I’d heard that there was an
easier way on River Left. Initially we
tried to descend too far down the canyon.
After bashing around in some thorns we retreated. We worked our way along the ridge back
towards the falls before spotting something of a beaten path heading down. We decided to follow it. This wasn’t the best route, either, though it
was marked with a couple of ribbons. It
was steep and a bit sporty in places, but it took us all the way to the base of
the falls.
Yellowstone
Falls is a two-level cascade, with an 80’ section above and a steeper, 40’ drop
below. Both sections have vibrant yellow-striped
rock. The very base is a boulder garden,
and while scenic, it didn’t blow me away.
After a couple of quick photos I was ready to
hit the base of the upper drop.
We
climbed back up the same route and then traversed along the cliffside. There was one tricky spot here due to a wet,
slippery rock. Fortunately
there was a rhododendron limb to assist us in climbing it. Once past that, a quick descent brought us to
the brink of the lower drop.
Wow! I was blown away by the upper portion of
Yellowstone Falls. The river twists as
it falls, before spilling into a small green pool. The edge of the pool was a compelling spot
for photos, but it was also the brink of the lower drop. I was very careful here, but I still slipped
once while repositioning the tripod.
After that, getting farther out into the river for a different angle was
out of the question.
Christy
couldn’t pass up the opportunity to swim.
The pool looked like a hot spring, of true Yellowstone fame, but it
wasn’t! From her reaction, it was quite
frigid. I considered skinny dipping in
it just so I could claim that I had skinny dipped near Graveyard Fields in the
middle of Labor Day weekend, but that water was just too cold! Plus, I didn’t want to be soaking wet for the
bushwhack back out.
We
found a better route up. It starts right
at the brink of the lower drop and heads up, staying just to the right of the
cliffs that are closer to the top of the falls.
This route was still steep, but it was well-marked and straight
forward. We came out on the rim of the
canyon, fought through a briar patch, and stumbled upon the MST within sight of
the junction with the spur trail to the campsites.
We
went back up to retrieve our packs.
After a quick lunch we bushwhacked down to the MST and headed down to
Skinny Dip Falls. It was early
afternoon, the sun was finally out, and Skinny Dip was swarming with
people. We saw more people at Skinny Dip
and on the last ½ mile of trail than we encountered during the rest of the
weekend!
We
considered trying to sell our parking spot.
Instead we headed home. I made
one bad decision though. Instead of
taking the Parkway to Asheville, we drove down 276 towards Pisgah Forest. Sliding Rock was a complete madhouse, and
Looking Glass Falls was a zoo. We made
it through those areas, but hit a traffic jam not far beyond the Davidson River
Campground. Traffic was backed up all
the way from the 64 / 276 / 281 intersection.
Sigh.
Despite
those challenges, we still made it home in time to shower before heading up to
the Whitewater Center. We even had time
to eat a quick meal and drink a beer (cider for Christy) before they
started. Robert Randolph and the Family
Band put on a fantastic high-energy show that kept us dancing even though we’d
just finished a 3-day backpacking trip.
I hope I get to see them again soon!
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