ALREADY GONE
I
worked in Asheville last week, and there was no way that I would spend the week
there without hiking. I brought my
hiking and camping gear, in anticipation of finishing my job on Thursday. Everything went according to plan, but the
weather forecast didn’t cooperate. With cold
rain, sleet, and fog in the forecast from Thursday night through Monday, I wasn’t
very inspired to camp.
By
Wednesday night, I was confident I could finish my job by lunchtime on
Thursday. I revised my plans, deciding
to squeeze in a hike Thursday afternoon before heading home. That way, I’d still get to hike, hopefully
before the rain arrived.
Initially
I thought I’d hike in the North Mills River area of the Pisgah National
Forest. While researching trails in that
area though, I discovered that the main road through there is closed. According to the National Forest website, it’s
closed due to the presence of “unexploded ordnances”. The official closure statement went on to say
that the road was now gated, because people were ignoring the closure. It occurs to me that people would probably be
more compliant if they replaced the phrase “unexploded ordnances” with
something more attention-getting, like “live bombs”. Landmines are definitely high on my list of
things I prefer to avoid while hiking.
There
wasn’t any word as to where these “unexploded ordnances” came from. Is there some sort of backwoods militia
running around out there? Perhaps they
are a leftover gift from Eric Rudolph.
Anyway,
I needed a new destination. I briefly
considered visiting a few waterfalls near the Pisgah Fish Hatchery. However, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do a
waterfall hike if the water levels would be low. We’d had a ton of rain and snow 10 days
earlier, but nothing since. So, I
checked the stream flow data for the Davidson and Mills Rivers on the USGS
website. (http://tinyurl.com/buuobw) I was stunned to see that despite that
massive storm, the current water level was well below average. In fact, it was only a little above the
all-time low over the last 85 years (for that date). It seems that the benefits of several inches
of rain and a foot of snow were already gone.
And the drought goes on.
So
I went with my third option – a hike along the South Mills River. That area offers a lot of trails, many of
which I’ve never hiked. It was also
quite close to where I was working, meaning that I could get on the trail
quickly.
I
drove to the Turkeypen Gap Trailhead after
lunch. The dirt road to the trailhead is
one of the worst around. It is washed
out in several spots, and if it gets any worse, high clearance will be
necessary to get to the trailhead.
Fortunately the bad spots are near the beginning, and the road actually
gets better once you enter the national forest.
I
was surprised to see several cars at the trailhead, despite the fact that it
was 2pm on a Thursday. Apparently lots
of folks were out trying to beat the weather, just like me. I saw a several groups of mountain bikers, one
couple backpacking, and several other dayhikers.
I
changed clothes in the car before hitting the trail. I hiked down to the river, where I found an
elegant suspension bridge spanning the stream.
There was a fair bit of water flowing through here, but you certainly
couldn’t describe the water level as high.
From there I headed downstream along the Bradley Creek Trail. I passed a nice campsite along the river,
before arriving at a ford. Although the
water was shallow, I really wasn’t in the mood to wade, and rock hopping was
not an option. Instead, I modified my
route, and backtracked to the bridge.
Once
on the other side, I climbed a ridge away from the river. After a few minutes, I reached a junction
with the Mullinax Trail. I’d never hiked this one, so I decided to
check it out.
The
Mullinax Trail was pleasant enough, but not terribly
exciting. From there, I joined the
Squirrel Gap Trail, before looping back on the Poundingmill
Branch Trail. This led me back to the
river along a small but pleasant stream.
Once at the river, I took a little break, enjoying the sound of rushing
water.
From
there, I followed the river downstream, heading back towards my starting
point. I passed through a lovely camping
area under white pines, and enjoyed some nice riverside scenery. Eventually I passed the Mullinax
junction, and crossed back over the suspension bridge. I returned to the car around 5:45. Since I still had a couple of hours of daylight,
I decided to do a short waterfall hike on the way home.
In
Saluda, I got off the interstate and followed Kevin Adams’ directions to Little
Bradley Falls. On past visits, I’ve
always hiked there from the trailhead for Big Bradley Falls. That route requires fording the creek though,
and I still wasn’t in the mood to do that.
So, I pulled off the road a short distance uphill from the official
trailhead. Rather than descending the
rip rap though, I chose to head directly down to the creek through the
woods. This was mighty steep, but there
were plenty of trees to hang onto. I
made it down to the trail, only falling on my butt once along the way. From there, it was an easy walk to the
falls. I passed some old ruins on the
way, before arriving at the base of the falls.
I’ve
always liked Little Bradley Falls, and the lighting was better for photography
on this visit. The lower water level was
a little disappointing, but it was still worth a visit. I spent a few minutes there, before heading
back. The climb back up to the car was a
grunt, but it was over in only a few minutes.
I’m
looking forward to spending more time in the South Mills River area. Although it doesn’t feature many breathtaking
views, the river is lovely, and there are a lot of nice campsites in the area. Now I’m thinking about doing a 2 or 3 day
backpacking trip through there, to see more of what the area has to offer.
Back to The Pisgah Ranger District
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!