OPEN SECRETS
Jack
and I spent Saturday night at the Cherry Hill Campground in South
Carolina. Cherry Hill is a National
Forest Service campground near the Walhalla Fish Hatchery, not far from the
Chattooga River. It’s a really nice
campground, with warm showers and well-spaced campsites. Jack made a smoky fire, and we enjoyed a few
post-hike beers before heading to bed.
The obligatory thunderstorms arrived around midnight, but fortunately
they blew through long before it was time to get up to make breakfast.
On
Sunday we did a hike right from the campground.
We hiked the Winding Stairs Trail, which is much easier than it
sounds. It actually follows well-graded
switchbacks down the mountain on a slope between two creeks. We weren’t really very interested in the
Winding Stairs Trail though. We were
only hiking it to access some waterfalls on the West Fork of Townes Creek and
Crane Creek.
We
reached Miuka Falls after almost a mile of
hiking. We followed a short but steep
side trail down to the falls, but had to cross the creek to get a good vantage
point. This waterfall is pretty nice,
but the best was still to come.
We
followed the Winding Stairs trail for almost another mile. Eventually we reached a switchback where we
could hear Crane Creek for the first time.
We followed ribbons and a well-traveled path down to the creek. There is a substantial cascade here, but it
was almost completely covered in deadfall.
We continued upstream from that point, following a beaten path on the
hillside above the creek. After a few
minutes we spotted Secret Falls ahead.
Secret Falls isn’t much of a secret, as the well-traveled path marked
with ribbons leading to it attests.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t much to look at on our visit. This waterfall was also covered in
deadfall. Jack tried to hike upstream to
get a better vantage point, but his efforts resulted in falling in the creek.
This
was disappointing, but Bernie and Rich had tipped us off that there was more to
see upstream. There wasn’t much of a
trail beyond Secret Falls, but we were able to bushwhack
upstream along the hillside without too much trouble. After about 10 minutes the terrain became
steep, so we started working our way back towards the creek. A steep butt-sliding descent brought us to
the base of an impressive waterfall!
It’s about 50’ high, and nearly vertical. Best of all, there was hardly any deadfall at
this one. Rich calls it Crane Creek
Falls, but I propose switching its name with Secret Falls. Both are on Crane Creek, but the upper falls
is definitely more of a secret!
We
had a long break there for photos. There
were enough clouds that the conditions were decent for photography. Afterwards, we contemplated continuing
upstream. Rich and Bernie had found
another waterfall up there, and there could be others even farther
upstream. However, we were both sore and
tired from our hike to Wintergreen Falls the previous day. We bailed out from there, taking a more
direct route back to the Winding Stairs Trail.
We returned to camp by lunch time, and it was nice to get home earlier
than normal that afternoon.
I
will definitely return to the Cherry Hill area.
It’s a nice campground, and it seems that virtually every stream in that
area has the potential for waterfalls.
Jack
and I were both feeling our age a little bit after this weekend. So how does it feel to be 40? To answer that, I’ll add an excerpt from my
recent interview with Lary King (not to be confused
with Larry King). I would include the
whole thing, but the dogs ate most of it.
“How do you feel now
that you’ve turned 40?”
“What’s that? I can’t hear you. You’ll have to speak up”.
“Never mind. What would you
say has been your greatest accomplishment through your first 40 years?”
“Probably obtaining
Double Secret Platinum Smiley Face status with Priority Club Hotels”.
“What do you want to
be when you grow up?”
“Krusty
the Klown”
“Do you have any
complaints?”
“Yeah. When I was
younger I could stay up all night drinking and still feel great the next
day. Now, I can drink nothing at all and
I wake up feeling hung over. What’s up
with that?”
“Do you have any
other words of wisdom for America’s youth?”
“Yeah. Don’t spit into
the wind, don’t eat the yellow snow, and if someone says, ‘hold my beer and
watch this’, walk away.
Also, everything
you’ve ever been told is wrong. Including this”.
“What is the meaning
of life?”
“That’s an easy
one. Figure out what makes you happy,
and who makes you happy. Then, go do
those things with those people as often as possible.”
“What are your goals
for the future?”
“I
understand I’m close to Triple Secret Platinum Cappuccino Status with Priority
Club Hotels. I think I’ll shoot for
that.”
Back to South Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!