IT STARTED OUT AS A TRAIL
I hiked at a lower elevation
this weekend, as I continued to chase the elusive fall color. I met Jack in Spartansburg on Saturday
morning, and rode with him to the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. We headed up to Caesar’s Head State Park,
which is just south of the NC state line near Brevard. An hour’s drive from Spartansburg brought us
to the Raven Cliff Falls trailhead, where we snagged the last parking space.
We planned out a route that
would follow a combination of trails east of the highway. We’d head south to the Naturaland Trust
Trail, which would take us back across the highway and into the Matthews Creek
Gorge. From there we’d climb to an
overlook of Raven Cliff Falls before returning to the car. The main loop is about 11 miles, and a
planned side trip to Moonshine Falls would probably add about two more. That distance combined with some rugged
trails and lots of climbing would make for a rather strenuous hike.
Oddly, doing the hike
clockwise was cheaper than if we had gone in the opposite direction. Parking is free, but there is a $2 per
person fee to hike the trail directly to Raven Cliff Falls. We didn’t discover this until the end of the
hike, since we started out in the opposite direction. There is no fee to hike the trails on the other side of the road.
We hiked through a forest
that was showing some nice fall color.
A few pesky ups and downs got as warmed up. Then we were chased down by a 6 year-old girl. She came running down the trail, far ahead
of the rest of her family. Apparently
she wanted to hike with Jack. She was
very talkative, and wanted to know all about us and where we had come from. She told us that she was from Easley, SC,
and that she was home schooled. She
explained that they had moved to South Carolina, from New York, and that prior
to that they had been in Texas. She
went on to say that her Grandparents relocated with them every time they
moved. I wanted to ask her what her Dad
thought of that, but never got a chance.
She then told us that her Grandparents were in Washington visiting their
ancestors. Then she wanted to know if
we were Christians, because she was – totally.
I think Jack was amused.
The most entertaining part
of all of this was that she would fall after about every 5th
step. There she was, bounding along,
stumbling, slipping, and tripping on rocks, roots, and leaves. It never fazed her. In fact, there was never a pause in the
endless stream of conversation coming from her. We reached a junction, and waited there for her mother to catch
up. Once she arrived, we continued on
towards the Naturaland Trust Trail.
We crossed the highway,
passed a few houses, and curved along the ridge below the cliffs of Caesar’s
Head. This section of trail was
interesting, as we followed the base of a tall cliff. We passed a waterfall that barely qualifies as one, due to the
lack of water. Beyond, we endured a
rough trail with poor footing. The
trail was rugged, and a handful of deadfalls across the path added to the
fun. Then we began a long, steep,
rocky, tedious descent. On the way
down, we passed two backpackers heading up.
They looked like they were struggling, and they still had deadfalls and
rough trail ahead of them.
We reached a junction with
the unofficial trail to Moonshine Falls.
A sign near the junction warned us that the trail was unmaintained, but
we found it to be smother and easier to follow than the Naturaland Trust
Trail. After a few minutes, we passed a
large rock overhang that could almost be called a cave. A couple of minutes later, we reached a
junction marked with a cairn. We turned
right along a ridge, and then descended steeply towards Moonshine Creek. After a short distance, the cave at the base
of Moonshine Falls came into view. The
cave contains the remains of a still, including several barrels and hoses. We descended to it, where we had a unique
inside-out view of Moonshine Falls. The
waterfall spills off a ledge above the mouth of the cave. We spent the next 30 minutes eating lunch
and attempting to photograph the falls, despite sub par lighting.
After lunch, we decided to
explore farther. We returned to the
Moonshine Falls Trail and continued south.
We stepped across Moonshine Creek, passed two backpackers, and crossed
Campsite Creek. After a short climb, we
turned onto a faint path heading back down towards the creek we had just
crossed. The path disappeared at the
stream. We crossed, and began some easy
bushwhacking downstream. Eventually we
descended a steep bank and crossed Moonshine Creek again. From there, some easy scrambling led to a
ledge above Confusion Falls. Confusion
Falls isn’t very big, but it’s interesting.
The two streams come together at the falls, spilling separately over the
ledge into the same deep pool. Jack
continued ahead along a narrow, slippery ledge with bad footing. Well, as Jack said, “it started out as a
trail”. I decided to quit while I was
ahead, and let Jack photograph Confusion Falls from the base.
Jack returned, and we headed
back the way we came. This time, we
followed Campsite Creek back to the Moonshine Falls Trail, which was a little
shorter and easier than the route we had originally followed. Once back on the Moonshine Falls Trail, we
had an easy hike back to the Naturaland Trust Trail. We followed it down to Matthews Creek, where we found a side
trail that crosses the creek with the help of cables. This trail and the Moonshine Falls Trail combine to form a loop
hike from Asbury Methodist Camp that covers 5 or 6 miles.
We followed Matthews Creek
upstream, but the trail generally stayed away from the creek. We passed two nice campsites before reaching
the junction with the Dismal Trail. The
Dismal Trail signaled the beginning of the hardest part of the hike.
We climbed steadily out of
the gorge. Most of the climb was on
switchbacks, so the trail wasn’t overly steep.
However, it was a warm, humid day, and we were feeling the heat long
before reaching the top. We finally
reached a junction with the main trail from the parking area. We turned left here, on the upper of two
trails running towards the falls. A
short hike out the ridge led to a recently constructed picnic shelter, an
extremely limited view of Raven Cliff Falls, and a lot of trash. This was not the best part of the hike. If you hike to Raven Cliff Falls, save a few
minutes and skip this “overlook”.
We returned to the junction
and took the main trail to the viewpoint.
After a fairly quiet day on the trail, this path seemed particularly
crowded. We reached the platform at the
overlook, and eventually jockeyed for position at the railing to see the
falls. The view was dramatic. Across the gorge, Matthews Creek spills over
the cliff between colorful hardwoods.
Unfortunately, we were looking west into the afternoon sun. Due to the poor timing, photographing the
falls was difficult. That didn’t stop
Jack and I from trying though.
After a snack and bunch of
photos, we headed back to the car. We
hiked the final two miles in about 40 minutes, and headed back down the
mountain. Before we left the park, we
decided to stop and see the view from Caesar’s Head. The parking lot was packed.
We found a parking spot, and walked 50 yards out to the overlook. The view is to the west and south, and the
afternoon sun was blinding. We
continued down to a different overlook, where we had a better view back to the
Caesar’s Head profile. We headed back
through the parking lot, and passed a car with the windows down. As we walked by, we overheard the driver say
that he didn’t want to walk all the way out to the overlook. He seemed aggravated that he couldn’t drive
the last 50 yards to the viewpoint.
Aren’t tourists funny?
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!