DREAM ANOTHER DREAM
For
years I had a recurring dream where I was hiking. The destination of the hike was vague, but
not too vague. It was in a popular state
park in South Carolina. On the hike, we
found a bunch of spectacular waterfalls.
These waterfalls were off-trail, but not terribly difficult to get
to. Somehow, despite being in a popular
area, they were virtually unknown. Every
time I had this dream, I’d wake up wondering what my subconscious was trying to
tell me. Where were these waterfalls?
I
had the dream once every few months up until a little over a year ago. Since then, the dreams have stopped. Why did they stop? Because I finally
discovered where the waterfalls were.
Last
January, thanks to a tip from Bernie, a group of us explored Rachael Creek,
which is just west of Table Rock State Park.
The Palmetto Trail crosses the creek only a couple of miles beyond the
park boundary. At the crossing, a casual
hiker would never guess that there are spectacular waterfalls a short distance
downstream. The hike was an instant
classic, and one that I knew I’d do again.
I
got the chance to re-visit the area last weekend. Darrin’s best friend Mitch was visiting, and
they had a full agenda of hiking and other adventures planned. Despite this, I talked them into squeezing in
one more hike. Darrin had missed the
original hike to Rachael Creek, and I knew he’d enjoy the area. And since Mitch had driven all the way from
St. Louis, I felt like he deserved a great hike.
We
met at the Palmetto Trailhead on Saturday morning at 9am. It was a warm, sunny morning as we started
down the Palmetto Trail. A steady climb
brought us to a ridge, where we crossed a dirt road. From there we descended to a camp, which we
skirted around, still following the Palmetto Trail. Once out of the park I released the dogs from
their leashes. They were ready to run
after being cooped up in the house all week.
Shortly
after rock hopping Mill Creek we reached a junction with a side trail that
leads to the first waterfall. We
followed this unofficial trail, which climbs steadily, and then steeply, along
Mill Creek. We found lots of Bloodroot
blooming along here, which turned out to be the wildflower highlight of the
day. Besides the Bloodroot, we only saw
some violets, plus some trillium that weren’t quite ready to bloom.
We
reached the base of the falls on Mill Creek about 20 minutes after leaving the
main trail. Mill Creek actually starts
in the state park, and the falls are just a short distance downstream from a
popular hiking trail. The waterfall is
tall and impressive, but it isn’t particularly photogenic. We spent a few minutes there anyway before
heading back.
We
experienced some confusion on the return.
I got distracted by a particularly attractive Bloodroot, and Darrin and
Mitch hiked ahead. I hurried to catch up, not realizing that they’d left the trail to check out
some cascades. I passed by them,
unaware. A few minutes later I heard
them calling for me, but the voices were coming from down the valley. I yelled back and continued ahead. I reached the junction with the Palmetto
Trail a few minutes later, but they weren’t there. We eventually found each other, but it was
lucky. They reported that my yells had
sounded like they were coming from upstream, when I was actually in the
opposite direction. Apparently the
valley creates some tricky echoes.
We
ran into another group of hikers at the junction, also on their way to the
falls on Mill Creek. They were the only
other people we saw all day. That’s not
bad for a warm spring weekend.
An
hour of fairly easy hiking brought us to a stream with a sign that says
“Rachael Creek”. This is rather
confusing, as it isn’t Rachael Creek.
Actually, it is a tributary. The
real Rachael Creek is a few minutes farther on.
I puzzled over this one for a bit before I finally got oriented.
We
crossed Rachael Creek and continued on to a crossing of another tributary. We followed it upstream to a pretty little
cascade that Jack, Brenda, and I once mistook for Palmetto Trail Falls. It’s not.
The waterfall is actually a short distance upstream, just out of
sight. Darrin, Mitch, and I climbed the
steep hillside until we got a view of the falls. Then we descended back to the creek for a
closer look.
This
waterfall is nice, but not spectacular. It’s
probably best seen during high water. On
this day the water volume was moderate, but nowhere near as high was it was on
my previous visit.
We
returned to the trail and continued west.
After another 5 minutes or so we reached the next tributary. This was our signal to abandon the
trail.
We
bushwhacked through flat, mostly open forest north of the stream. The going was pretty easy, and before long we
reached the brink of the first waterfall.
We skirted around and descended to the creek. This spot is just upstream from the brink of
Yucca Falls, but immediately downstream from a pretty 15’ freefalling
waterfall. In fact, it’s possible to
walk behind this one. Darrin and Mitch
posed behind the falls for photos before we resumed the hike.
I
was a little nervous around the brink of Yucca Falls. Yucca Falls is a sheer drop of about
70’. A fall from there would not result
in a happy ending.
We
veered north until we found a reasonable descent route. This approach was steep but fairly safe, and
provided fantastic views of the falls.
We eventually worked our way down to a great vantage point featuring
some of the fall’s namesake Yucca. From
there we worked our way down to the base.
We had lunch there, and a few passing clouds helped with the
photography.
Yucca
Falls is one of my favorites in South Carolina.
It’s a true free-fall, which is rare in the southeast. Although the stream is small, there was still
enough water to make it attractive. And
the cascades and riffles just downstream from the main drop are quite
photogenic.
After
lunch we followed the south side of the creek downstream. We veered across the ridge to the south until
we found ourselves on the hillside high above Rachael Creek Falls. This waterfall is a powerful cascade below an
impressive cliff on the east side of the creek.
We
resisted the urge to head straight down.
Instead we angled down, descending but also heading downstream. This was still difficult due to the wet
conditions and the steep slope. Still we
managed to make it down to the creek unscathed.
From there we rock hopped a short distance back upstream to the base of
the falls.
I
took more photos, Mitch discovered a giant frog, and Darrin scrambled most of
the way up the falls. He finally stopped
when he reached the base of the cliff that towers over the upper part of the
cascade.
From
there we climbed back up the hillside and continued upstream. Not far beyond the stream with Yucca Falls we
reached another small but pretty waterfall.
This one is maybe 15’, and also a true free-fall. There is an impressive ledge running all the
way across the creek just below the main part of the falls, creating a second,
smaller drop. Because of this, I think
“Ledge Falls” would be a good name for this one.
From
there we continued upstream to another run of cascades. Beyond, the creek seemed to flatten out. So we bailed out and headed up the
slope. We found remnants of an old
roadbed, and only a little bit of bushwhacking was necessary to regain the
trail. We followed the Palmetto Trail
back to Rachael Creek. At that point we
briefly debated exploring upstream to another waterfall Bernie had
discovered. It was getting late though,
and everyone was tired. We decided to
save that one for another day. The
return hike was uneventful, and we reached the cars about 8 hours after
starting our hike.
I’m
glad I found the waterfalls on Rachael Creek, but I kind of miss my dream. It was a tease, but I was always in a good
mood on the days following that dream. I
guess I need a new dream…
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