SID’S
Last
week’s job assignment near Atlanta came with a couple of perks. First, it gave me the chance to see a concert
by my favorite band, Phish. I had to
drive from McDonough, south of Atlanta, to Alpharetta on Tuesday in rush hour
traffic, but it was worth it. I enjoyed
a few cold beers and a warm up band in the hot, sunny parking lot before the
show. The concert was great, and I was
even able to meet up with a friend that I hadn’t seen in several months.
I
finished my job late on Thursday afternoon.
I avoided the worst of the rush hour traffic by making a quick diversion
to Norcross for dinner at a great Caribbean Restaurant, Atlanta Great Foods Caribbean. By the
time I headed up the Ocho Cinco
(I-85), traffic had cleared out. Instead
of heading directly home, I drove to Westminster, SC and on towards Long
Creek. From there I headed down Brasstown Road to Brasstown
Falls, where I’d camp for the night. By
camping there, I was able to break up the drive home, and it gave me the
opportunity to hike the next morning.
That made a lot more sense than driving all the way home, and then
enduring 4-5 hours of driving (round trip) to go hiking over the weekend.
I’ve
camped at Brasstown Falls several times over the
years. This was the first time that I
encountered other people. The first
campsite, shortly before the end of the road, was occupied by a large group. I drove to the end of the road, where I found
a single pickup truck. The next morning
I discovered its owner camped at the brink of the falls. I took my usual campsite, which is maybe 50
yards from the parking area on the bank of Brasstown
Creek. I arrived at dusk, so I pitched
the tent and went straight to bed.
I
got up at 6am on Friday. First, I wanted
to make another attempt at photographing the most beautiful waterfall in South
Carolina. I broke camp, grabbed my pack,
and headed down the trail to Brasstown Falls. I made the steep, slippery, awkward descent
along the upper falls and then worked my way down towards the base of the
middle falls. While the upper drop is
nice, the middle falls is the real jaw-dropper.
It’s not terribly tall, but it is a wide free-fall, with the upper
cascades visible beyond. Spray tends to
be a problem from this vantage point, and it was even worse than normal due to
the high water levels. I tried taking
photos from a different, more distant spot to minimize the spray. At the time I thought I’d been successful,
since I was able to keep the lens dry. But
the cloud of spray between the falls and my vantage point still marred most of
the photos. The wind from the waterfall
was blowing the surrounding foliage, which didn’t help either. I ended up with one passable photo for my
efforts.
I
skipped the descent to the lower falls.
The best feature of the lower drop is the big pool it falls into, but
the massive swimming hole was the color of chocolate milk due to the heavy
runoff. However, I did make a visit to
Little Brasstown Falls before leaving. Little Brasstown is
upstream from the other waterfalls, on a tributary. Reaching it requires wading Brasstown Creek, which I did barefoot. That was easy since the creek has a smooth,
sandy bottom. Little Brasstown
Falls looked great with the heavy volume, and I got some decent photos there.
My
main goal of the day was to hike to Sid’s Falls. Sid’s Falls is on
Shoulder Bone Branch, which is a major tributary of Opossum Creek, which flows
into the Chattooga River. In fact, Sid’s
isn’t far upstream from the well-known Opossum Creek Falls. For some reason, Sid’s remains relatively
obscure. Although I’d hiked extensively
in the area, it had eluded me up until this point.
The
trailhead was only a mile or two away from my campsite as the crow files, but
getting to it required a 20 minute drive.
I ate a bagel on my way over there.
I’d planned to follow the directions on ncwaterfalls.com, but ended up
taking a short cut by staying on Damascus Church Road. It’s a gravel road, but it is a mile shorter
than Battle Creek Road. Either way, the
trailhead was easy to find. I parked
near the gate for forest road 2616 and started my hike around 8 am.
I
hiked down the grassy road to a fork. My
map only showed the road to the left, but the correct route is the grassy track
straight ahead. From there I passed
through three small grassy wildlife clearings, and close by another. The road generally stays on the ridge
separating Opossum Creek and Shoulder Bone Branch. It ends at the final wildlife clearing, but
an obvious path continues beyond. This
trail was constructed by Bernie Boyer.
He did a great job, as Sid’s Falls would
require a brutal bushwhack without it. I
followed this trail along the nose of the ridge, before swinging to the right
to pass above Sid’s Falls. The waterfall was roaring, but the foliage
was thick enough to prevent a view. The final
descent was a bit steep, but there wasn’t anything tricky about it.
Sid’s
Falls is stunning.
I was anticipating a nice waterfall, but it really exceeded my
expectations. It’s a nearly vertical
cascade, perhaps 60’ tall. It’s much
prettier than the waterfall downstream on Opossum Creek. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the nicer ones
in South Carolina.
I
took a few photos before switching to water shoes. I wanted to explore the area, as the topo map suggested the potential for additional waterfalls
nearby. My plan was to creek walk
downstream. However, the high water
levels made me reconsider. I hit a deep
pool almost immediately. That was
followed by some fallen trees, and another deep pool. I made it all the way to the confluence with Sawhead Branch (a tiny stream) before changing my
mind. At that point I could still see
Sid’s Falls through the trees!
I
returned to the trail and climbed back up the ridge. I was hoping to find a route around the nose
of the ridge to access Opossum Creek. The
map suggested a waterfall on Opossum Creek at about the same elevation as Sid’s
Falls. However,
the ridge is covered in a virtually impenetrable jungle of rhododendron and
briars. I have no idea how Bernie cut a
trail through it. Under better conditions
I might’ve put more effort into it, but temperatures were already well into the
80’s. As I struggled back up the trail I
was reminded why I avoid bushwhacking in South Carolina in the summer.
Despite
this, I wasn’t quite ready to head for the car.
I reached the ridge crest, and the forest opened up. I decided to descend the far side of the
ridge, down to Opossum Creek. An easy
descent got me to the creek, which is actually a good bit smaller than Shoulder
Bone Branch. Just downstream was an
obvious horizon line. Brenda and Darrin
had mentioned reaching the brink of an undocumented waterfall here on an
earlier exploration. I decided to get a
closer look.
I
descended very carefully to the brink of the falls. Opossum Creek drops dramatically here. It’s a nearly vertical cascade over open rock
for 40’ or so. After that, the waterfall
is swallowed up by a jungle of rhododendron.
I thought about looking for a descent route, but it looked pretty
nasty. Both sides of the waterfall are
extremely steep and covered in dense vegetation. Getting to the base might be possible, but
the base is deep in the jungle, too.
Getting a good view would require reaching the creek along the side of
the falls, just above the foliage line.
Doing so would be difficult, and potentially hazardous. I decided to skip it.
I
may go back some day and hike downstream from Sid’s Falls. That should be reasonable at normal water
levels. I’d follow it down to the
confluence with Opossum Creek, not far upstream from Opossum Creek Falls. I’d head upstream from there and try to reach
the unnamed waterfall on Opossum Creek from that direction. Judging by the map, there could even be
another waterfall along that stretch.
Early spring might be the best time to try this, before the vegetation
gets too thick.
I
headed back up the hill, but took a bad angle that kept me in thick foliage. Eventually I veered east and found an easier
ascent route. I rejoined the grassy road
and headed out quickly. The South
Carolina heat was upon me, as were the deer flies. Those annoyances, along with dark clouds
building in the distance, convinced me to abandon my plans for another
hike. I’d considered hitting Opossum
Creek Falls via a separate trail, but the idea didn’t excite me. More intriguing was a visit to Lee Falls,
which I’d only seen once. That would’ve
required a fair drive though, and I was ready to go home.
Thanks
go out to Brenda, Darrin, and Waterfall Rich for the heads up on Sid’s, which
is a real beauty. Even bigger thanks go
to Bernie for making it easily accessible.
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