CLEVELAND, ROCKS
I
slept in a little on Saturday. After
Friday’s excursion to a number of dry waterfalls, I wasn’t feeling very
motivated. I contemplated a number of
options over breakfast, including lounging by Marsha’s swimming pool all
day. Eventually though I decided to do
another hike. I chose to head up to Fall
Creek Falls State Park. That park is also on the Cumberland Plateau, and I knew
that conditions would be dry there.
However, Fall Creek Falls is downstream from a large lake. The dam regulates the water flow, and I was
hopeful that there would be enough water going over the falls to make it worth
a visit. I decided to leave the dogs
behind this time though. I felt like
they could use a day to recover after the hot, dry hike the previous day.
I
drove from Cleveland to Dayton, TN.
Dayton, TN is infamous for being the site of the Scopes Monkey
Trial. At the trial, a teacher was
prosecuted and convicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. As I drove through town I noticed that Dayton
has a library, which seemed mildly ironic.
The
drive was smooth, and there were only a few cars in the parking lot at the
Nature Center when I arrived. Although
I’d gotten a later start, it was still early there because I’d crossed into the
Central Time Zone. Since I did hikes in
the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones during our vacation, I actually managed to
do a hike in all four time zones in the contiguous U.S. over the last month.
I
walked down to the overlook of Cane Creek Falls. There was a deep pool below the falls, but
only a faint trickle of water spilling over the cliff. It was quite a change from my previous visit
in April, 2007, when the falls had been a raging torrent. Still, it was a notable improvement over the
prior day. Even a little water is much
better than no water at all.
I
decided to hike the route I’d planned.
The park has a nice network of trails that connects Cane Creek Falls and
Fall Creek Falls. However, the trails
are linear, and there aren’t any true loop hikes that connect all of the park’s
primary attractions. This could be
corrected if there were a trail connecting the base of Cane Creek Falls with
the base of Fall Creek Falls. There
isn’t one, but that wasn’t about to stop me from hiking the route anyway.
My
plan was to descend the Cable Trail to the base of Cane Creek Falls. From there I’d hike off-trail, following Cane
Creek downstream to its confluence with Fall Creek. I’d then follow Fall Creek upstream to Fall
Creek Falls. From there I’d hike the park
trail to the top of the falls and follow the gorge trail back to the Nature
Center. This is a hike that has been in
the back of my mind for years. I can’t
remember now if I came up with this absurd idea all by myself or if I’d read
about it somewhere. It didn’t matter
though. This was obviously the time to
do it. The route would be dangerous and
probably impassable at high water. Even
at moderate water levels it would be quite difficult. I wasn’t expecting an easy hike, but the lack
of water suggested that it would be less difficult than normal.
I
followed a connecting trail from the Nature Center to the Cable Trailhead along
the park road. The Cable Trail is only ¼
of mile, but it is straight down the side of a cliff to the base of Cane Creek
Falls. As you might guess from the name,
the route features a steel cable that is allegedly supposed to make the descent
safer. Unfortunately, at some of the
more difficult spots the cable is actually out of reach. As a result, descending the trail requires
some minor rock scrambling ability.
I
reached the pool at the base of the falls and took a few photos of the
diminished, but still pretty, falls.
Then I started the adventure.
When I planned the hike, I thought I would simply be able to follow the
creek downstream. However, before I even
started in that direction I could see that it wasn’t going to be that
simple. The creek bed is a wide avenue
strewn with boulders and debris from floods.
Some of the boulders are house-sized, and the fallen trees and other
debris were significant obstacles, too.
Also, even though the creek was nearly dry, there were occasional deep
pools of water that had to be avoided. I
ended up spending a great deal of time and energy picking the best route
forward. As a result, my progress was
quite slow.
On
two occasions I ventured up onto the wooded hillside above the creek. Both times I regretted the decision. The hillside looked like easy walking in
places, but the ground was actually hollow – occasionally my foot would plunge
through the dirt, leaves, and needles between two rocks. This was rather hazardous, so I eventually
worked my way back down to the creek bed.
As
I hiked, I had no sense of the progress I was making or even where I really
was. In terms of navigation, my only real
concern was making certain I didn’t walk right past Fall Creek. I don’t know where Cane Creek goes, but I
wasn’t interested in finding out on this particular day.
I
was surprised when I first started hearing voices. At first I thought they were coming from one
of the overlooks along the Gorge Trail above.
However, I spotted the mouth of Fall Creek a couple of minutes
later. On the hillside above I saw the
source of the voices. The park trail
from the Fall Creek Falls overlook to the base of the falls passes above Fall
Creek just above its confluence with Cane Creek. Once I crossed Fall Creek I modified my
original plan. Instead of following the
creek upstream I climbed up to the trail.
Where I joined the trail, there is a sign prohibiting accessing the
creek from that point. Oops. I guess if the park doesn’t want people
hiking the route I followed they should put up signs at both ends.
I
reached the base of the falls a few minutes later. As I’d hoped, there was a fair bit of water
spilling over the falls. The area was
pretty busy, being the Saturday after the 4th of the July, but not
as bad as I feared. I actually managed
to get some photos of the falls without people in them, and the lighting was
decent even though it was late morning.
The light wasn’t perfect – the sun was shining on the brink of the
falls. Still it wasn’t bad, and it was a
relief to find a waterfall with some actual water.
I
took a few photos before eating lunch.
While I was eating, I witnessed a 5-year-old girl do something
adorable. Getting around the pool below
the falls required some mild rock hopping along its edge. The girl was passing through, and was about
to step onto a small rock. Just before
she did, she noticed a small insect on the rock. Instead of trampling it, she bent down,
picked it up with her fingers, and moved it to another rock.
I
headed out a few minutes later. The
climb up to the overlook was quick and uneventful. From there, I followed the Gorge Trail back
to the Nature Center. Along the way I stopped
at several overlooks. The first required
some mild rock climbing to get a decent view, while the second was completely
overgrown. The final spur led to an
overlook of the pond below Cane Creek Falls.
This is a cool view, even when water levels are minimal. I regained the main trail and followed it to
a swinging bridge over Cane Creek. From
there it was just short walk back to the Nature Center.
It
was only early afternoon when I finished my hike. At that point I had a decision to make –
should I head back to Cleveland, or squeeze one more hike in?
Back to Tennessee
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!