TWISTING BY THE POOL
Last
weekend Christy went out of town, as she took her high school cross country
team up to the mountains for a week-long camp.
Under the circumstances, I didn’t see any reason to hang around
Charlotte waiting for the thermometer to hit triple digits. Instead, I decided to plan a trip of my
own.
Jack
was free, and he agreed to join me on a car camping and hiking adventure in
northeastern Tennessee. I’d finally made
it to Twisting Falls on the Elk River over a year earlier, and I was looking
for a reason to go back. Jack had never
visited Twisting Falls, so we made it the top priority of our weekend.
I
left Charlotte a little early on Friday afternoon, but not early
enough to avoid a traffic jam near Gastonia. Despite this, I made decent time through
Morganton, Newland, and Elk Park. The
narrow, winding road over the mountain from Hampton to Dennis Cove was
surprisingly busy, but I made it to the campground without getting run off the
road.
Jack
had arrived well ahead of me, and had already set up camp on a site close to
Laurel Fork. He picked a good site, but
then there really aren’t any bad ones at the Dennis Cove Campground. Although it was August and the campground is
small, the campground was never more less than half full.
By
the time I set up my tent, we had just enough daylight to do nothing. Boone needed some exercise though, so we
decided to take a short hike up the Laurel Fork Trail. We walked about 10 minutes before arriving at
a nice swimming hole. Boone did some
swimming there, which tired him out a bit.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to make it up to Dennis Cove
Falls. It was only a little farther
upstream, but we would’ve been forced to wade the
river 3 times (each way) to get there. I
figured we’d visit that waterfall at some point during the weekend, but we
never did. At least I already have some
good photos of that waterfall from a previous trip:
But Jack will have to return to check it out.
We
then headed back to camp to get dinner started.
We had some difficulties getting the charcoal going, but we eventually
managed to generate enough heat to cook the shrimp and veggie skewers Jack
brought. Dinner was excellent, and for
me, it was a bit of a revelation. I’d
never been a big fan of pineapple before that night. After this meal though, I discovered that I
liked it grilled with Old Bay seasoning, alongside shrimp, and peppers, and
onions. Fresh corn on the cob rounded
out the meal nicely, and everything was washed down with cold beer. After dinner I treated Jack to his first Fat
Tire, which must’ve made the Bud Lite he’d brought
hard to swallow afterwards.
Boone
behaved reasonably well Friday night, although he did his fair share of barking
at the fireflies. He wasn’t content with
being leashed to a tree though. At one
point, as Jack and I were talking about my recent trip to Alaska, we noticed
him wandering around the far side of the campground, well beyond the range of
his rope. I turned around, and
immediately discovered that he had chewed clean through his leash. Sigh.
The
next morning we headed for Elk Falls, outside of Elk Park, NC. Our goal for the day was an exploratory hike
from Elk Falls downstream to Twisting Falls and back. Needless to say, you won’t find this one in
any guidebooks. In fact, I wasn’t
entirely sure if it was possible to make the hike between them. I knew that an old, gated road headed down
the gorge from Elk Falls, and that an old, gated road headed up the gorge from
Twisting Falls. From studying the topo map, I was pretty sure they were the same road. However, the Trails Illustrated map shows the
road from Elk Falls ending about halfway there. On top of this, I was pretty sure the
proposed route would traverse private property.
The route would take us in and out of Tennessee and North Carolina. The Tennessee portions of the hike were
probably in the Cherokee National Forest, but I suspected that the North
Carolina sections were on private land.
If we ran into posted property, we’d have to turn back.
Our
plan was ambitious, but I saw no reason to start the adventure at the
trailhead. Instead, we decided to be
creative on the drive there. After
studying the map, I was pretty sure we could navigate through a series of
forest roads and make a “short cut” from Dennis Cove to Elk Falls. What I failed to realize is that the Trails
Illustrated map is rather incomplete when it comes to showing all of the roads
in this area.
We
had ourselves a fun little drive, and eventually made it over to highway 19E
after only making a couple of wrong turns.
From there, it was an easy ride to the end of the road just upstream
from Elk Falls. It had been a fun little
drive, but it certainly wasn’t a shortcut.
I think we made it back that evening in half the time sticking to the
main roads. At least we had been treated
to some wildlife though. Along the way
we spotted a Grouse, a Deer, and a Great Blue Heron.
There
were only a couple of cars at the trailhead, which was a relief, as Elk Falls
can get rather crowded on summer weekends.
It was only 10am though, so we must’ve been ahead of the rush. We made the quick walk down to the base of
the falls. There we were pleased to find
that the lighting was still pretty good for photography. After a few pictures though, we were ready to
get on with the adventure.
From
the falls, we headed downstream through a maze of paths tunneling through the
Rhododendron. Eventually we found our
way out to the jeep road and followed it down to the river. We reached the Elk River at a ford, with the
road continuing on the far side. From
here, it’s possible to stay on the near side and hike downstream a short
distance to the Appalachian Trail. The
AT (which was rerouted a few years ago) now follows the Elk River for a mile or
so. However, it doesn’t go anywhere near
Twisting Falls, which is still a few miles downstream. To get there, we’d have to cross the river.
Rock
hopping isn’t an option here, which is why I wanted to do this hike in the
summer. We waded across at the ford,
where the river was wide but gentle and shallow. At the far side we found an impressive garden
of late summer wildflowers. Jack
explored them while I changed back into my boots for the long hike down to
Twisting Falls.
We
followed the road past some old, overgrown fields. The map shows a building of some sort here,
but there isn’t even a hint of a structure now.
This was a bit of a relief, as I was concerned that we might walk right
by somebody’s house! From the fields, we
followed the old road up and away from the river. We passed what looked like an old farm pond
before climbing into the welcome shade of the woods. From there, the hike was a simple matter of
following the road. However, we were
somewhat methodical about it, as we wanted to keep track of our progress with
the map and compass. This task was made
easier by the fact that we frequently crossed under a set of powerlines. Each
time we passed them, we noted our position on the map.
This
part of the hike was pretty uneventful.
At one point, we spotted a large tarp off in the woods. We gave it a wide berth and continued
following the road. A bit later, we
passed a junction with a faint trail heading down towards the river. The trail was flagged with ribbons, and we
could actually hear people shouting far below.
What was going on down there?
Perhaps it was whitewater kayakers, as some talented and experienced
paddlers do brave the dangers of the gorge.
On our return, we decided to check this path out. Unfortunately, it petered out pretty
quickly. At that point, neither of us
was interested in bushwhacking, so exploring this portion of the gorge will
have to wait until another day.
We
had two more exciting encounters on this part of the hike. It was close to noon when two guys passed us
on an ATV. They seemed friendly enough,
and the guy in the back looked like Jimmy Carter. Perhaps President Carter was in the area building
houses?
Sometime
later we rounded a curve and spotted a black dog walking up the road towards
us. Well, that’s how it registered in my
brain, anyway. After all, it was
entirely too small to be a bear, right?
I’m
going to attribute this minor misidentification to my recent 3-week trip in
Alaska. After seeing dozens of 900 pound
bears there, it didn’t seem possible that this 90 pounder could be the same
creature. By the time I realized that it
was, the bear noticed that he was walking right towards two people and a
dog. He bolted off the road, down the
wooded hillside. Boone was slow to
react, too, which was fortunate, as Weimaraners are
bred to hunt bears. He stared after the
bear, but didn’t give chase.
We
weren’t sure if the bear had been a cub or an extremely small adult. This was exciting though, because if a mama
bear was around, she wouldn’t be happy to see us. Fortunately we never saw any signs of another
bear.
A
bit later we passed a clearing with a view of the river far below. We could hear a steady roar coming from the
gorge, but we couldn’t tell if there were any waterfalls down there. It didn’t matter much though, as there wasn’t
an apparent route down. From there, we
passed some rock cliffs, where there had been some blasting years ago to allow
the road to pass. This was interesting,
as it implies that this road had a lot more significance at one time. After a bit of post-trip research, it appears
that the route we had followed was originally the bed of a logging railroad
connecting Elk Park with Elk Mills.
A
few minutes later, we spotted a prominent trail heading down towards the
river. This wasn’t the trail I had used
to descend to Twisting Falls on my first visit.
I knew we were close to Twisting Falls though, and the trail was
obviously heavily traveled. We decided
to check it out and see where we ended up.
The
descent was steep, but it wasn’t as bad as the trail I’d hiked down
previously. About halfway down the path
split, but we stuck with the trail most frequently traveled. A few minutes later we reached the Elk River
at a trashy camping area. The garbage
was disappointing, as was the fact that we were definitely upstream from
Twisting Falls. In fact, we could just see
where the falls began from that point.
On the up side, we were treated to a small but elegant waterfall on a
tributary directly across the river from us.
This proved to be one of the more pleasant surprises of the day.
Initially
we attempted to follow the river down to the falls, but before long the cliffs
began to close in. I didn’t think we’d
find a safe route that way, so we decided to backtrack. Neither of us wanted to climb all the way
back up to the road though, so I suggested we try the faint trail we’d seen
branching off on the way down. This
seemed like a good idea, but it most definitely was not.
Climbing
up to the spur path was a grunt, and it was a relief when we reached it. Initially the path seemed encouraging, as it
descended gradually while traversing downstream. Before long though, the path began to fade
away high above some daunting cliffs.
This is the place that normal people would’ve turned around, but nobody
has ever accused me of being normal.
Instead we pressed on, bushwhacking now across a steep slope. Eventually we found a narrow gully beyond a
cliff, and tried to follow it down to the river. Ultimately reached the brink of sheer cliffs,
so we veered off, forcing our way through the undergrowth down the gorge.
After
some more bushwhacking, we reached a small dropoff. Beyond appeared a
reasonable route down.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see a graceful way down from the rock we were
on. We were only about six feet up, and
there was a nice, flat landing spot just below.
I decided to try the “slide and drop” technique. I landed badly, and actually did a somersault
before coming to a rest in a deep pile of leaves. Those leaves were a Godsend, as one more
somersault would’ve sent me tumbling all the way to the river far below.
From
here the bushwhacking was more reasonable, and soon we were descending the
hillside just downstream from the falls.
From all of the shouts and laughter we heard over the roar of the falls,
we knew we wouldn’t have Twisting Falls to ourselves. Still, it was a shock when we got our first
view of the bottom drop of the falls and the pool below. There were at least 20 people there swimming,
sunbathing, and sliding off the falls. I
had thought that Twisting Falls was relatively unknown, when in fact it was
just a well kept secret. The secret is
out now though. We spent over an hour at
the falls, and by mid-afternoon, I’d guess there were 50 people there.
I
had a late lunch and surveyed the scene.
It was quite a party. More than a
few people had carried in beer. One
group actually had a pizza. Lots of kids
were smoking, and some of them were probably toking
on something they hadn’t paid tax on. For
a time I watched as one crazy young’n after another slid
or jumped off the 40’ waterfall. In
between, I performed my duties as the self-appointed Twisting Falls Bikini Inspector. Hey – it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to
do it. I’m pleased to report that everything
in that regard was well within regulations.
Photography
was largely hopeless. It was a mostly
sunny day, so the lighting was poor.
Plus, it was nearly impossible to get a shot of the falls without people
in it. That didn’t stop Jack from trying
though. In fact, he shared an astute
observation. He pointed out that if
having strangers in your photo was inevitable, they
might as well be young, attractive strangers in bikinis. I couldn’t argue with that logic, and I have
to admit that the results of his efforts were rather impressive.
We
hung out for awhile before we decided we’d had enough. I thought about having a swim myself, but
realized I’d just get hot and sweaty all over again on the hike out. Instead, we decided to take a dip at Elk
Falls when we returned.
The
hike back was fast and uneventful. We
hiked downstream a short distance to the main trail out of the gorge. This “trail” is absurdly steep, and I’m not
sure if it’s worse going up or down. We followed
it all the way back to the road, which we reached at the main trailhead for
Twisting Falls. The road is gated there,
near a barn. It’s probably private
property, and I hope that the crowds that have recently discovered this
waterfall don’t cause problems that could result in access being
curtailed. There were 16 cars at the
trailhead when we arrived. Fortunately
we didn’t see much trash in that area.
Once
back on the road, we set the cruise control for 3mph. We made it back to the river ford in record
time, and headed back to Elk Falls for a quick swim. There were only
about 10 people there when we arrived, which was a pleasant surprise. At that point it was close to 6pm and the
falls were in the shade. I imagine the
usual crowds at Elk Falls had scattered.
Jack and I both enjoyed a brief but refreshing dip in one of the world’s
finest swimming holes. Boone declined to
join us though, as he appeared to be exhausted.
Apparently he’d gotten a bit out of shape while Christy and I had been
in Alaska.
We
headed back to the campground from there.
We stopped once, to pick up lighter fluid and more beer. That evening, we grilled chicken breasts,
along with potatoes and corn on the cob.
Afterwards, we were still hungry, so Jack grilled up some cheeseburgers
for desert. I was tired enough for bed after
eating, but instead we stayed up chatting and drinking beer. We passed on a campfire, as it was still
entirely too warm. Boone didn’t bother
us at all that evening, as he was wiped out.
At one point I noticed that he had his head up, but was fighting to keep
his eyes open. It was a classic puppy
scene, even though he weighs about 80 pounds!
ACCESS DENIED
The next morning Jack and I had a decision to
make. We wanted to explore the Laurel
Fork, but should we head upstream, or down?
Both are nice, although I’d only hiked a short stretch of the Laurel
Fork upstream from Dennis Cove. Jack
wanted to get on the road by early afternoon though, and after a leisurely
morning, I suggested that the gorge downstream would be more conducive to a
half-day hike. Plus, the Laurel Fork
Gorge is one of my all-time favorite destinations. It’s a hike I’ve done countless times, but I
never grow tired of it. Since Jack hadn’t
been there, I felt like it was something he should see.
We drove a mile down to the Laurel Fork
Trailhead, where we were fortunate to find parking spots. From there we followed the AT along an old
railroad grade. Before long we reached a
unique spot where the Laurel Fork was off to our left and our right. The river winds through several “S” curves
through here, and we were directly in the middle. The trees are thick enough that you can’t see
much, but the auditory experience, with the river roaring from both sides, is
intense. From there we continued to an
impressive bridge that was built using the original foundation of a 100-year
old railroad bridge. The railroad
history continued, as we passed through a series of cuts where the tracks had
been blasted through the mountain.
Before long, we reached the unmarked junction with the route up Potato
Top. We headed that way, looking forward
to the views of the gorge.
The climb was a grunt, as I was sore from the
previous day’s bushwhacking adventure.
Despite the soreness, the climb wasn’t as bad as I remembered, although
a bit of scrambling was necessary. At
the top I was disappointed to find that the shrubs and trees are encroaching on
the vista. It’s still a pretty nice view
though, although it’s difficult to get a good photo from there now.
We returned to the trail, and after a few
minutes we reached a junction. We turned
left, still on the AT, and headed down a rocky stretch of trail into the gorge. The descent was a bit tedious,
bet we were rewarded when we reached the base of Laurel Fork Falls. Laurel Fork Falls is a true gem, as it is
probably one of the nicest waterfalls along the entire length of the
Appalachian Trail. We took some time
here to enjoy the falls and attempt some photos. Once again it was a sunny day, but the
occasional passing cloud offered some opportunities. I had an early lunch there, before we resumed
the hike downstream.
We followed the AT, which stays intimately
close to the river. At one point, I
spotted an impressive batch of Cardinal Flowers in bloom, and we stopped to
check them out. Afterwards, we endured a
climb up to a spur ridge. At this point
I suggested that we continue back down to the river. Buckled Rock, an impressive cliff, was
another mile or so downstream. Jack was
ready to head back though, and I had another hike planned for the
afternoon. We climbed up the ridge to an
AT shelter, and followed an alternate trail back to the point where we’d headed
down to the falls. From there we
backtracked towards the trailhead.
Just beyond the ridge leading up to Potato
Top, we scouted a potential route down into the gorge to an unnamed waterfall
upstream from Laurel Fork Falls. The topo map shows the waterfall, which is quite audible from
there. We eyed a bushwhacking route down. It looked doable, and we thought we’d
probably come out near the falls. The
problem was that Jack and I were both sore from our adventure the previous
day. Neither of us really had another
killer bushwhack in us. Instead, we
decided to save it for another day. We
headed back, making good time on the return, and Jack was on the road by 1:30.
I was planning on spending the next two
nights with Christy and her cross country team near Boone, so I was in no
rush. Since I had an entire afternoon at
my disposal, I decided to do another hike.
One of my goals for the weekend had been a return visit to the Doe River
Gorge. The Doe River, the Elk River, and
the Laurel Fork all start near each other, below Roan Mountain. Each runs through an impressive gorge, but
all are different. The Elk runs through
a wild, rugged gorge that starts and ends with incredible waterfalls. The Laurel Fork Gorge is lovely, too, but it’s
a bit more intimate as the AT follows the river through the canyon. The Doe River Gorge has no official trails,
but it’s possible to follow the bed of the East Tennessee and Western North
Carolina Railroad through it.
Actually, that is only true at certain times
of the year. A private, Christian camp
and center owns most of the gorge:
http://www.doerivergorge.com/home.php
They allow public access at certain
times. In the summer though, when they
have campers and organized groups using the property, they curtail access. Also, they now run an excursion train on the
restored tracks in the gorge, and they don’t allow hiking on days when the
train is running. As a result, Jack and
I weren’t allowed to hike there on this particular weekend.
This was disappointing, even though I’d hiked
most of the gorge on several occasions. However,
I had yet to see the gorge in its entirety.
From the church camp, it’s possible to follow the tracks up the gorge,
passing through two tunnels along the way.
There is great scenery en route, as the river roars through the rocky
canyon far below. The official hike ends
at the first trestle though. There isn’t
much left of the bridge, and crossing would be dangerous (and very much against
the rules). I’ve never crossed the
bridge for two reasons:
1)
I’m
scared of heights, and the remaining scraps of metal spanning the river look
terrifying.
2)
I’m
not inclined to violate the rules of a place that is nice enough to allow
public access (at least seasonally).
After all, they don’t have to do that.
The
problem is that I really want to see what’s on the other side of the
river. Actually, I already know what is
over there. After the trestle, the rail
bed passes through another tunnel. This
is actually tunnel #4. The first tunnel:
is located between Hampton and Elizabethtown, a
few miles downstream from the gorge.
Tunnels #2 and #3 can be easily reached on the church camp’s
property. The 4th tunnel though, is
extremely difficult to access. Just beyond
the 4th tunnel is another trestle.
I doubt there’s much left of it, but I really wanted to check it out.
My
original plan was to hike up the gorge from the church camp. At the first trestle, I planned to wade the river and climb the bank on the far side. That would give me access to the tunnel, and
the trestle beyond. From there, I hoped
to wade the river again, and follow the railroad bed up to the 5th, and final tunnel.
I’d read that there wasn’t much left of that tunnel, but I wanted to
check it out anyway.
Unfortunately,
that route wasn’t an option on this day.
So I studied the topo map. The map shows an old road running from Dennis
Cove Road all the way to highway 19E.
Along the way, it passes close to the Doe River, just upstream from
tunnel #4. If I could follow the road
most of the way, I might find a way down to the river. Once there, I could wade across and climb up
to the old railroad grade.
There
were a couple of potential flaws with this plan. The most significant was the fact that
virtually all of the Doe River Gorge is private property. I had no idea if the old road I intended to
follow was open to the public. Despite
this, I decided to give this approach a try.
If I ran into posted private property, I’d turn around.
I
drove up Dennis Cove Road and found the road I was looking for without any
difficulty. I was pleased to find that
it was a forest service road, and it was gated.
I parked on the shoulder, gathered the dog and my gear, and set off on
another exploration.
I
walked down the road for a few minutes before reaching a junction with two
gated roads. I played with the map and
compass briefly, and confidently picked my route. I chose wisely, as before long I passed under
a set of powerlines.
I noted my spot on the map, and realized that I would pass under them
again shortly before reaching Big Flat Branch.
That was important, as at that stream I would likely find a
junction. I needed to follow Big Flat
Branch downstream, hopefully all the way to the river.
I
followed the road for some distance before reaching a substantial stream and a
junction. Was this Big Flat Branch? I hadn’t seen the powerlines
a second time. I went left and followed
the creek upstream. This seemed wrong,
but I pressed on ahead. After a few
minutes I stumbled upon the wreckage of an old pickup truck. The funny thing was that the license plate
was still on the truck. It was a Tennessee plate # NUT 510.
That seemed like an appropriate number, as only a nut would’ve driven
this road (even if it was 40 years ago).
I wonder if I can go online and trace that license plate back to the
truck’s owner?
At
this point, I was growing confident that I was following Big Flat Branch in the
wrong direction. So I backtracked, and
followed the old road heading downstream.
I was just beginning to feel good about this route when I saw a bunch of
“No Trespassing” signs decorating the trees ahead. There was an impressive assortment, including
the standards: “No Trespassing” and “Private
Property”. There was also a “Beware of
the dog”, which I thought was cute. My
favorite though was the one that said “This Area Under
24 Hour Hidden Video Surveillance”. I’m
sure that was B.S. It might’ve well said:
“This property patrolled by Eric Rudolph, Osama Bin Laden, and the Unabomber.” That would’ve been equally believable. Actually, what would’ve been more effective
would’ve been a sign that said: “Warning! Horny Homosexual Hillbillies Ahead! Prepare to Squeal Like a Pig!”
Absurd
or not, it was clear that this property owner was serious. After all, the last thing I wanted was to be
on somebody’s home video. Despite this
feeling, I did take a pee there, just in case there really were a bunch of
cameras secretly manned by squirrels hanging from the trees. I figured I might as well give them a show
before I headed back.
On
the way out, I found another road heading in a promising direction. After a short distance, I reached another
gate decorated with more inviting signs.
From the tone of the signs, I’m guessing it was the same property
owner.
The
rest of the hike back was a trudge. The
mosquitoes were awful, and there wasn’t much to look forward to. I made it back to the car by late afternoon
and drove towards Boone. In Sugar Grove
I headed up the house where Christy and the cross country team were
staying. They were staying on property
owned by the parent’s of the coach of the men’s team. It was an impressive place, featuring a nice
house, a guest house, and more. We
stayed with the team in the guest house, and Christy and I chose to sleep out
on the back porch where it was cool. It
was a nice place to sleep except that we were occasionally awakened by acorns
bouncing off the roof. The barrage kept
me from a good night’s sleep, but it was still a nice end to the weekend.
FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED
I
didn’t have to work on Monday, so I decided to head back to Twisting Falls to
get better photos. I got up before
sunrise and made a quick escape. I
reached the main trailhead around 7am, and Boone and I hit the trail. After a short distance we reached the powerlines and the end of the easy walking. From here, the route to the river is a steep,
eroded, ugly gully. I worked my way down
carefully, and reached the Elk River without incident. From there I started upstream, but stopped
almost immediately as the lowest drop of Twisting Falls came into view.
I’d
seen Twisting Falls twice before – most recently two days earlier - but the
view still made me catch my breath. The
river spills over a broad cliff, squeezed between sheer rock walls. From there, the river runs broad but fast downstream
through numerous rapids. It’s a view I will
never tire of.
I
headed upstream, but crossed the river before reaching the base of the
falls. The crossing was treacherous due
to the slippery rocks, but I reached the far side without incident. Once on the far side, I found some ideal
spots for pictures. I spent quite a bit
of time taking advantage of the appealing light for photos. Afterwards, it was time to see if I could
work my way upstream. From my vantage
point, I could only see the final drop of Twisting Falls. I knew there were 3 more falls immediately
upstream. The problem is that you can’t
see them for the bottom, because Twisting Falls “twists”.
Here's
how "A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to the Carolinas", by Bob & David Benner, describes Twisting Falls:
"The 2.5 miles of serious water ends with Twisting Falls, where the river
cascades 160' in 0.3 miles. The entrance to Twisting Falls is noted by
the vertical rock walls that pinch the river down to a width of 20'.
Prudent boaters will take out 100 yards upstream to avoid a nasty entrance
rapid that leads to a 15' waterfall and an unrunnable
35-footer. Carry on the left, either up and over the mountain or along
the rocks beside these first two falls.
Below here are other rapids and two more vertical drops of 16 and 45 feet in
succession. These drops have been run, but are not recommended unless
you've been in some serious car wrecks and enjoyed the sensation."
This
guidebook is generally pretty dry, but the description of Twisting Falls really
made me want to check the rest of it out!
At
the pool at the base, I found a steep scramble path heading up. Initially this was an easy route, but before
long it got extremely steep. It wasn’t
long before I was forced to reconsider.
After all, most of the people that climb up here descend by sliding down
the falls, which might actually be safer. That wasn’t an option for me with my
camera. What if I had to come back this
way? Could I get down safely? After some consideration, I decided that I
could make it down by sliding and hanging onto branches and roots.
I
scrambled up without incident, and descended an exposed slope to the brink of
the lowest drop. From here I had a great
view down the gorge. Plus, immediately upstream
was the next drop, the 16-footer mentioned in the guidebook. I had a nice view from the side of the
falls. Getting a direct view of the 16-footer
would require wading the river at the brink of the lower drop.
Considering how slippery it is around there, I decided to pass.
From
there, I didn’t see a reasonable route upstream, as the cliffs are sheer on
both sides of the river. I saw one place
where I thought I could climb up, but getting back down would be ugly. I started back the way I’d come, but before
the steep descent, I noticed a gully climbing up between two sections of
cliff. It was steep, wet, and ugly, but
it appeared that I could follow it all the way to the top of the cliffs. From there, I might be able to work my way up
the canyon and then drop back down to river level. Once again, coming back down this way would
be unpleasant. On the other hand, if I
could find my way to the top of the falls, I could use the trail Jack and I had
explored on Saturday to escape the gorge.
That plan might backfire, but I thought it was worth a shot.
Up
I went, pulling myself along with roots, rocks, branches, and mud. After considerable slipping, sliding,
sweating, and swearing, I reached the top of the cliffs on my left. There I was pleased to find relatively open
woods and even a trace of a path. Well, that
is stretching the definition of path - more like hint of where someone may have
dragged a kayak once upon a time. Still,
it was a lot better than crawling through a Laurel thicket, which is what I had
anticipated. I followed the route ahead,
traversing above the cliffs immediately below me.
My
next challenge was deciding where to head down.
I didn’t want to descend too soon, as doing so might leave me at the
brink of a dangerous cliff. On the other
hand, I didn’t want to miss anything, either.
So, at the first spot that looked marginally passable, I started the
plunge towards the river. There was no
hint of human passage along here though, so the going was a bit more
difficult. I was lucky though. I came out on some cliffs 50' above the river.
Fortunately the cliffs are broken in benches here, so I didn’t have any trouble
climbing the rest of the way down.
I
soon found myself in an amazing spot. I was in a very narrow section of
gorge, surrounded by sheer rock walls.
There was a large boulder in the middle of the river a few feet away,
and I couldn’t resist jumping out onto it. Another jump would've gotten
me all the way across to the other side (imagine - rock hopping the Elk River
in two jumps)! What I hadn’t counted on
was Boone jumping out to join me. It was
a nice sized boulder, but it was a little crowded out there with me, the dog,
and my new camera balanced precariously on the tripod.
At
this point, I was immediately upstream of the 16-footer. I could just see
the brink of it around the next bend. Just upstream was the 35-footer
mentioned in the book. I don't think it was
quite that high (probably closer to 20-25'), but it was an incredible sight
regardless. In fact, I think this photo
sums up the place, and perhaps the entire day, quite nicely:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9067009@N03/3820944041
I
hung out there for a bit before the urgency to find a way out of the gorge
began to tug at me. Unfortunately, you
can't go far upstream or down from here due to the cliffs. Crossing the river and climbing the opposite
side might’ve worked, but I was having plenty of success on the west side of
the river. Instead, I backtracked up the mountain until I regained the
faint path I had been following. I followed it above another line of
cliffs, and then started back down. This time I came out right at the
brink of the uppermost falls, the 15-footer mentioned in the book. This drop was lovely as well, and I arrived
shortly before the sun rose above the walls of the gorge, allowing me a few
minutes of good light for photos. From there, it was easy walking downstream
to the brink of the 35-footer. It’s
funny, but I was now about 50 yards away from where I’d been earlier – but it
had taken me 30 minutes to walk there!
I
hung out there for awhile and enjoyed an early lunch in the sun. Well, I tried to enjoy it. I had finished half of my sandwich when Boone
began barking at something behind me. I
turned to look, and saw nothing. I
turned back just in time to see Boone slinking away with the rest of my
sandwich! The little devil had tricked
me! We had words, but there wasn’t any
hope of recovering my lunch.
At this point, there was no need for urgency,
as I knew I’d be able to get out of the gorge without backtracking. The day had been a true success, as I’d
managed to see the three other sections of Twisting Falls I’d missed on earlier
visits. Best of all though was not
having to go back down the way I’d come!
After
eating I waded across the river and hiked upstream. Before long, I reached the trashy campsite
and the terminus of my exit trail.
Before heading out though, I decided to explore upstream. I walked along the bank and waded in the
river for a bit, before reaching a deep pool.
The banks on each side featured steep, slippery rock, and I wasn’t in
the mood to bushwhack up and around. So
I decided to call it a day. From there,
I headed back to the campsite and began the climb out. The climb was over with quickly, and a few
minutes of walking returned me to my car.
At the trailhead there were 4 other cars and a group of teenagers from
Elk Park. They were nice kids on their
first visit to Twisting Falls (in fact, they admitted to driving all over Avery
County looking for the trailhead, and they still weren’t sure they were in the
right place). I gave them some
directions, and they headed for the river while I drove back towards
Boone. I had some work to finish up that
afternoon before I got ready for my job the next day in Bristol.
I
would definitely like to explore more of the Elk River in the future. The hike from Elk Falls to Twisting Falls was
a fun little adventure, but I doubt I’d do it again, as the trail between the
two wasn’t terribly exciting (outside of the occasional bear sighting). There are several miles of river between the
falls to explore though, although much of it is virtually inaccessible. Still, one map I have suggests the presence
of two other waterfalls in the gorge downstream from Elk Falls. Plus, Jones Falls may now be accessible, as a
side trail from the AT was being built the last time I passed through there. I’ll definitely have to return to check those
places out.
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