The Trout Zone: Waterfalls

Showing posts with label Waterfalls. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Hiking Season

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, then you probably know that I enjoy hiking almost as much as fishing. Photography is a close second as well. For the past handful of years, I've been running into a good problem to have. My fly fishing guide business here in middle and east Tennessee keeps me busy enough that it can be tough finding time for other things that I enjoy.

While you won't hear me complaining about having enough work, it can be a challenge to stay in shape. As my business has grown, more and more of those trips have been float trips. I enjoy working out of the drift boat, but being a fly fishing guide on the waterways of east and middle Tennessee also means spending large parts of my year in rather sedentary fashion for me. I probably need to devote more time to running or jogging, but it can be hard to find motivation at the end of a long day when I just want to get some supper and spend time with my family. Thus, as trips start to slow down a little in the cold months, I enter into what I like to call hiking season.

In addition to having plenty of time on my hands, it also helps that it is generally cold or at least cool out. Another big reason I don't hike more in the warm months is that I really hate getting thoroughly drenched. If you've ever hiked in the southeast in summer, you know that you'll end up sweating buckets. The humidity is impossible to get away from. This time of year, with the weather being cooler, I get out for exercise and enjoy not overheating. On some days, there can be a fine line between being too cold and too hot, but that is easier to figure out for me than when there is just the option of being too hot.

Recently, with the guide calendar opening up just a little and the weather finally cooling down, I've started spending time hiking more again. The first trip was a big treat.

Hiking Virgin Falls Alone

Over the years, I have hiked the Virgin Falls trail many, many times. I've even hiked it at night. It is one of my favorite trails in the area and at just 30 minutes from my front door, it is easy to get away for a few hours. Recently, I've hiked it twice. The first time was epic. I got to the trailhead, and there was NO ONE THERE. Seriously, no vehicles, no Park rangers, no one. That trail has become popular enough that it is almost impossible to enjoy it that way, but I seriously had the whole entire place to myself.

I've taken to carrying some of my camera gear when I hike. Some days it just serves as weight in my pack as I try to get in better shape. On other days, it actually gets used. When I had all of Virgin Falls to myself, you better believe I used my camera gear. Capturing several of the area falls without anyone intruding into the picture is challenging normally. On this day, it was simply a bonus.

The majority of my "picture" time was spent at Big Laurel Falls. The light was perfect for this time of year and flows were low enough that I could shoot from much closer than normal without covering my lens in spray from the falls. Here are several of my favorite shots of Big Laurel Falls.

After noticing that time was ticking away, I quickly packed up and hustled over to Sheep Cave and then on to Virgin Falls. I still haven't been inspired to shoot Sheep Cave. Maybe I just haven't considered my angles enough yet, but either way I just took a quick selfie on my cellphone to show I had been there, and then kept trucking.

Virgin Falls was another story. I wanted to find some hepatica blooming and knew that the top of the falls was a good bet. I took pictures of the falls (for perspective, it is 110 feet tall) itself, then climbed up to enjoy the top (and a few hepatica!). Every year, I try to find hepatica blooming for as many consecutive months as possible. Virgin Falls and one or two other caves are my best bet for finding them in December and January. By February, the opportunities start to expand and by March, we are at peak bloom for the early spring wildflowers. I got my pictures of the falls, found my wildflowers, then realized the day was growing late.

On the way out, I kept expecting to run into some other hikers, but it just never happened. In fact, when I got back to the trailhead, it was still empty. That is possibly the first time I've ever done that, and certainly the first time in a good long while. I don't expect to enjoy that again too often, so I savored the moment. My tired legs were glad to sit down and point the truck back towards home. I am in poor enough shape that I was dealing with some leg cramps for the last couple of miles of the hike. Thankfully, on my next visit, that problem was almost nonexistent.

Hiking Dry Creek Falls Trail

After that first Virgin Falls hike for this cool season, I made a second return visit a week later. On that trip, there were a few other hikers around, reminding me yet again how special the last visit had been. Thankfully, on this next visit, I didn't have as much trouble with my legs wanting to cramp. A few more hikes and that problem should be in the review mirror for a while at least.

Then, just yesterday, with super nice weather and the threat of some serious winter cold coming soon, we took a family trip down to the Lost Creek vicinity. I talked my dad into joining and we decided to hike the Dry Creek Falls Trail from Lost Creek to Dog Cove. Having been up to Dry Creek Falls via Rylander Cascade one other time but no further, I was excited to hike some new to me trail.

The climb from Lost Creek up to Dry Creek Falls was longer and more sustained than we remembered. Once the trail topped out on the Plateau, I realized why it had felt like such a climb. Still, the hike was pleasant with perfect weather in the 50s with mostly sunny skies.

Once we hit the top of the Plateau, it was easy to make good time. We cruised along until we saw Meditation Rock which required a brief stop. I didn't spend any time there with my camera, but we did enjoy the trail much more from that point on down to Dog Cove. The trail started descending not much farther past Meditation Rock. The trail builders did an excellent job of making the trail as interesting as possible. In one spot, it looped around a GIANT boulder, just because. In another, it sent under a pile of boulders that created an arch of sports, apparently just because again. I like trails that have character and interesting features, so I was glad that they incorporated these interesting sections into the trail.

Just before we started to seriously drop off of the Plateau, I looked around and wondered why there was no sign of any rock climbing. We discovered the reason not too much farther down the trail. Apparently it incorporates a lot of Nature Conservancy land, and rock climbing (among other activities) was expressly forbidden. That is both good and bad. Good because, well, this area will stay wild and protected. Bad because, there are some awesome rocks that would be fun to climb. I haven't climbed much in many years, though, so it isn't much loss for me.

Overall, this is definitely a trail I would hike again. I think next time I'm going to get dropped off in Dog Cove, then hike to Virgin Falls, and get picked up at the Virgin Falls trailhead up on the Plateau. That would be a great day hike!

Sunday, March 28, 2021

High Water Everywhere

I'm pretty sure I have one of these posts every few months, and at least once every year or two, but here is the most recent version of water, water everywhere. Rainfall yesterday (Saturday, March 27, 2021) into early this morning produced flooding across middle and east Tennessee. My wife and I decided to go for a drive and perhaps a little hiking today and see if we could get some good pictures. The water was even more than I had expected.

Our destination was Lost Creek Falls. This out of the way gem is not much as far as a hike goes, but it is scenic and also offers some nice wildflowers. While in the area, we also like to head down to the upper Caney Fork at Big Bottoms and also stop by Rylander Cascade. We accomplished all of those, but the water was so high we almost didn't.

We had barely left home when we started coming across lots of debris in the road from high water. Huge rocks, leaves, branches, and just normal gravel were all strewn across the road in places. We carefully drove over what looked like some serious tire popper rocks and kept going.

As we descended off the Plateau, we came across the first excellent waterfall for the day. Wildcat Falls is right on highway 70 between Crossville and Sparta but much closer to the latter. You pass the falls as you drive up or down off of the Cumberland Plateau. Today it was really rolling. We stopped along with several other people to take some pictures of what is normally a small trickle.

Wildcat Falls on the Cumberland Plateau near Sparta Tennessee

After enjoying the impressive sight, we continued our drive towards Sparta, Tennessee before turning off to take back roads to Lost Creek Falls State Natural Area. As we meandered through the countryside, we began noticing several lakes and ponds we hadn't seen before. Then we realized it was just people's fields full of water. Several houses were completely cut off by the flood waters. Thankfully, most of them at least appeared to still be dry.

As we made our initial drive past Lost Creek Falls, we both were in awe of how much water was going over the falls. Before stopping to take pictures, we decided to head further down the road and visit the upper Caney Fork River and Rylander Cascade. The new canoe launch down at the Caney Fork River was inundated with water. Not a good day to be canoeing!

Upper Caney Fork River Big Bottoms Canoe Launch

The road was covered with water here. We saw a big truck drive through the flood waters and almost not make it. Next, an ATV did the same thing and came even closer to getting swept off of the road. This was a good reminder that flood waters are not a joke. If water is over the road, don't risk it. The power of flood waters never ceases to amaze me.

Turning around, we stopped to take pictures of the water surging through fields along the main Caney Fork River channel, then we headed back up to check out Rylander Cascade. Turns out there was a little water there as well.

After some careful negotiating of the trail, we were able to enjoy an impressive view of the cascade before heading back to the car to finally hit Lost Creek Falls.

We carefully made it back down the trail and back to our car, ready for the final adventure of the day. Lost Creek Falls is an impressive sight no matter what the water levels are. This is very similar to Virgin Falls which isn't all that far away. Both falls emerge from caves before falling into a sink and disappearing. Lost Creek Falls is not as large as Virgin Falls, but still impressive nonetheless. Normally, Lost Creek Falls disappears immediately at the bottom of the drop. Today, however, the sheer volume of water had overwhelmed the usual outlet holes and it was flowing down through the large sink and into Lost Creek Cave. I took pictures and video of what we saw. Here are a couple of the pictures.

I also took a quick video or two of the falls. You can see it on YouTube HERE or watch it below. Remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Listen to the water roar over the falls! So much power in the water today...

Friday, March 07, 2014

A Late Winter Hike

In amongst all my fishing adventures, the hiking often takes a backseat. That is unfortunate because I love hiking almost as much as I love fishing. Of course, combining those two can be even better! One of my recent hiking adventures was in the Virgin Falls area on the Cumberland Plateau. Here, in the Scott's Gulf area, the upper Caney Fork has carved a dramatic canyon on it's tumbling journey off of the Plateau. Numerous waterfalls add a scenic touch to many hikes.

The objective on this hike was not Virgin Falls but rather Upper Polly Branch Falls. Having done the Virgin Falls hike a couple of weeks earlier and wanting something shorter, we opted for this less travelled but significantly shorter option. Once we arrived at our destination, my camera was soon busy. Here are some of the pictures I took.