A Slick Saturday!

Saturday was a busy day!  My sis was up when I got up...she was dressed I hadn't even had coffee...LoL.  I was on a mini vacation...

I wanted to stop by Oak Creek Pond one of my favorite ponds nearby...unfortunately it has not recovered from the dam breaking a few years back.  The water is back but I think it will take longer for the plant life in the pond to recover and bring back the ducks, geese, and grebes that used to be all over the place.  We did see one busy Ruddy Duck and a hunting Great Blue Heron. 

Our next stop was to the Campbell Covered Bridge c-1909 to hike the new 1/2 mile loop nature trail one of the scout troops put in.  

The trail was a nice walk in the woods...it's been a while since I have visited this site it is now part of the Parks System of Greenville.  Glad it is being preserved.  The next stop on our whirlwind Saturday was to the mountains above Traveler's Rest.  

                                                               view of Glassy Mountain

We stopped at this newly opened spot, Marci Jo's Old Mountain Store.   They have a simple menu and some very creative hand made gifts...It's a family owned and operated business...dad made all the fixtures, mom makes the crafts, grandma helps out, and daughter works the kitchen and cash register.  

A lovely spot for lunch! 

Since 2010 I've been trying to hike to as many waterfalls in the Upstate region of SC as I can...it has been a long time since I made the effort...I have not given up on this challenge tho.  still a very real goal in my life.  I've been stuck at 55 for a couple of years...so I was thrilled to added more this day! And especially 2 I've been trying to see for a while...I couldn't find the spot where the trail begins...BUT finally we did! 

It's really hard to find; someone painted this Blaze to mark it and that is new, would have helped me find this on the many times I've looked for this trail before.  It is not a long hike but it was challenging due to the slippery rocks, the roots, and the fallen leaves. 

This is Slickum Creek.  Maybe it gets that name due to the slippery terrain around the creek...The first falls is small but very attractive, named the Last Falls on Slickum. If you start at the top and come down the name makes sense. There is 3 more falls up the mountain, but that trail is located in a different place.

The trail  follows the edge of the creek, and goes up.   And eventually after 0.2 mile you come to

Sweet Thing on Slickum.  It has the right name, it is very sweet!

 

You have to do some butt sliding to get down to it, but it's worth it! Love the way it splits after the pool and falls again...really a small jewel. 

                      

and the look downstream...a moss covered log leads the way 

Sweet Thing is about an 18 ft drop...would be a great one to stand under in summer! 

The woods here are a thick Rhododendron/Oak/Hickory type.  Difficult to hike around you have to weave over and under the fallen logs and the tangled vegetation...but it sure was a reward to see the little falls. 

There was enough of a canopy for me to try for a longer exposure...and I like the effect...

We got pretty hot since it warmed considerable this weekend...it rose to about 70! Back in the car we drove with the moon roof open to cool off on the way to our next planned hike on the Oconee Bells Nature Trail a 1 mile loop.  This hike is inside the Devil's Fork State Park on the shores of Lake Jocassee.  A really beautiful man made lake.

The hike is also another woods trail...and the star of the trail is the Oconee Bells a small ground cover plant that produces small white flowers in the spring..it's rare and this is one of the few areas where it can still be found.   We want to come do this trail again in Spring to see the flowers...

A creek runs along the trail for a while before we ascend back to the parking lot...and I didn't realize till later this little water fall is listed in the Waterfall Hikes of Upstate SC the book I use as my field guide for waterfall hiking, this is the Oconee Bells Falls! CaChing #58.  The book contains 125 hikes, but many are on private property...so those I probably won't get to see...but there's also some roadside ones I haven't driven to yet, and the rest are the ones listed as Difficult hike...so gotta get in better shape for mountain hiking. 

It was getting late when we got back to the car I snapped a few shots of the lake with the evening sun making it all aglow...

Then off we headed to home, the Moon was just awesome that night...

What a Great Weekend!! 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Whitewater Falls

I'm heading home tomorrow 
SO many storms circling around the South lucky for me nothing came this way the weather was perfect, so I went ahead with my waterfall hike plans--this waterfall is in 2 states!! Is that amazing or what?
Whitewater Falls Upper and Lower! Together this system drops over 700 feet---
SO first I hiked to the Lower section in SC.  It was a nice hike of 3.8 miles round trip- not too hard on the way in, coming out a bit more difficult as the first half mile was uphill...hhhhhhhhhhhh


BUT wow!! Look at it--

This section is 200 ft tall... took my lunch break on the view platform & had this whole wonderful wilderness all to myself!!

It was kinda breezy as you can see in the video...
So after I took a lot of photos...I packed up and headed back to the parking lot...this hike uses the Foothills trail and a spur trail to get to this remote area.  the Trail head is on the property of Duke Power at the Bad Creek Hydroelectric pumping station.  There is a visitors center and over- look and I drove up to see the view it was pretty awesome! This is Lake Jocassee.

I lost my photo of the falls from the
  Jocassee Lake Overlook

                                    

The Upper Whitewater Falls is located about a 1/4 mile via the highway...up from the turn off for Bad Creek Access in the Nantahala National Forest and in NC...you cross the state line and then there is the turn off for the Falls.. (or a 2.3 mile hike via the Foothills trail in the forest) I chose the highway--since I had just finished hiking to the Lower Falls...

This waterfall overlook is easy to get to...a simple walk up a nice paved trail-- very accessible even to the handicapped and I think thats very important...BUT the sign says it all....

SO I was very careful...

The Upper Whitewater is 400 ft tall!  AND
the West thinks they have all the beauty!! NOT true its Here you just have to go look for it!

            Upper section 

Mid Section 

                                                                        Lower section.

We have had a wet spring so finally the drought has been relieved somewhat! This Whitewater Creek is moving a ton of water from the mountains to Lake Jocassee..

I can't tell you how long Ive had this shirt---BUT its a favorite of mine and other hikers I meet on the trail usually say" WHOA"..then proceed to giggle--being glad its only a SHIRT....lol

Just have to remember not to wear it during Bear Hunting season...;o)

                   

 

                                                  A video I made, the sound is LOUD
                 

PEACE

Photo Journaling along the Way--

I am behind on blog reading please forgive me for not getting around in "real" time.  Im running about 2 weeks behind with my own photojournal of my little life-work has been disrupting my free time...lol Imagine that!!


So to catch up last time I told you I was headed upstate to fetch Mom home and do some dog sitting and cut and fold Fat Quarters--used in quilting. (long story) The weather forecast was rain with Friday, March 4th, being the best day to go exploring so in spite of the damp weather  I forced  took Mom with me to see some of the waterfalls on my list from the Waterfall Hikes of SC by Thomas E King.  (the other 2 days were complete washouts...the sun came out as we packed the car to leave--grrr)

                                                                          Lower

Middle photo missing. 


Wildcat Falls Middle (Ive seen the lower and yet to see the upper sections of this series of falls--this one Mom cant go to see but I dragged sprinted up the hill to see the middle section and next time I pass by I plan to hike to the upper section) This is a short drop with a LONG slide down to the lower section. (p 278 of the guidebook) then we headed to Table Rock to see the Carrick Creek.



                
short Video 

 Carrick Creek Falls is perfect for Mom because its only 100 feet away from the parking lot!! (the reason I chose this one for this trip) This small waterfall is in Table Rock State Park one of 15 in this park..I have a long way to go to see them all...but as part of my ongoing goal of seeing as many as possible listed in the Waterfall Hikes of SC by Thomas E King--this visit to Carrick Creek falls means I can check off page 156 of the book. This is a 15 ft plunge falls.  It was drizzling rain so we had to deal with light showers..later it stopped raining , Carrick Creek is not a big fall but it sure is pretty!  Had some raindrops on my lens--

Mom Bundled up

the small falls is in a beautiful heavy forest setting with a nice wading pool for a hot day!



Then we took a drive west to Devils Fork State Park.  The main thing there is Lake Jocassee--its a boaters paradise and a birders paradise also..




Only today it was gloomy and raining and we had no boat so in between showers I grabbed some photos..of the beautiful mountain lake shoreline...

the clay was so red after the rain, when its dry its more of a bricky red or pink

thats a horned grebe swimming away from me--

kinda grainy as he didnt want to get close to me--wish they stayed for breeding plumage which is fantastic and I ve never seen!

I did see Common loons....they also kept their distance but I got a couple of fuzzy "I did see it" photos..not a new bird for me, but a surprise as I didnt realize they were here! They too wont breed here so I wont get to see that beautiful black head and white dots of the male in breeding plumage--

          

common loon-F the water is disturbed by the rain ---

I saw all these gulls out on a sand bar, too far away for ID's I just like the way they looked...



If I had to guess I'd say RingBill Gulls--So that was it for that weekend I just returned from another trip up there and I saw another great waterfall, saving that for my next post...

                                                       Peace