Buckeye Falls – 2-4-2016

I have been going to Buckeye Falls (over 400+ feet vertical)  for well over 30 years and I never tire of seeing it. It is such a special and sacred place to me and I am probably more partial to it than any other falls or location I have ever been. Having seen it from every vantage point possible including the base, the left and right side ridges, the top, Chigger Ridge and Sampson Mountain, it always amazes me and leaves me with a feeling of rejuvenation each and every time. No matter what location you choose to visit this waterfall from, you will earn it as, it is one of the most difficult to reach no matter which way you decide to go. The most common and I hesitate to say ‘easiest’ way, is to its base via Clark Creek but, this is still a long and very strenuous off trail hike. The route is not marked although you are following a creek, and there are several blow-downs and flooded out areas to navigate plus, you must know which tributary to turn off on to begin the difficult and dangerous steep climb up to the base of the falls. This is not a place for young children or inexperienced hikers. An injury there would become a very serious matter as getting you out would require a massive and very time consuming undertaking. Once you reach the base you can only see part of the falls as there is a vertical drop of over 400 feet that you will only be able to see the lower part of because the top part will not be visible from there. Here is a picture of my son Tyler for scale. Don`t get me wrong, I love the base as much as anywhere but, these days I prefer seeing the falls in their entirety which requires a considerable effort. My favorite is the left side ridge but, coming in a close second is the more distant view from Chigger Ridge. Despite many trips to each I have yet to get any good pictures as the conditions are either too sunny and bright or fogged in total whiteout with no falls visible. On this trip we would choose Chigger Ridge and were lucky enough to be blessed with the best conditions I have ever experienced.

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Buckeye Falls

Getting to Chigger Ridge is not an easy feat no matter which direction you take and in order to protect the location from those that would readily overexpose and overuse it, I will not provide any detailed directions to it however, I will say that on this trip that my friend Bol’Dar, my son Tyler, and myself, came in from Lower Higgins Creek which is the shortest and easiest way to reach the top of Rich Mountain where the rest of the off trail journey begins. The water levels were about as high as they get on this day which made the creek crossings tricky to put it mildly yet, I was able to keep my new boots fairly dry throughout the entire day. This was a good thing as it was a chilly day in the 40`s and would be cold when not moving on Chigger Ridge. My son Tyler did end up with some wet feet and can confirm how cold it was when standing still on the ridge ! We had a lot of fun watching each other cross the raging creek several times !

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Lower Higgins Creek at the trail head. It was raging !

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A small wet weather falls that flows into the area was really nice on this day

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Side view of part of the wet weather falls

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Continuing upstream along Lower Higgins Creek

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Looking down on Lower Higgins Creek Falls and the highly visible feeder falls below it as we passed them by high above on the trail. No time to go down to them, had bigger fish to fry.

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Another view of Lower Higgins Creek Falls as we passed them by

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Looking back at the first creek crossing. No rocks to hop on this day ! I ended up taking my boots of to walk across and then put them back on.

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Blurry action shot of Tyler getting his feet wet at the second creek crossing !

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Tyler continues across on the ninja log walk

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Me and Tyler making our way along the upper realm of the Lower Higgins Creek Trail (Photo by Bol’Dar)

We took a short snack and water break once we reached the top of Rich Mountain before moving on down the ninja trails of old. These are now overgrown and partially blocked with many fallen laurels which make the going slower. Eventually all traces of old roads and trails disappear and one has to choose the right route to end up on Chigger Ridge otherwise, it is very easy to get off on the wrong finger ridges and end up in oblivion. My friend Bol’Dar and I found a nice shortcut here a few years ago (after making that mistake) which is now our direction of choice. Unmarked and very steep it gets us to the gap on the ridge in a short time and soon we would be getting our first sights and sounds of the mighty Buckeye Falls.

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Once in the deep back country, this would be our view for the rest of the way to Buckeye

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Another view from the deep woods on Rich Mountain

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These twisted vines are thick for about a quarter mile along this section of the journey

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After a steep climb on all fours up my secret shortcut route and then a hidden ninja/animal trail over to a gap on Chigger Ridge, we got our first view and sounds of Buckeye Falls

Following Chigger Ridge to its highest point to the semi-cleared look off, we could see the falls were at high flow. Despite being a half a mile away (as the crow flies) the roar was very loud. Not to be confused with the other falls that are just below us in the unnamed hollow below or the huge sister falls of Buckeye which are almost as tall (300 feet)  that only run during these rare times of high water flow, as you can hear all those too. We dropped our packs and reveled in the beauty of the falls and were very thankful for the cloudy conditions we were blessed with. It was time to setup and see what pics we could get.

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Top part of Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls just as the sun shone down the valley above them (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed) The RED LINE represents the highest point you can see of the falls from standing at the base of the falls. Also keep in mind that from this, the Chigger Ridge view, you can not see all of the lower part of the falls either as the left side ridge blocks that out.

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Lower part of Buckeye Falls (zoomed) If you look close you can see a horizontally placed log on the right side. This is about as high as you can safely climb up from the base.

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Middle part of Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Top part of Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Another shot of the top of Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed) This shot shows the butt end of the Clark Creek Valley where Rich Mtn (left) connects to Sampson Mtn (right) just below Wilson Knob (summit just out of pic to top left of pic)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

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Buckeye Falls (zoomed)

Despite the cold temps and our damp boots, we stayed there for a few hours taking pics and enjoying the serenity of the area. It is always so hard to leave this place every time I am there but, due to the long and hard journey back, it is something that must be done. I did camp near there during this time the previous year. After taking a group shot and some last minute pics, we made ourselves pack up and leave.

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Group shot from the Chigger Ridge overlook (Tyler is in stealth mode but if you look close you can see him!)

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Last picture I took of Buckeye Falls (zoomed) with my larger (non SLR) camera

I took the following pictures with my pocket cam while we were at the Chigger Ridge Overlook:

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One of the first views of Buckeye Falls from Chigger Ridge

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

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Buckeye Falls

The return trip is slightly easier due to there being more downhill that climbing yet, it is still energy consuming. We took our time and soon were back to the right gap on Rich Mountain where we began the 2 mile descent into Lower Higgins Creek. We were actually making really good time and after the upper creek crossings we decided to take a short side trip down to the ‘Four Finger Falls‘ that are hidden above the upper falls on Lower Higgins Creek. On this day the water levels were much higher than our last trip here on New Years Day the month before and there were NO fingers ! It was one solid waterfall !

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Petrified Dinosaur head

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Fungi on the petrified dinosaur neck

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Overgrown ninja trails of old

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Tyler happy that he is short like his dad ! Although some places we all had to crawl to get through on this old log road

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Tyler making his way off trail after a running long jump over one of the many creek crossings !

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Quick side trip down to the Four Finger Falls on Lower Higgins Creek

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Four Finger Falls on Lower Higgins Creek taken with pocket cam and no tripod

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The creek drops again here just below the Four Finger Falls and then goes over the tip top of the Upper Falls on Lower Higgins Creek

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Tyler and I at the Four Finger Falls (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Blurry action shot of Tyler standing at the top of the next drop just below the Four Finger Falls

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Tyler stands at the top of the next drop below the Four Finger Falls

Since my son Tyler had not been to the upper falls on Lower Higgins Creek before and, since I never turn down a chance to climb down a vertical cliff like descent, we decided to climb down the side of the upper falls from above and show him the base access by the steep ninja trail there. He enjoyed this adrenaline induced side trip and we marveled once more at the awesomeness of these mighty falls. I kind of regret not taking the time to setup my larger camera for these due to the higher water flow but, I was tired and we did still have a ways to go so, I was only able to get some mediocre pics with my handheld pocket cam.

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Going down beside the first drop below the Four Finger Falls

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Making our way down beside the falls to reach the top of the upper falls as it gets steeper and steeper

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Bol’Dar leads the way to where the earth drops off ! Just above him (out of picture) is a small set of rock cliffs and just below his left is the steep slanted drop off to the falls and just in front is the sheer drop off that leads down to the upper falls. This is the small ninja trail that allows the only passage

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Going down beside the upper falls you can see they are getting much steeper ! Bol’Dar stops for a pic or two !

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Highest drop of the upper falls

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lower part of the highest drop of the upper falls

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I tried to get some good delay but using my hand held pocket cam did not work out well

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Slightly farther down this drop reaches the top of the vertical part of the upper falls

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Looking down at Bol’Ddar who is at the base of the vertical part of the upper falls just as he enters into the Twilight Zone !

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Bol’Dar below me at the base of the vertical part of the upper falls

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Getting ready to climb down this vertical rock to get to the base of the falls

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Side view of the vertical drop of the upper falls

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There was a lot more water coming off these falls than my last trip here 1 month earlier

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My son Tyler at the base of the vertical drop of the upper falls

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Tyler is actually getting wet from the spray off the falls here !

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There is a lot of water just above him !

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Me at the base of the vertical part of the upper falls

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Me getting wet below the upper falls

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Tyler at the upper falls (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Tyler and me at the upper falls (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Water raging down the upper falls of Lower Higgins Creek

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Lower part of the upper falls

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Lower part of the upper falls

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Upper falls on Lower Higgins Creek

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Trying my best to get handheld shots without a tripod

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Trying to hold camera still without a tripod ! The wind of the falls always blows the laurels so they are never in focus.

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Pocket came shot of the upper falls

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Upper falls

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Besides the hidden falls, these, the upper falls are perhaps my second favorite on Lower Higgins Creek

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Lower half of the upper falls on Lower Higgins Creek

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Climbing over this laurel to get by the splash pool at the base of the upper falls

After climbing the super steep slope up from the base of the upper falls we were soon on our way again down the old road where we would pass by the other nice falls that live just below the upper falls and then on down to the well known Lower Higgins falls,  all of which we would have to see from the road as we continued on towards the car.

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Looking back at the upper falls as I rest during the steep climb out from them

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Me making the final ascent from the base of the upper falls (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Zoomed shot of another falls farther downstream from the upper falls as seen from the trail high above

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Attempt at a delayed shot with hand held pocket cam without using a tripod !

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A little less zoom of the same falls

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Making good time downhill on the Lower Higgins Creek Trail

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See how steep that left side is ? Its like that all the way down to the creek ! And that is where all the many falls are !

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Looking upstream at one of the creek crossings

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Same view only with slight delay

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Me doing the ninja log walk across the creek (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Tyler whose feet got wet here on our way up the mountain decides to splash right through it ! (Photo by Bol’Dar)

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Upper drops of the Lower Higgins Creek falls. You can`t see these from the base but, I do count them as part of the total falls height as you can see it is a continuous drop from here to where it drops over the vertical part which is where the water disappears here which makes the falls technically higher than they are listed at

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Another shot looking down the tip top of Lower Higgins Falls

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Yet one more shot off the top of Lower Higgins Creek Falls to show just how high up in the mountains these falls are !

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I could not resist taking some more pics of the Lower Higgins Creek Falls on our way out as the lightning was even better

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This one show the feeder falls below Lower Higgins Falls as they were running strong on this day

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Looking down on Lower Higgins Creek Falls

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The feeder falls as they make their way down from the ponds on Chestnut Knob high above

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Wet weather falls along the trail

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Wet weather falls along the trail

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Soon to be new parking area on Lower Higgins Creek

Still making good time we reached the car before dark and proceeded to drop Bol’Dar off at his car at a different location before Tyler and I would immediately head to Clarence`s in Unicoi for the post hike grub out. It would be old fashioned deluxe cheeseburgers and fries all around. It had been another amazing day in Nature and another vantage point of seeing Buckeye Falls checked off the list for Tyler as he had already been to the base and on the left side ridge. I am hoping to take him to the top of the falls and rappel down to the first splash pool soon. Until next time,,,,

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Tyler is always the first one back to the car !

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Me and Bol’Dar soon join Tyler at the trail head

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One last shot of Lower Higgins Creek before we left

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Cheeseburger and fries at Clarence`s for the post hike grub out

Posted on 31 March '16 by , under RATtreks.

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