RATtreks

Millstone Falls and Ramsey Falls

It has been many years since I last visited Millstone Creek Falls and Ramsey Falls,  so my son Tyler and myself recently took some time on Saturday, Nov. 21-2009 to see if we could find them and get some decent pics. We got a late start of around 2 pm but the weather was very nice and these falls are located very close to where we live so we knew there should be enough time. We decided to go to Millstone Falls first as they are closest to the road and require the least amount of walking. We drove down to Nolichuckey River and after walking a little ways up the wrong trail (although we discovered a very nice trail up Millstone Creek) we quickly found the right access point and made it to the falls within just a few minutes.

Millstone Creek Falls

With the water levels still high, they looked really nice and were actually larger than I remember them from 20 some odd years ago. After spending about an hour there taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of the area, we made our way back to our vehicle at the river and proceeded to drive to our next destination of Ramsey Falls.

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Devil’s Fork Falls

After our trip to some of the lower Devil’s Fork Falls last Monday (Nov. 9, 2009)  including Pine Ridge Falls (lower Devil’s Fork falls) and Josiah Falls (middle Devil’s Fork falls)  it has been heavy on my mind to go back to the elusive upper Devil’s Fork Falls (Lilybeth and Devil’s Slide ) as I have not been there for nearly 20 years. Knowing that the water levels are still high from the recent tropical depression ‘Ida’, and that the warm weather might not last much longer this year, I decided to make the pilgrimage back to the place where the ‘Rat > Patrol’ clan used to make frequent trips to what we called the ‘waterfall tour’.

We used to start in Sill branch to see the lower falls there, then the upper falls, and the many other falls and cascades above those, all the way to the top of Rich mountain. We would traverse it stopping to eat lunch at one of the ‘California Fields” enjoying the brilliant views of  Sampson and the surrounding mountains, then move down our secret shortcut trails to Devil’s Fork.

I knew I was no longer in physical shape to make such an arduous journey in one day (also knowing we would be getting a late start) so I opted to hike up Longarm Ridge trail to Devil’s Fork trail and go down from there. Although I expected the trail to be overgrown, little did I know that parts of the old Devil’s Fork trail would be devastated from pine bark beetle damage and would cause us much delays and strenuous to extreme hiking in order to reach our destination, as many parts of the old road trail were completely impassable.

Lilybeth Falls (Upper Devil's Fork Falls)

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Pine Ridge Falls and Josiah Falls

A recent hike on 11-9-2009, with my friend Bol’Dar, to the Devil’s Fork Creek area of Clark’s Creek in the Sampson Mountain Wilderness area, brought back some fond memories of the old days when we used to explore this place on a regular basis. Of course we never knew the first set of falls were actually called Pine Ridge Falls and certainly did not call the falls beyond that Josiah Falls.  To us they were all just Devil’s Fork Falls: lower, middle and upper. There are also another nice set of falls above Josiah that we call the upper falls but according to my research they are called ‘Devil’s Slide’ and ‘Lilybeth’ falls. I plan a trip to them soon as I have more time.

Pine Ridge Falls

To see the next set of larger falls beyond the Pine Ridge Falls you need to take precaution as crossing these (which is done by carefully climbing the rocks across the right side) is a bit dangerous. After that it’s not so bad following Devil’s Creek to the next set of falls (Josiah) but it is hardly traveled anymore so the trail is overgrown and can be hard to find so the basic rule of thumb is to follow the creek as best you can.

Josiah Falls (Devil's Fork)

There is another very nice set of falls above these however reaching them is not for the inexperienced hiker. I recommend coming down from the top of Rich mountain through the Devils Fork gorge to go down all of the falls rather than climb them but beware as it is grown up since when we used to do this all the time. To see more photos of these falls please visit my photo gallery and look for the waterfalls album.

HAIRNT !

Well Hey !  First post on a brand spanking new Blog.  Even has that new Blog smell !

This Blog I created strictly for my outdoor adventures which include hiking/biking/climbing  to the incredible mountains and waterfalls that the East Tennessee/North Carolina/Virginia areas have to offer.  I have a brand new photo gallery which will contain the images we capture along the way of the real beauty these places have to offer.  I will do  my best to keep this updated often as well as document the adventures here in this Blog.

I hope you enjoy it all.