RATtreks

Little Stony Creek (Virginia) – 12-11-2014

On a chilly yet very sunny Thursday in mid December I joined an extraordinary group of hikers to explore the Little Stony Creek Gorge in Southwest Virginia. We would start this quest from the lower end at the Hanging Rock Picnic Area with hopes of making it all the way to the upper Little Stony Falls and back. In between we would take a lot of time to explore as much as we possibly could including unnamed waterfalls found by bushwhacking up some side streams. In this elite group would be myself, Jason Horton, John Forbes, and the Honey Badger himself, Thomas Mabry who would travel all the way from Waynesville, NC to join us. Parking at the picnic area we began our journey going upstream into the gorge where our first stop would be a rather large rocky area where some old coal mines are located. Their openings have been blocked by welded steel structures to prevent human entrance and to also protect the endangered brown bat populations.

Of course John Forbes not being human was easily able to penetrate the steel grid across one of the caves which made for a nice photo op. We all climbed upon the huge rock ledge above them to take in the rock art that exists there. It is really quite spectacular what the wind erosion has done to the softer, more sandstone like rock as it has artistically chiseled away parts leaving the harder rock there in unique forms. We spent some time enjoying the beauty that is found there that I am sure many overlook as they hike up the trail right past it.

Continuing up the gorge our next stop would be to check out a large rock we found sticking straight up in the air beside another large tabletop rock laying flat in the creek. This turned out to be a very cool area where we all took turns climbing the rock that had somehow been forcefully pushed up into its vertical position while the others stood on the flat rock in the creek which was like standing on a large barge floating in a river.

There would be many more stops to photograph other beautiful places along the creek as we made our way farther upstream as it seems every other turn had a small falls, huge boulders, or something that caught our inquisitive, wandering eyes.

The whole time you are in this gorge, like most other gorges, there are many vertical cliffs with steep, jagged tops towering high above you. This just adds to the ruggedness and beauty of this often overlooked area.

There was another high rock ledge, this time on the left side that was partly covered in ice from the many small drips of water falling from its roof that covered the objects below freezing them in time and making some very cool scenes. This made for some fascinating photo ops:

The rock formations beside the creek are also phenomenal where we stopped many times to enjoy and take pics of. There was even a seahorse tree that John took the time to ride. The beauty of the creek is in itself worth the trip.

There are numerous cascades, some of which I would go so far as to classify as a waterfall. You will also cross a few wooden bridges. At one of these crossings there is a very large rock wall that just so happens to have a small falls coming off the top of it. It is much higher than it appears and you can walk directly behind the falls by climbing up to the rock shelf there which will also lead to a cave-like area at its far end where more rock art is found along with some coal veins and what looked to be petrified wood. We spent a lot of time checking this out.

Since I stayed on the bridge eating my lunch while the rest went exploring on the ledge and down into the cave-like area, I did not get any pics of it so I will share some of the others here:

Continuing upstream the beauty is nonstop as there are more huge cascades, rock formations, and high cliffs. The next major stopping point for us was where a side stream, Star Branch, enters into Little Stony Creek. There are very nice small falls on both sides of the trail there but, we were not satisfied with that as we bushwhacked up that branch through some heavy laurels and large downed trees in hopes of finding more waterfalls. This effort would pay off in short time as we soon came to a very nice plunge falls.

Another falls that we were able to walk behind which is always a plus. The only downside was the bright sun that prevent me from getting any really good pictures however, I know I will be coming back here often in the future. Having set off the new waterfall radars, we continued upstream which was not easy by no means as there is no trail whatsoever and it does not look like anyone has been there as I did not see a single sign of man the entire time. This struggle soon paid off again as we came across yet another gorgeous falls not far from the first ones.

The Badger volunteered to continue the grueling bushwhack a ways farther to see if any more falls were there and low and behold he found yet one more falls that was worth going to. We stopped there and took in its wildness before I decided to make my way back down as I had left my pack very near the main trail not knowing that we would be going that far up this draw and was starting to become a little paranoid about someone finding it. This was my downfall as I had not gone far at all when I was untangling myself from a laurel and turned sharply to the left running headfirst into a large hemlock stub that hit me right in my left eye. It felt as if someone had hit me with a baseball bat and although I knew instantly that my eyelid had luckily closed quick enough to prevent the wood from actually making contact with my eye, it did feel like it had hit hard enough to actually burst my eye and I started feeling for the liquid fluid that I expected to be oozing from its socket. I was very fortunate that there was none but I was still not out of the woods yet (in more ways than one) as I was still very worried about any damage that I had done and also it was very hard to see out of it for the rest of the trip making bushwhacking that much more difficult. I also knew that trauma to the eye is one of the causes of glaucoma so I may not be out of the woods even long after I got home, only time will tell. When I finally made it back to the main trail and the rest of the crew caught up with me, I explained what had happened. They all checked it out and I could tell by their reactions that it was not good and it obviously looked very bad. They advised me that I probably did not want to see it ! It would look even worse by the time I got home and actually was able to see it but, to close this part of the story, it did heal after several days and so far I have not had too much trouble out of it.

As I waited on the others to get back down to the trail from the upper realms of Star Branch I managed to get a few shots of the nice falls where it crosses the main trail and empties into Little Stony Creek. Although I did not climb down to the falls below the trail, Jason did and I will share one of  his photos here.

It was getting late afternoon already but, we were on a mission to make it to the upper falls so we continued onward and farther upstream. This part of the trail would become steeper and would even be on part of a new relocated section taking us away from a washed out area of the creek high above some very large rocks. John and I would end up coming back across that part of the bypassed trail on our way back, in the dark ! More large cascades and beautiful creek later we came to a place below what is called ‘Bear Rock. I had stood atop this large, flat rock on a previous trip to this area earlier this year. There are stunning views from up there across the Little Stony Creek Gorge all the way to Clinch Mountain in the far distance. I understand that ‘Bear Rock‘ was originally named “Dan Ramey Bear Cliff” after a trapper who caught two bear cubs on this spot. It was really cool to now be standing directly under it down in the belly of the gorge.

At this point another stream, Corder Branch, enters into the Little Stony Creek and a short ways up that creek is a fairly large waterfall that enters from yet another stream, Laurel Branch, that empties into that creek ! I know for a fact that there are more waterfalls farther up each of these creeks but, that would have to wait for another time as we were fast running out of daylight. We did however, bushwhack a short ways up Corder Branch past the falls to see a few more falls found there before returning to the main trail to continue the campaign to the upper falls as it was simply irresistible. The light was getting better so the photos were becoming of better quality.

From underneath Bear Rock it is not that far to the lower Stony Creek Falls. The light was going flat quickly and to get any good shots I had to take my now tired body down the steep embankment where I would join Jason and Thomas who were already setup there. John having been there many times before opted to stay up top at the observation deck that is built right on the trail where a good view is also possible. I got what shots I could and then climbed back up to the trail to continue on to the middle Stony Creek Falls which I think are the most photogenic of the three.

I was lucky to get some decent shots of the middle falls with the failing light and I knew that getting any good pics of the uppers were already impossible but, the good thing was that we would make it there and would get to see them in the last light of the evening. That was the goal as Thomas who had never been here was able to bag a total of 7 major waterfalls in about 7 miles all within a period of 7 hours hiking ! This would also complete my tour of the entire gorge as I had only seen the upper and middle falls from the top down and back on my only other trip to this incredible place.

From the middle falls it is just a short ways to the upper falls where we spent the last minutes of daylight trying to get shots of it. Mine were not that good but, here they are anyway.

I was feeling tired at this point with my eye still throbbing from the pain and still had almost 3 miles to hike the entire gorge back to the vehicles, in the dark. I took some time to eat something and take in some fluids before I began my back track through the gorge. Jason and Thomas had already disappeared into the night but, John had stayed behind to make sure I was coming and we ended up walking out under the bright stars enjoying a different form of beauty that nature has to offer. I actually enjoy night hiking but, this time I was glad to be back at the vehicle where I could relax and thaw out some. It had been another epic day spent in the woods with some of my favorite hiking friends to which we had seen new sights and falls that will never be forgotten. I am sure I will be spending a lot more time in the Little Stony Creek Gorge in the future. Until next time,,,,,,

To see these falls and more please visit our Photo Gallery.