RATtreks

Painter Creek Falls – 1-6-2012

For many years I have been wanting to see the falls on Painter Creek as they are at least 200 feet in height (overall) which is quite intriguing for a waterfall lover however, it seems that I waited too long as easy access is now not available. This is due to the landowner being victimized by theft and vandalism in recent years causing him to block off the access and tighten up on the security of his house and property that is located there. The only information (and pics) my research could find on these falls was obtained by coming in the hard way from Cassi Creek which also requires permission to cross private property not to mention hiking up and over a steep mountain with no trails through laurel hells and having to climb back up and over on the return trip. Add in the fact that this brings you out on top of the falls and to see them and get any decent pictures would require a dangerous descent down them and the reverse to get back. The details of that trip did not interest me so about a year or more ago I spoke with a nice man who lives in the last house on the Painter Creek road who gave me the name and number of the lawyer who owns the private property behind the massive gate there but I ended up misplacing that information by the time I was ready to use it ! It just so happens that while on a waterfall hike with my friend Dave Aldridge, on our way back from Margarite Falls one day we met a nice guy and his dog heading into the mountain for a camping trip who turned out to be the lawyers partner who gave us the name and number again. This was not lost this time and Dave managed to contact the property owner and get us permission to cross his property in order to get to the falls. So on Friday, January 6, 2012, Dave, Lou, Bol’Dar and myself set out to find our way to these back-country falls.

It was a frosty but sunny morning when we arrived at the large steel gate that is connected by an ample supply of barbed wire and there was still some dusting of snow in places, but the sun was already shining brightly which gave the illusion of warmth but, the air temperature at the falls would be very cold all day especially when sitting still taking pictures. The private property and structures found there are very nice and it is quite understandable why the owner would want to protect it against anyone who would not respect it. It is very well cared for and the forest trail that begins on the opposite end is also in great shape. You have your choice of taking an old road that circles around or the trail. We took one in and the other out. There are also several nice bridges that cross over the creek, that is, until you reach the end of the property and cross over the boundary into the National Forest Wilderness Area. The trail continues from there but is much more primitive and it is not long before is starts to disappear in places. There are several blow downs of all sizes to be encountered as one makes his way up the creek trying to follow what was obviously once a very nice trail. It completely disappears in several places only to reappear again and become fairly nice for a ways before disappearing again. There are many nice rocks, trees, fungus, ninja log walks, and cascades along the creek and we started seeing some ice formations and snow as we slowly gained elevation progressing up the long, narrow valley.

The route goes straight for a ways passing by the North Fork of Painter Creek on the left where the direction then starts to veer to the right as it then passes by Hell Hollow, also on the left. There is a decent size creek coming in from there which does come from Sampson Mountain however, not to be confused with the Hell Hollow that is on the other side of Sampson on the Clarks Creek side. Continuing further around to the right, and then straightening out, still trying to follow the old trail that continues to come and go, the next landmark would be the Big Sugar Hollow, also on the left. It is only about another half a mile from there to where the creek splits as the South Fork goes off to the left and the main Painter Creek is to the right which is where the base of the falls begins.

Just before you reach the base of the falls, you will notice the rocks become much larger and prominent in the entire area. I was busy negotiating around these and taking pics of the confluence where the two creeks come together when I noticed water high in the trees above. It was apparent that we were at the falls although there is really no way to see all parts of them at any one time. Even as close as we were to them, they are well hidden behind the laurels and trees. I noticed that Bol’Dar was making his way up the left side towards the various upper parts of the falls which looked to me to be a very difficult and dangerous way to go and I am still unsure exactly how he got across the creek just below the upper part of the falls where we met up later. Dave and Lou set up at the very bottom of the first set of falls as I began my climb up the right side. I stopped at each level of the falls (as there are several that make up the 200 feet of falls) with Bol’Dar always just above me, and I could not understand why Dave and Lou was not coming up. The bottom part of the falls is a two part drop with the upper half being the tallest of about 30 to 40 feet tall and very impressive.

After getting some pics from that angle I climbed higher to the base of the upper half and it was even more impressive from there. I could see Bol’Dar now high above me on the left side of an unbelievably steep hill. I kept looking back at Dave and Lou still wondering why they were not following me.

Climbing higher to get above this part of the falls I could then see a spectacular and even taller part of the falls that was a narrow, twisting, snake-like cascade falls that was amazing all by itself. I spent some time there just taking pics and enjoying the beauty.

Above this section the falls more or less disappeared behind a pile of huge rocks but you could then see the upper part of the falls which is the largest and highest section and also is the part you normally see in any Painter Creek Falls photos that are currently available. Bol’Dar was already there above the large rock looking down at me ! I got some side view pics of the cascade falls as I climbed up to join him there. Looking back, I could no longer see Dave or Lou. It was during that climb that I could see what was hiding behind the left side of this rocky area, a very scenic stair-stepping part of the falls.

Climbing higher past these large rocks, I could then see there were even more huge boulders, each more extreme in size, not to mention there is a greater distance to the base of the highest part of the falls that can not be seen until you reach this point. From there I had to climb back up on the right side through the laurels and trees in order to get past that level which brought me out near the largest rock of all that completely hides the upper part of the falls and the entire base below them. There is a really nice falls dropping about 25 feet hiding behind this huge rock anomaly that was beautiful.

I eventually joined Bol’Dar atop the yacht sized rock to take in the breathtaking view of the upper part of the falls. They are at least 120 feet high. We spent a considerable amount of time there checking out and photographing the falls. It was much colder there with the strong breezes generated by the falling water and we could hear pieces of ice falling down the falls from time to time. We climbed nearly to the top of the falls before deciding to go back to the bottom to see what happened to Dave and Lou. (Looking down on the ‘yacht rock’ was scary from up there) We found them still at the bottom where the creeks converge and we informed them that they were not seeing hardly any of the falls at all that they would need to climb up if they wanted to get the views and recommended that it was well worth the effort. Bol’Dar volunteered to lead them up the safest route that we had found up the right side. I opted to go exploring up the South Fork to see if I could find the falls that were listed for there.

There was really no trail leading into that hollow but it was not too hard to find my way around the huge rocks and downed trees that are strewn along the way. Not far into the adventure I came across two huge trees that were uniquely growing over the rocks there with somewhat of a trail going beside them and some large rocks. The growth pattern of these trees was very gnarly and awesome. I continued around and over more large rock formations and blow downs gaining some elevation until I could begin to see some rock cliffs high above me on the right side. The route I was taking beside the creek was impassable at this point due to laurels and downed trees so I followed the path of least resistance up the right side bank towards the cliffs. This took a minute as I climbed higher and closer to them. I could then see the adjacent cliffs on the other side. Once I reached the base of the cliffs I could then see the magnitude of them as they are quite tall. I could also see matching cliffs only not as tall on the other side. Following the base of the cliffs I could then see that the two cliffs were coming together to form a ‘Vee‘  which is typical of where waterfalls are located. This fueled my adrenaline so I quickly found my way to the cliffs end at the Vee where indeed is where I found the South Branch falls in all their glory.

The falls are the only thing that separates the two cliffs as they have carved their mark between the two to form a narrow falls of about 20′ or so high. There is a small pool at the bottom and they are a very unique set of falls that I would definitely recommend seeing if ever possible.The tall rock cliffs are just as impressive if not more so than the falls but, the two combined are just spectacular. I was glad I made the extra effort to climb up there.

After hanging out there for what felt like a really long time and watching the sun starting to drop as it was now becoming late afternoon, I let out a few loud ‘hairnts’ to see if perhaps the others could hear me and proceed to my location. After another several minutes I decided I better get back and find them to see what was going on. It did not take me long to make it back down to the split in the creek at the base of the big falls and no one was there. They were all still up at the upper part of the Painter Creek Falls but before long I could see them making their way down the steep hill. Once they were back I was overly excited to tell them about what I had found and they became infected with my enthusiasm as well, however it was decided that there was not enough time left in the day to go there and still get out before dark so that trip was put off until another time. We then began the 2 mile return trip back to the vehicle.

Of course it did not take anywhere near as long to get back as it did to get there and before we knew it we were back at the property boundary where the wilderness area stops and the private property begins. We did stop to check out some cascades and I wanted to look closer at where the Hell Hollow and creek  and Painter Creek joins but we did make it back to the old homestead property and our vehicle before dark which is always a good thing.

It had been a wonderful day in the mountains and I was very pleased to have finally gotten to see the most awesome Painter Creek falls after waiting for so many years to do so. Seeing the additional falls on the South Fork was just icing on the cake. Many thanks to Gene and Tom for allowing this to happen. I can not wait to return again to go back to the South Branch of Painter creek falls to show the others what they missed.

To see more photo`s of these falls please visit our Gallery HERE and HERE.