RATtreks

Whetstone Branch Falls – 6-25-2011

This adventure would be an exploratory expedition to locate any falls on Richardson and Whetstone Branch. You may be wondering why Richardson Branch Falls is not in the title of this blog but that is due to the fact that the picture of the falls titled Richardson Branch Falls as seen on the TN Landforms site are not actually on Richardson Branch but instead, are found on Whetstone Branch ! We are working with them to get this corrected. We also discovered some much larger falls above them that hopefully will be listed soon. We drove to Damascus, Virginia and then over to Taylor’s Valley where the starting point is near McQueen Knob on USFS Road #124. This is a road less traveled and it is gated so it is foot travel only and most likely only used by a few locals for hunting purposes. We did speak with a nice elderly gentleman on our way in who was working in his garden, as this road goes right above and behind his house. He told us about a very large, old bear with gray hair that frequents the area regularly. He was trying to tell us to be careful I think, but we were actually hoping we would see the bear !

Whetstone Branch Falls (lower?)

The old road is in good shape aside from a couple muddy spots, and is easy walking as it is mostly level. We had not gone far when we could hear a creek below us and we soon passed an old wet tent still setup right in the road. After this we reached a gate which according to the map is right near the TN/VA state line. Just past this gate is a creek coming in from the left which is Richardson Branch. The GPS reading was showing that to be the place of Richardson Falls but they were not there so it is incorrect. We will come back another time to explore up the branch to see if any waterfalls actually exist there someday, but for now we are focusing our efforts on Whetstone Branch.

Pool just above Whetstone Branch Falls (lower?)

After another short distance we came across another water source coming in from the left but there was no falls there either. This would be the one with two drain pipes. Continuing further we came to yet a third water source which turned out to be Whetstone Branch. It seems the really small falls on the lower side of the road there is the same as the picture listed for Richardson Branch Falls on TN Landforms ! After taking a GPS reading there, we followed the road for another half mile or so but it went around the point of the ridge and appeared to disintegrate so we came back to what we now confirmed was Whetstone Branch. While Dave was double checking his GPS reading, I ventured upstream as something in my waterfaller`s instinct was telling me to. Although there was no trail, it was not hard to make my way upstream and I soon came to some tall cascades. From there I could see the land rising sharply ahead looking ‘cliff-like’ so I hairnted down to Dave that he might want to come up there since it was still early in the day. By the time he reached that point I had gone that much farther and had came to some sizable rock ledges on the left side which continued to a vantage point to where I could then see what looked like a steep, bare rock face in the creek up ahead which could mean waterfalls had the water levels not been so low as they were that day. There were some nice rock layers to be found along the way there.

Whetstone Branch Falls (lower?)

Dave followed my tracks up the draw, over a large blow-down which I used as a ‘ninja log-walk’ bridge over to the other side, and eventually he heard me hairnt loudly when I came to a sort of dead end at what was to eventually turn out to be some pretty nice falls. What I did not know at the time was there was a lot more to them than could be seen from that point. There was a lot of growth and some downed trees,  not to mention some very large rock formations so it was not easy to access. I had to cross back over these to the rock cliffs on the left side. The first part was the lowest part of the falls which was a deep, dark grotto where the water all ended up. It had bored round holes in the rocks over the years as it carved out this grotto and it was really neat and I managed to climb up inside it.

Whetstone Branch Falls (upper)

After taking a few pics of those small falls back in the dark abyss,  I found a way to get up above them by crossing the creek (again) and fighting my way through a short laurel hell where I found a middle part of the falls and could then see the upper part which was much higher than I had realized from below. From there I slithered like a sloth up a large mossy rock to get higher up and found a small pool of water at the bottom of the larger upper part of the falls where I could then see all of the upper part and I was quite impressed. With more water this would be awesome although it would be better in a late Fall or even a Winter setting for more ease of accessing it. These falls are quite hidden even when standing right at them but are very nice once you get up on them. I can’t wait to come back when there is more water and not so much growth. The upper part of these falls is at least 30 feet in height.

Whetstone Branch Falls (upper)

We hung out there for awhile taking a few pictures and enjoying our newly discovered falls before making our way carefully down the rough terrain back to the easier path on the other side of the creek that led back to the rock cliffs where the going was easier. These were some impressive rock formations that I would have to check out more at a later time. After that it was smooth sailing walking below the cliffs beside the creek,  making our way back to the road and then out to the vehicle. We will come back here again when we can to venture up the Richardson Branch just to see if any falls exist there but it looks rather flat on the topo map so I doubt there will be any. For now we will try and get the information corrected on the TN Landforms site for these falls.

colorful rocks on part of Whetstone Branch Falls (upper)

On the way out we stopped at a small set of falls that crosses the road beside a large rock cliff and then went down to the Taylor`s Valley Cafe below and had a great chicken salad sandwich and some sweet tea to celebrate our accomplishment. We will be coming back in the future to check Richardson Branch for waterfalls to clarify if Whetstone Branch Falls is the Northernmost Falls located in the state of TN. We will definitely wait until the leaves are off and there is more water flowing.

To see photo’s of these falls please visit our Gallery here.