The Accident

We accidentally visited two waterfalls yesterday. We intended on hiking to see the lower Whitewater falls. Driving into the mountains, we missed our turn and ended up in a North Carolina state park. When we got out we saw signs for Whitewater falls. We took the fifteen minute walk that ended at the observing deck. We were at the upper Whitewater falls. Turns out this mistake was well worth it. We were only about three minutes past where we were supposed to turn. If we wouldn't have missed our turn we would have missed this awesome waterfall. These upper falls is also where the sign was that I posted yesterday. Apparently, people used to take a trail over to the top top of this waterfall and try to look over the edge. It didn't work out for about fifteen people. We finished our view safely from the observation deck and then walked back to the car.

We still had not really hiked, so we decided to head back to our missed turn. Back in South Carolina, we pulled up to the automatic gate that lets you enter the land controlled by Duke Power. Down the road, we found the parking area for the two mile hike that leads to the lower falls on Whitewater river.

A bit farther than half way the trail crosses a gravel road. As we reached the road, we heard a lot of noise coming from the hill across the street. It was coming from at least two spots. To me, it sounded like something fairly large was walking down the hill. Something as big, or bigger, than a person. Crunching leaves and sticks under foot. We backed up into the edge of the woods to try and conceal ourselves. Cari bent down and picked up several rocks for whatever animal was going to reveal itself. I held my walking stick like a club. Then over to the right, I saw it. It was black and walking on all fours. A wild pig! I was going to take it's picture, but it must have noticed us around that time, because it took off in the opposite direction.

We discussed for a minute if we thought a group of pigs would attack us. Deciding we would not be in much danger, we continued our hike onto the road. We saw one more pig that quickly ran off. Continuing the trail across the street, we saw hoof prints in the mud, but we didn't see any more pigs.

The trail went up and down steep hills and was moderate at best. At the observation platform, we were rewarded with this view.To the left of the falls you can see the wreckage of a small plane. I did a quick search online, but couldn't find a story about this crash.
We rested there for about twenty minutes before starting our hour hike out. The hike out was not interrupted by any wildlife. We weren't disappointed. We were both glad that we missed that turn and accidently saw two great waterfalls.

There are a few more pictures from this hike on Flickr, click the box on the right. Next, I'll tell you a bit about the Hydro Power plant located on this lake. It involves another warning sign.