Pack Rat Falls

Pack Rat Falls is a neat waterfall located in a little canyon that is somewhat hidden away, you really have to know its there in order to find it. There isn't really a trail to the falls, and the way there has been rated as an "easy-medium bushwhack." To get there you start out from the campground by Haw Creek Falls, following a creekbed for a quarter mile to the falls. The creekbed is a bit deceiving as you start out, since it looks dry. But the creek that makes Pack Rat Falls runs underground before it runs into Haw Creek. As you walk along the creek, more and more water appears, and the creek runs and tumbles over several mossy rocks. At one spot, the creek cascades under a huge boulder and empties into a emerald pool.


To reach the falls you have to cross over the wet and mossy rocks several times. The rocks in the creek are super-slippery, as if they had been coated in grease. I would step on rocks only to have my foot shoot out suddenly and fly off in some wacky direction that I never intended for it to do. But the little creek there holds a lot of personality, and it is quite scenic. There are several small waterfalls and cascades along the way to the falls.




After passing by several other small waterfalls and some neat bluffs, you get to finally see the big waterfall up ahead.


And finally, the 24 foot tall Pack Rat Falls:


I wondered how long that tree had been there...probably a long time.


It is a very neat spot, and a place that not very many people ever reach.




On the hike back, I mostly kept the camera safely tucked away in the camerabag. I didn't want to slip and fall and break it while trying to make my way across a slippery rock. But there were several places that made me stop and get pictures of the creek. This one little waterfall was about halfway from the falls back to the campground.


From there I made it back to the car and went on home. I'm eagerly awaiting another nice and cloudy day for another trip out to chase some waterfalls....