Hammerschmidt Falls

The last stop was Hammerschmidt Falls, a scenic waterfall that sits just within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River. The falls are reached by a fairly short and easy hike. I made it there and was pleasantly surprised to see the falls surrounded by a thick fog.



The 43 foot-tall waterfall is named after John Paul Hammerschmidt, the former politician who helped push through legislation that created the Buffalo National River (and not named after John Jacob JingleHammer Schmidt, like I assumed).



I did take a lot of pictures here, unable to resist the temptations of waterfalls and fog.



The creek flows down the hillside and then runs through Indian Creek canyon, which is one of the most beautiful and treacherous places within the Buffalo National River. There are some amazing waterfalls there, but it is a rough and difficult hike (people have died there recently, so really only expert hikers should attempt).



And one last shot from Hammerschmidt Falls, as fog drifted through the trees beyond the waterfall.



I hiked out, and changed out of my wet hiking shoes at the car since it was time to drive home. But I made one final stop, to get a quick shot of an old barn near Jasper. The barn stood out against the hill behind it, which was nearly hidden by fog.

Triple Falls

Back in March a round of storms dumped a lot of rain across the state, resulting in some pretty bad flash flooding. And the Buffalo River was hit especially hard. At St. Joe, the river is at flood stage at 27 feet, but back in March it reached 48 feet. At Steele Creek, the river flooded the campground and made it all the way up to the ranger station. It's now been several weeks but you can still see evidence of the flooding there, like the fences that are far from the river that were knocked down (or still have pieces of debris stuck in them). Closer to the river there are a lot of downed trees, which were pushed down by the force of the water.

Steele Creek was busy that morning. The campground was back open and completely full. The put-in at the river was full of people loading up canoes and kayaks.



From there I drove over to visit the famous Triple Falls. But along the way I pulled over and got a picture of this red barn, sitting in a foggy field.



And the fog got thicker as the dirt road makes its way down towards the river.





As I continued on, a guy driving a truck coming uphill tried to wave me down as we passed each other. I didn't manage to stop in time, so we just kinda awkwardly looked at each other for a few seconds. But luckily there was another truck right behind him, and the driver stopped to talk. He said that I might need to wait a bit. A car got stuck trying to drive up the steep hill, and was being towed out. He said there was a long line of about 30 cars waiting behind it.

Triple Falls is a popular waterfall, which sits within a Boy Scout campground. And that weekend just happened to be a big Scout campout, and the families were all trying to get home that morning. The road to the campground is steep, and can be rough. Especially after heavy rains. And apparently someone in a little sedan attempted to take on the dirt road and got stuck. I headed down the road, and soon enough saw a little car being slowly towed up the hill. And beyond, a long line of cars and SUVs sat waiting like it was rush hour in a big city.

Eventually I made it to the small parking area for Triple Falls, and then started the short and easy hike to the waterfall.



The falls are beautiful, falling 48 feet into a small pool before flowing off towards the Buffalo River.



It is definitely worth the drive to reach the falls (as long as your car doesn't get stuck).





By then, all the campers had departed and were on their way home. I guess no one else got stuck since the road out was clear and empty (except for the fog).

Boxley Valley

I woke up just after sunrise the next morning and drove into Boxley Valley, a very scenic part of the Buffalo National River. It had stormed overnight, and the landscape was still soaked and sodden. A little bit of fog clung to the mountains that ring the valley. My shoes quickly got soaked by wet grass as I walked over to get a few pictures of this old root cellar.



And then I headed over to get a few pictures of this very photogenic old barn.







The barn was built back in the 1920s.







It started to rain again as I stopped to get a few pictures further down the road of this old barn. Luckily I managed to get a few pictures that didn't have any rain drops on the lens.



It is interesting to visit Boxley now, after having recently been to Cades Cove at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They are both incredibly similar. Both are scenic valleys filled with all sorts of historic buildings. Both are managed by the NPS. But the way they are managed is different. When the Park Service took over Cades Cove, the residents were bought out and removed (much to their displeasure). The more modern-looking buildings were torn down, in order to showcase a more traditional view of Appalachian life. The drive through the valley is very pretty (apart from the traffic), but it feels lifeless. Almost as if all the humanity has been removed.

When the NPS took over the Buffalo River, they also bought out and removed many of the residents who lived along the river (also much to their displeasure). But Boxley was different, people were allowed to still live and work here. So the historic barns you drive by are still in use. The fields are still being used, and the homes are still being lived in. It preserved the past, but continues to make the valley feel like a real place. Not just something set aside for tourists to drive through.

I headed down the road and stopped at the old Boxley Baptist Church. The church was built in 1899, and it is still used by local residents as a community center. It's where local residents vote in elections, or take yoga classes. A newer church building was built just a few steps away.



Nearby was this old barn, which was built onto the side of a hill.



And down the road I pulled over at another neat old barn:





While driving through Boxley it's impossible to not constantly stop to take pictures. At least it had stopped raining.









And one of the old houses in the valley, which has such a welcoming front porch.



I always have to stop at this old barn, which was built back in 1915.





There was some talk awhile back about upgrading the Buffalo River into a National Park and Preserve. And like Natalie Imbruglia, I'm torn on the idea. I think the Buffalo River is an incredibly beautiful and special place, and it deserves to be ranked among the most scenic parks in the country. But I also understand the negative impact that it could bring. Namely, overcrowding. After having battled the traffic at Cades Cove, it was refreshing to have the peaceful and quiet roads there mostly to myself that morning.





And one last shot of Boxley, of the old Beechwoods Church (built 1915).



After this I headed out of the valley and went towards another waterfall...

Booger Hole

Along Osage Creek near the town of Compton is a small waterfall with the amusingly odd name of Booger Hole. It's a neat waterfall, and one that you can drive right up to. But one wonders how it got its name. You'd think whoever came up with it could have just dug a little deeper and picked out something a little better.

Broadwater Hollow

The next waterfalls were at Broadwater Hollow, which sit within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River. I drove up to the small town of Compton, and then followed a dirt road down to the trailhead. The first waterfall there is Paige Falls:



Despite only being about eight feet tall, the falls are quite scenic.



From here the creek makes it way downstream to another waterfall - Broadwater Hollow Falls.



These falls are taller (21 feet), and the sounds of the water hitting the rocks echoes across the hollow. It's a pretty spot.



Along the hike back to the car, I stopped to get a few last shots of this neat spot in the creek:

Sandy Spring Hollow

The next waterfall we went to was along a small creek in Sandy Spring Hollow, deep in the woods near the small town of Deer. The waterfall wasn't all that tall (maybe about five feet or so), but it empties into a deep pool of clear turquoise water. A large boulder, covered with moss and lichen, sat in the water near the falls.







On the way out was this old abandoned house, left to crumble away in a field.







No guard dogs were around to bark at us for stopping to take pictures, but we were under the watchful gaze of this cow that was sitting along a nearby fence line.