Special Places

Sometimes when I'm tramping around the high country I'll happen upon a spot that just stuns me with its beauty. On my latest trip to western North Carolina I noticed a waterfall as I was driving down NC215 as it threads the 6,000-foot peaks between Shining Rock Wilderness and Middle Prong Wilderness. I just happened to look to my left and noticed a patch of brilliant white water as we drove over a wonderfully constructed rock bridge.

There was a jeep parked in a dab of extra space and the owner was sitting in the Lotus position in front of a striking waterfall that I could just barely see as I moved past.

"We'll have to check that out on the way back," I told my wife. And so we did.

On the return trip, the jeep was gone and I had more than enough room to maneuver my truck into place. I got out, grabbed my camera and small tripod and hopped over the bridge abutment. There were some big boulders to clamber over, but revealed almost immediately was a particularly beautiful waterfall. I don't know its name, but I feel certain it has one. It's about fifteen feet high and drops down into a gorgeous plunge pool.


Everyone who knows me recalls that I love to go swimming in mountain streams and especially at the base of whatever waterfall I find. This one has a glorious swimming hole at the bottom--about twelve feet deep, eight to ten feet wide, and maybe thirty feet long. Not a lot of room, but filled with glorious, clear, cold mountain water.

As soon as I can arrange the free time, I'll head back there to spend the day lazing around the waterfall and swimming in that inviting pool of pure water. Soon, I hope.