Brief Review of Standing Indian Campground.

Standing Indian is among our favorite National Forest campgrounds. It's a Nantahala National Forest facility located near Franklin, North Carolina. It's located near the NC/GA/SC border. Within a short drive is the Highlands area (packed with more waterfalls than you can imagine), the Blue Wall plunging down into the South Carolina Piedmont, and the spine of high mountains leading up from Georgia toward the Great Smoky Mountains.

For natural beauty the area is very hard to match. The mountain slopes are clothed in dense hardwood forests. There are many summits that crack the 5,000-foot mark. Streams and waterfalls can be found very close to the campground, and the Appalachian Trail winds its way over Standing Indian Mountain which looms over the vicinity and lends its name to the campground.

Oh. And there are normally lots and lots of bears here. The bear population in this area is about as dense as it gets.

The campground itself is very large and consists of four loops. Our favorite loop (#1) hugs the main creek and offers a number of creekside campsites. Our favorite site (#13) was unavailable so we stayed at site #16. This proved to be a bit of a mistake when a front moved through (the remnants of a Gulf hurricane) and dumped extremely heavy rain on us ceaselessly for more than 48 hours. The creek swelled beyond its banks and part of our campsite was inundated with water.

This was after the rains let up a bit and the lake that formed beside our campsite (flooding the picnic table) subsided .

Much as with our last camping trip, this one had us sidelined due to the inclement weather. My favorite pastime when I go camping is to hike to mountain summits and to hidden waterfalls. This was denied me on this trip because of the storm. Well, the next time we go we know to avoid campsite #16 if heavy rain is in the forecast.

Each loop at Standing Indian provides a bathhouse with flush toilets, sinks, and separate hot showers. The bath facilities are quite nice and there seem to be enough of them to avoid having to stand in line to use the showers. Of course we weren't there in high season, so this might not be the case when every site is occupied by a family.

The creek just across from our campsite. Its rushing waters would have lulled us to sleep if the pounding rain on the roof of our trailer hadn't done the same. The day after I took this photo the creek (Kimsey Creek?) was a good four feet deeper than in this photo and the banks were underwater.

There are no water or electric hookups at the campsites, but this isn't a problem due to the campground bath facilities. And if you have a travel trailer (as we do), then you generally don't actually need water and electric at the site. We carried our generator along and ran that when we needed, and our onboard water tank was full.

Since I couldn't hike as I wished, we ended up taking some long drives to see nearby sites that didn't require clear skies. One day we drove the Wayah Road which is lined with waterfalls and cascades. We skipped the drive to the shoulder of Standing Indian Mountain where we could have had a short hike to the summit. There is also a road to the top of Wayah Bald (another nearby mile-high peak), but we passed that one up because of the pea soup we knew would greet us at the end of the road and the top of the mountain.

An impressive cascade along Wayah Road.

Another day we took the hour-long drive over to Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While there we saw the restored elk herds and took advantage of that to take over one hundred photos of the enormous deer, returned to the South after about two hundred years absence.

Our trip was dampened a bit by the terrible weather, but as I like to say, even in crappy weather the forest beats the city any time. We relaxed a lot, sat and observed the trees, did some reading, and generally took it easy. Which is what a vacation is for.

Yay! The elk have returned to the Smokies!

Sweet Story

I have said it before, but to me it always bears repeating--many animals feel compassion. In fact, I am convinced that lots of animals have the same depth and range of emotions that humans feel.

This past week Carole and I camped at Standing Indian Campground. We both really enjoy that place and were keen on returning since the last time we tried it was closed and gated due to a government shutdown. So we reserved site #16 and commenced to setting up camp.

One thing that we had purchased for our camping trips is a picnic shelter called Clam Quick-Set Shelter. We'd heard lots of good things about these contraptions and all of the positive commentary are true, as far as we're concerned.

Our Quick-Set Clam Shelter 

So, we set it up and within about half an hour we noticed that a small bird (a junco?) had come in through the door and was trapped inside. We tried to get it to fly out by having Carole hold the net door open and with me trying to coax the tiny bird out that way. But she was having none of that and insisted on trying to fly through the netting at the back of the shelter.

The little trapped bird.

When I realized that the little bird wasn't going to go out the way it came in I decided to try to catch it in my hands and carry it out. This was surprisingly easy to do since she (he?) was exhausted. I carefully cupped the little critter in my paws and carried her out.

Now, here's the cool part. As I opened my hands to free the bird I noticed that a small flock was waiting on the other side of the shelter, lingering there in the hope that their panicked companion/family member would somehow escape. As she took wing, so did the assembled flock; and they all flew off together.

Fragile cargo.

Old Favorite

One of my favorite places to hike and backpack used to be Panthertown Valley in the mountains near Highlands, North Carolina. I won't talk too much about the history of how it came to become a part of Nantahala National Forest except to say that originally it was to have been declared a wilderness area. But Duke Power stepped in and snatched it away from those wanting to protect it and rammed a transmission line through the center of it. Yes, they then sold the land on either side of their right-of-way to those same interests who subsequently bequeathed it to the National Forest system. But with a powerline running down the center of it, there is no way that it could ever be considered wilderness, or be designated as such.

When I first discovered Panthertown is was known but not often visited by crowds. So I used to be able to go there and hike all day without seeing anyone. I once backpacked in there for two nights and three days and never saw another human. And the vistas were forested with no sign of the hand of Man (other than that freaking powerline).

But in recent years it has become extremely popular. When I go there now to hike or backpack it's with the resignation that I will encounter many other hikers and backpackers and horseback riders and mountain bikers and kayakers. Those mountains that once held no sign of habitation are now speckled with million-dollar homes the crowd in around the edges of the protected areas. You cannot walk very far without hearing people talking or their dogs barking. It just ain't what it once was.

I still go there from time to time, but it's not one of my favorite destinations anymore.

(All of these stitched panoramas were taken in Panthertown Valley on a solo backpacking trip in 2004. I didn't see another person in there for three whole days. That wouldn't happen, now.)

I had to cross this river to remain on the trail I was hiking. Water was up. Beyond the bend there was a pretty impressive waterfall. I did not want to lose my balance here.

This is near a spot called Salt Gap. It used to be hard to get to. But now there is a parking area not far from it and it gets a lot of traffic.

This is at Granny Burrell Falls. I pitched my tent not far from the top of the falls.

I shot this the last time I backpacked there. It was cold and snowy. But I still ran into what I can only define as crowds of people deep into Panthertown. Solitude? Not anymore.

Dreaming of Old Hikes.

Thinking of old hikes in beautiful places.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO.

Long's Peak, Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado.

The Maroon Bells, Colorado.

Mount Sneffels Wilderness, Colorado.

Sherando Lake Recreation Area, Virginia.

Wilson Creek, NC.

The Black Mountains, NC.

Pisgah National Forest, NC.

Nantahala National Forest, NC.

Cullasaja Gorge, NC.

Waterfall Wealth

The section of North Carolina where we went to camp is well known for its vast wealth of waterfalls. There are quite literally thousands of waterfalls packed into a very small area, hundreds of which are considered major features. It's hard to go very many miles either on foot or along roads without encountering spectacular waterfalls.

We visited three exceptional waterfalls while we were in the Franklin/Highlands vicinity. Two of them were in the Standing Indian Basin and are located near roads and are very easy to hike to. The other one was closer to Highlands and is adjacent to Highway 64. Many thousands of people see it every year, but few are able to get down to the bottom of the gorge to see this feature up close.

It takes more than just high country to produce good waterfalls. You also have to have a good water table with plentiful rainfall, and erosion-resistant rock which forces the water to flow over the stone instead of carving through it where it is far less likely to produce impressive waterfall features. The Franklin/Highlands area is packed with tough granite that resists such erosion, and the entire vicinity went through a relatively recent mountain-building period during which said rock was uplifted about three thousand feet, creating the conditions for the wealth of waterfalls one finds there.

Cullasaja Falls from the bottom of the gorge.

Cullasaja Falls from above, which is how most people see it from NC 64.

Big Laurel Falls.

Hanging from a tree to get the self-portrait.

 

Mooney Falls. Very easy to access from the Forest Service Road near the Standing Indian Campground. Just a short (but steep) hike of about 1/10 of a mile.

Upper section of Mooney Falls.

Bagged!

I bagged a peak that has been on my list for about two decades. There was always something coming up to get in the way. I'll post details tomorrow. We had a hard time getting home today (blown tires on the travel trailer).

View to my right.

Standing on the summit at the edge of a cliff.

The peak I was on is a tad over 5K feet. But nearby are summits at, or above, 6K feet.

Couple of Waterfalls

I revisited a couple of waterfalls I saw ten years ago. Strange how I'd forgotten how beautiful this part of North Carolina is. Just amazing mountains, wonderful forests, and plentiful waterfalls.

Details when I return.

Small cascade on the way to Big Laurel Falls.

Big Laurel Falls. Kickass swimming hole!

Gnarly double birch on the trail to Big Laurel Falls.

Secondary tier of Mooney Falls.

The top cascade of Mooney Falls.

Panthertown Shelter

We had decided to spend the night at the A-frame shelter in Panthertown. It's a remnant from the Valley's days as a doomed place. Once upon a time it was slated to have been turned into a real estate development. Up to and including the damming of the Tuckaseegee River for a large lake, around which houses would have been built. Some of Panthertown's waterfalls would have been buried underwater, while others would have become the private property of the rich elite.

Fortunately, through an accident of failing finance for the people putting that venture together, the Valley first ended up in the hands of the rapacious Duke Power Company who rammed a transmission line down the center of the Valley and then gave all but the right of way to the Nature Conservancy who then handed the remaining 6,000 acres over to Nantahala National Forest. Duke Power got lots of favorable publicity out of the stunt, and the public got what was to have been a wilderness area but which is now two forests bisected by a hideous transmission line.

Still and all, it's better this way than being in the hands of a few private individuals. If you have the time and the will you can hike all around Panthertown and take in the views.

The shelter as we arrived. I'm not sure how old the shelter is, but I've heard that it's been there since the 1960s when the Valley was being planted in white pines as a Christmas tree farm. It has been repaired and renovated many times since.

Sign and good luck charm above the threshold. The cutting of live vegetation for campfires in the Valley is a problem.

Our stuff in the shelter. Later, we ended up pitching our tents in the shelter when blowing snow began to cover the floor (and our stuff).

The shelter as it looked as we were preparing to leave, after four inches of fresh snow had fallen after our arrival.

Waterfall Videos

Just a few videos from the trip to Panthertown Valley.

Wilderness Falls

Schoolhouse Falls

Weird Little Falls

Another shot of Wilderness Falls