Searching for Waterfalls and Finding Something More

At first, we searched for waterfalls in all the wrong places.

When I started an article about waterfalls for Globetrotters’ monthly challenge, the natural place for me to go was Iceland. I have some spectacular waterfall photos from our trip there last August.

Here’s another picture I couldn’t resist including, because how do you omit a waterfall with a rainbow from a waterfall article?

But despite the other-worldly beauty of those Icelandic falls, I’ve written about Iceland before, and Iceland is not where my love of waterfalls originated.

I became a waterfall aficionado many years before, in 2005.

My husband and I had just closed on our South Carolina home, which was the fulfillment of my husband’s dream to own a lake house. But fulfilling his dream came with an unexpected bonus. Our house was in the foothills, or “upstate,” and my dream had always been to live in a place with a mountain view.

Both our dreams came to fruition, and my love of waterfalls began.

We’ve always been hikers but exploring the mountains and foothills surrounding our property turned into hiking with a purpose. We decided we would hike to every waterfall in the area.

Whitewater Falls was an easy one to find. It’s a popular tourist spot and the highest waterfall east of the Rockies. Located in North Carolina just across the border from South Carolina, this waterfall is a short, 20-minute drive.

Because it’s an easy walk from the parking lot to the first overlook and the wide, paved path is wheelchair accessible, Whitewater Falls is a good place to visit with family and friends. For hardier hikers, a steep descent all the way to the bottom provides great views, good exercise, and an opportunity to clamber over large boulders.

But we also wanted to explore other waterfalls in the area, so my husband found a spiral-bound, self-published waterfall book in the local Dollar General.

We made the mistake of relying on that little book for our initial forays into waterfall hunting.

I don’t know if we were poor at following directions, the waterfalls in that book had all dried up by the time we set out to find them, or the author wasn’t very clear with his directions. But for whatever reason, each time we tried to hunt a waterfall mentioned in the book, we ended up lost, frustrated, and stomping around in some of the unlikeliest places for waterfalls.

One time, even with our path carefully marked, we got lost in the driest patch of forest you’ve ever seen. We were probably lucky to find our way out of the woods.

But finally, coming to our senses, we ditched the spiral-bound book and bought a legitimate map of the area with a brochure listing the area’s waterfalls.

That’s when our successful hunt for waterfalls began.

Issaqueena Falls quickly became one of my favorites. Not only can you hike all the way down a steep incline to the bottom. Once you get there, you can venture behind the falls and feel the spray of water as it cascades over the mountain.

According to legend, Issaqueena was a Cherokee girl who fell in love with an enemy of her tribe. When she overheard her tribe planning an attack, she set out to warn her lover. Her tribesmen, seeking revenge, chased her through the woods and she escaped by pretending to leap over the falls to her death. But she landed on a ledge out of sight behind the waterfall and went on to marry her lover.

I love a happy ending!

Looking back over my photos made me realize that visiting waterfalls was a great bonding experience with our grandchildren. We invited them on many hikes, and they enjoyed the waterfalls as much as we did.

Ramsey Creek Falls at Chau Ram County Park is another place we visited several times with our grandchildren. With around 4 miles of hiking trails, picnic tables, and a nice little beach, it’s a great place to take kids. Ramsey Creek flows into the Chauga River and has the added bonus of a suspension bridge.

What grandkid doesn’t love a suspension bridge?

We saw teenagers tubing down the rapids, but our grandkids preferred to watch tadpoles and minnows in the shallow parts of the creek.

The waterfall pictured above is accessible by boat on Lake Keowee. We anchored our boat in the cove, then spent the morning swimming and nervously watching the kids climb rocks.

Our grandchildren are much older now and don’t hike with us as often. Teenagers and twenty-somethings tend to become involved in their own all-consuming activities. But the hikes when they were young were special.

As I share these waterfall pictures with you, I’m sharing memories of our young grandchildren, too. I hope these hikes with Grandma and Grandad hold special memories for them as they move on with their lives.

I read somewhere that simple moments with your grandchildren become priceless memories. I also read that life is like a waterfall: always moving.

Thanks to Anne Bonfert for this great prompt. Waterfalls have always been close to my heart!

There are a lot of amazing stories in Globetrotters this month about waterfalls. Here are a couple of them you should check out.

Belcairn wrote this one, which made me eager to visit Canada.

I love the gorgeous pictures in this article by Michele Maize, but I also enjoyed her narrative because I relate to her love of nature, hiking, and healthy eating.