It is raining cats and dogs as I drive down 85 towards Decatur. I take Exit 1 to the right just before the SC/GA border and drive North past Hartwell State Park on Highway 11 (The Cherokee Foothills Highway) towards Oconee Station. Every few miles along the 25 mile trip are signs pointing the way to waterfalls: Lake Keowee waterfalls, Chatooga waterfalls. The side roads along the way are Blackjack, Falcon's Lair, and Earth Berm. I pass the No Sweat Auction, Jehovah's Witness and Seventh Day Adventist churches.
Just after the imposing Spring Heights Baptist church is an apple orchard and a field of orange pumpkins.
Soon there is a left turn onto Oconee Station Rd which takes me two miles down to the entrance on the right.
A green truck pulls into the parking lot in front of me. There is no one else here, not even a ranger in the tiny ranger cabin. The couple from the green truck and I read the notes posted outside the cabin, join forces and find our way up the hill to the two stone buildings which were at times, the Indian Trading Post, the outpost to ward off battles with the Indians, a trading post again, a private home and then a vacation home. From there we find a trail though the hardwood forest which is a kind of orange rivulet from the iron soaked water coursing down the mountain.
Will and Karen are kayakers who have come up from Florence to kayak at Devil's Fork. Their pontoon tour to view waterfalls has been cancelled due to the driving rain and they have left their tent to find their own waterfall. We find we are kindred spirits, who love the state parks, the woods, the water, the wildlife.
The beautiful trail winds around the mountain where mist is rising from streams below. After a while we come to the very road we came in on and cross it to continue the trail. There is a trail that goes off to the right that you can take to Oconee State Park through the woods in 2 and a half miles.
Further on, we hear the high screech of birds which turns out to be children playing at the foot of the falls. The sight before us is astounding. We cross the stream over smooth stones, crawl across rocks and breathe in the negative ions of the misty air. A family is here with two small boys of about 3 and 4 cavorting in the water, skipping across the rocks, their clothes totally soaked. One boy laughing, gives me a big acorn he has found. We take photos of ourselves standing on the rocks in the water with the falls behind us.
We are in awe. We are soaked. My pants are covered in red mud where I slipped on the trail.
I drive down to Decatur singing along with the radio.
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