“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”
John Muir
I took a break from writing to celebrate Mother’s Day with my wife, as her favorite activity, besides visiting with family, is to take a walk in the woods and see some new place, ideally with water, in the wilds.
We live in a county that is about 85% National Forest Land and is part of the recently designated area called The Kentucky Wildlands. Geographically we’re on the western edge of The Wildlands and Appalachia. We have dozens of waterfalls and natural arches, most of which are just a few miles from our house. Our county is also home to Cumberland Falls, one of only two waterfalls in the world that has a moonbow – the other one being Victoria Falls in Africa. The area is also one of the more biodiverse areas in the country. For instance, we’ve seen black bears, bobcats, muskrat, turkey, deer, eagles, herons, and many other animals crisscrossing our yard. Our flora is just as diverse. One forester counted over 40 species of trees on our land, including species you usually see higher up in the mountains or farther north, like white pines, hemlocks, and rhododendrons. All this natural beauty is why we decided to move here. That, and we’re only 15 minutes away from shopping and a small hospital. Oh, we also have a scenic train ride only minutes away.
We’ve been somewhat limited on how much time we spend exploring the Wildlands around us. First, it was building and finishing the house. Then, it was the pandemic. Now, it’s finding the natural wonders themselves.
I grew up out west, and one of the things I took for granted was how well trails and scenic areas were marked. Here, not so much (I’m being kind). For instance, our exploration yesterday was driven by an ad in a magazine with a picture of a beautiful waterfall. Only the name was in a faint, tiny font. We found the falls on the internet and then tried to find it. It’s only 16 miles away from our house, but there are no signs announcing the falls. We barely saw the sign for the gravel road number. It was only 3-4 inches high, maybe 10 inches wide, and was old and faded (with a few bullet holes). The road was a narrow one-lane gravel trail that emptied into a 1-2 car parking spot (the second spot could only be accessed by a 4-wheel drive vehicle because you had to drive up onto a big mound of dirt).
But it was all worth it. A short 2-3 minute walk took us to the waterfalls and the gorge the creek had carved out. The whole adventure was a good reminder for my trips – to explore the out of the way places.
Below is a picture of the falls. A more daring person, who was either willing to step to the edge of a deep gorge, or climb down, might have gotten a better picture, but it was beautiful from where we stood. Also note – the waterfall is much taller than it looks in the picture.
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