2/22/2018 - Waterfalls in an unnamed hollow south of Meyer Branch
GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
Parking Location (Hwy 27): 35.59480 -92.90864, 1519 feet
Parking Location #2 (today's parking spot): 35.60487 -92.90839, 1501 ft.
Parking Loc
ation #3: 35.60335 -92.91331, 1347 ft.
Falls #1: 35.60569 -92.91302
Falls #2: 35.60566 -92.91316
Falls #3: 35.60618 -92.91440, 1114 ft.
Falls #4: 35.60617 -92.91508
Falls #5: 35.60642 -92.91529, 1045 ft.
Pet Friendly: No, it is not all that suitable for pets, but it depends on your dog. This is a very steep hollow, with limited access to where the waterfalls are. If your dog needs to be on a leash, forget it. If not, it will still be difficult for most dogs because of the need to climb through access points or maneuver small ledges. I won't bring Boomer to this one, and he prides himself on being quite the mountain dog.
Motorcycle Friendly: Yes, but only if you park on Highway 27 and hike in on the access road to the parking location.
Hiking Statistics: We hiked approximately two miles, with a highest-to-lowest elevation difference of 638 feet. This could be cut even shorter by parking at the new parking location we found. On the other hand, if this road has a berm across it as it did last year, you will add another two miles due to the extra hike back and forth on the access road. This is a very difficult bushwhack. It is a relatively short hike, but it is very steep and somewhat treacherous in places.
 |
| Falls #3 |
There is a long stretch of unnamed hollows along Highway 27 between the bridge where you cross the Middle Fork of the Illinois Bayou and Meyer Branch about seven miles north of that. That bridge is where the Middle Fork and the East Fork flow together to form the Illinois Bayou. The highway runs along the ridge in between these two rivers and has a number of hollows that flow from the highway down to the Middle Fork on the west or the East Fork on the Right. Other than Bear Hollow and Meyer Branch, these hollows have no name that I am aware of. One of those hollows, the one just south of Meyer Branch between Highway 27 and the Middle Fork River, was our target today. We had just had a few days of rain that dropped over four inches of precipitation, so I was looking hard at my "go to in wet weather" list. My hiking partner today, Dan Frew, had just worked a night shift last night, but he was game for getting out today and has an even more extensive "wet weather" list than I do.
 |
| Falls #4 |
To get there, from "The Store" (actually a gas station, not a store, although it does have food) at the corner of Highway 27 and Pine Street in Hector, go 12.3 miles north on Highway 27. Turn left onto the Jeep road. Note - if you don't have a vehicle with good ground clearance, you may want to park on the Highway and walk. When I was here last March, I didn't have any choice. The Forest Service had erected a berm across the Jeep road, so I hoofed it to the top of the hollow and went down the creek from there. Today, there was no berm, so we drove all the way to the top of the hollow, crossing over the top of another unnamed hollow that also has a number of nice waterfalls. The old logging road we took on part of our climb out of the hollow is passable for a good 4WD, so I marked a parking location #3 for any future trips I might make here.
 |
| The creek; virtually one long, continuing cascade. |
We started our hike just hiking down the creek, as I did last year. This is another very steep hollow, as many are along this side of the Middle Fork. The creek is a beautiful continuous cascade of small waterfalls but does not have any sizable waterfalls until you get down to Falls #1 and Falls #2, which are both in hidden box canyons directly above the big one in this hollow, Falls #3. Last year, in dryer conditions with better footing, I was not able to find a way into the small box canyon containing Falls #1, and today we just bypassed it and went for the big Falls #3 first. The bluff along the creek on both sides is very high and very sheer, but on the left (south) side at least we knew there was a way to get below the big lower waterfalls and get back out.
 |
| Falls #3 |
To get below the bluffline to the first bench, which will be the base of Falls #3, you have to go quite a way downstream past the waterfall and make your way along the base of the bluff at that first bench up to the base of Falls #3. There are a couple of points that involve traversing very small ledges, with a steep slope below that before it gets to the edge of the bluff cliff. For a guy like me with an insane fear of heights, that can be a little nerve-wracking. All I can tell you is that you have to pick your way along carefully, but it can be done safely. We didn't take any undue risks on today's hike, but you need to be very careful of foot placement and the potential for slipping. I would consider actually going all the way down the spur on the south side of the creek and come in below the last waterfall, then making your way upstream to Falls #3.
 |
Falls #4
Falls #3 is visible in the background |
Once we made our way to Falls #3, it was all worth it. The recent rains had really made this a spectacular looking waterfall, one that photography doesn't really do justice to. I took some photos for scaling, and by that rough calculation, it is 37 feet tall. From Falls #3, we picked our way carefully downstream to Falls #4, right below it, on the right (north) side this time. Again, this is steep and treacherous, so extreme care is needed here. Falls #4 is not quite as tall as Falls #3 but is even more picturesque. You can easily see Falls #3 above it. Below Falls #4 is yet another waterfall, much shorter but still quite beautiful, Falls #5.
 |
Falls #5 (foreground)
and Falls #4 (background) |
We did not hike the remainder of the creek to where it flows into Middle Fork. That is only another couple of hundred yards downstream, and we could not see anything further downstream. From Falls #5 we followed the base of the bluff downstream as it rose and climbed up to the top of the ridge above the creek here, a very steep climb. From there we angled up and a little south to intersect an old logging road the FS maps showed. I marked a location where we found the old road, and on the trek up the road did not see anything that would prevent a good 4WD with good ground clearance from driving down to that location. It was still a climb up on the old logging road, but that is much easier than bushwhacking back up the mountain.
 |
View from the bluff on the hike out; all three
waterfalls are visible upstream |
Overall, even though it was a relatively short hike of fewer than two miles (4 miles if you park on the highway), I would have to rate this as a very difficult bushwhack. The steepness of the hollow where the big waterfalls are, and the ruggedness of the terrain, combined with a climb out of well over 600 feet, make this a good one to do at least once when the waterfalls are flowing. But now that I have that out of my system, I doubt I will go back to this one. There are just too many places I have yet to explore, and others that I know to be easier hikes with payloads just as good or better. I would recommend this only to experienced hikers, and ones that like a challenge, and like going places and seeing things that other human beings will never see.
 |
North Hwy 27 - Middle Fork Hollow
Red - Hiking Track today
Blue - Access Jeep Road |
No comments:
Post a Comment