September 30, 2015 - Middle Prong Wilderness Area with Kevin Adams

I got a call from my good friend Kevin Adams asking me if I wanted to join him on a shoot along Buckeye Creek in the Middle Prong Wilderness Area and I said 'you bet!' I know I'll see some good stuff if I'm out with Kevin. He's working on the next edition to his North Carolina Waterfalls guide book and will have all of the particulars on getting to Buckeye Creek in it. I will tell you this - there's a trail that will get you close to the creek, but there's no trail up the creek to see the waterfalls.  My friends Bernie, Harry, and I had been up this creek back in 2007, but apparently we didn't go up far enough. Kevin and I began the day up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and you get a feeling it's going to be a good day when this is your view from the parking area.

view from the BRP

The hike in was uneventful. There was a little color along the trail, but it's mostly yellows at this elevation. Today wasn't about chasing color, tho - it was about chasing waterfalls. Kevin had been in to this creek a while back on a sunny day - so he wasn't happy with the images he took. Today the creek was gushing, it was mostly overcast, and the rocks were still wet from last night's rains - excellent shooting conditions. The creek was pretty right away, but Kevin had particular destinations along the creek in mind, so we headed right for those. I'm glad we did because they were absolutely beautiful. Here a sample -

We also decided to stop at a nice small waterfall on Middle Prong.

waterfall on Middle Prong

By the time we got back to the vehicles, I was absolutely whooped - but I just had to stop at the overlook at Second Falls on the way home. It's been so foggy and rainy here in the last week, and this was the first day I could see the falls from the Parkway. It may be the last for a while too if that hurricane heads this way.

Second Falls from the BRP