The Day After 'Hurricane Florence' Visit to Misty Falls, Evans Falls, and Mashbox Falls

On Sunday, the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed through the area, dumping a few inches of rain and some gusty breezes. The next day was cloudy, especially where in the mountains where I needed it to be, making it a perfect day to explore some normally low flow waterfalls at their best. I chose to visit Misty Falls, Evans Falls, and Mashbox Falls, three waterfalls clustered near each other near the portion of U.S. 276 that ascends Caesars Head Mountain.

I parked at a pull-off within a short distance ahead of the intersection of U.S. 276 and old Oil Camp Creek Road. I got my gear, and walked down the side of the road to the intersection.

An old fading stop sign remains from years past.

Another parking area is located a few hundred feet down old Oil Camp Creek Road:

A green gate prevents vehicles from passing through overgrowth would do that job just fine even if the gate was open.

Some areas were so overgrown I almost thought I was bushwacking:

I continued down Oil Camp Creek Road, following the switchbacks, to a red gate stands just beyond where Pinnacle Pass Trail joins the road.

After even more switchbacks, I made it to the intersection with an old overgrown logging road. Fortunately, I knew where it was from previous visits, or else I would never have noticed it (the logging road starts where that log is laying):

I followed the old logging road mostly by watching old road grade. See the barely discernible ruts?

The old logging road does have a few spots where the rhododendrons get a bit too thick to work through easily:

Misty Falls, on a tributary of Oil Camp Creek, was the first waterfall I visited. I approached by bushwacking up the right hand side of the creek (creek left). Once the right hand side became too steep, I switched over the the opposite side (creek right), continuing up a small worn path.

Misty Falls was certainly flowing well today, but it's hard to get a good view from a distance, especially this time of year. Near the base, I got down low and managed to get this shot that mostly captures this waterfall, but from an extreme angle:

I also took some detail shots of the waterfall:

I took a bad video with my cell phone of the waterfall:

As I made my way back down to the old logging road, I spotted a barrel with axe marks that must have been used for making moonshine. I moved closer for a photo:

Evans Falls, on Oil Camp Creek, is a short distance away from Misty Falls right by the old logging road. Between the two waterfalls, I found someone constructed a lean-to:

Evans Falls was is a fine looking waterfall, unfortunately obscured a bit by rhododendrons:

Since videos tend to do waterfalls more justice, I try to remember to take a video at each waterfall. Here's my cell phone video of Evans Falls:

As I followed the old logging road, that becames harder to track in this part, I found the moonshine mashbox and a near buried barrel, both I had seen every other time I've come this way:

The old logging road peters out where there's happens to be a place to cross over to the other side. This turned out to be the most challenging part of the hike. The wet soil was muddy and unstable, and trying to maneuver along the steep slope without the soil giving way proved frustrating. I decided the safer and easier way was to stick to a wide enough rock ledge by the creek.

I took vertical photos from several different perspectives:

And one closeup of the lower section:

Mashbox Falls looks even better in motion:

I tried taking a strenuous shortcut back out, but the soil was too muddy and unstable on the steep slope to make this a shortcut worth taking. I turned around and went back the way I came.
My GPS recording was a bit jumpy this trip due to the terrain, but it does approximately mark the path the old roads:

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I've uploaded my trip photos to an album on Google Photos for your viewing displeasure.