Mark's Photo Travels

With some time off this week and no bad weather to go with it (for once), I'm finally able to head out and visit a waterfall. I chose Falls Creek Falls in  northern Greenville County  because I knew from a previous visit a few years ago this one would not disappoint. And it certainly didn't. From my previous visit, I remembered the trail being steep and strenuous most of the way. My memory can be faulty at times, but not this time. The parking area and a small trailhead are located off of Fall Creek Road. I made sure to register at the kiosk first, just in case. I followed the stairs and began the uphill climb. This trail is well marked with purple blazes. Eventually, the trail leveled off and then began trending downhill as I neared the crossing over Little Falls Creek. Soon, the steep uphill climb resumed through a series of switchbacks. At one switchback turn, I heard a waterfall over on Little Falls Creek, now some distance away to the east. Budding trees...

Recently, I went on an excursion to Pickens County to hike portions of the railroad bed left behind by the Appalachian Lumber Company railroad. The Appalachian Lumber Company was a short lived logging company (1927-1929) with a railroad track from Town Creek to its lumber mill up in Jocassee Gorges. A flood in 1929 wiped out the company's railroad track in the Jocassee Gorges area which soon forced the company to declare bankruptcy in June 1929. Most of the rails have long since been salvaged, but a few were left behind. But first, I stopped at SC 186 at the Saluda River to take a photo of Old Earls Bridge , a historic steel truss bridge spanning the Saluda River a few hundred yards downstream of the current concrete one. Or at least it was. The bridge is gone, only the abutments remained. My second stop was the Town Creek Park in the city of Pickens, SC. The park is home to the Playground of Promise, a popular playground if my visit was any indication, and to Town Creek...