After completing my previous hike to Buffalo Arch, I was left hungry, hot, and sweaty. I grabbed some food on the drive back to the campground, but as I sat there watching storm clouds tease a pending downpour, I decided that I wasn't going to stay here another night. It's not a bad place and Bandy Creek Campground, where I was staying is very nice, but this humidity is just killing me. I quickly break down my tent and decide to head for home. As I drive out though, the clouds seem to become a little less angry and I decide to get in one more short hike before I leave the area. I'm told Angel Falls is more of a rapid than a true waterfall, I guess I'll find out for myself.
Being so close to the campground and the park's visitor center, there is definitely a lot more human activity here than at my last trailhead. That said, it's still not very busy. I park the jeep and quickly hit the trail. While I'm always a fast hiker, I want to beat the rain should the clouds change their mind. Along this entire hike, I maintain a nearly 4.5 mile pace.
The trail follows the extremely muddy Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, for which this area and park are named. The trail is very rocky with a few soft muddy sections. At a couple of spots, I'm forced to climb down and then back up as I cross small streams flowing out of the cliffs and into the river. It breaks up the monotony a bit.
I pass a few folks along the way, but for a Saturday, it's still not very busy. Perhaps the pending storm or the monstrous humidity is keeping people away. I would say that people should be swimming in the river to cool off, but this thing is brown with mud from the recent rains.
Finally reaching the "falls", I leave the trail and head out onto the rocks jutting out of the riverbed. This is far from a waterfall and is really nothing more than a set of quick-moving rapids. I bet it would be fun to take a kayak through this section, but as I don't have a kayak with me, I'm a little unimpressed with the site before me. Ah well, I wanted to get a few more miles in and I've done that now.
I turn and head back towards the jeep. When I reach the parking lot, I'm once again a sweaty mess. I see that I've hiked another 3.9 miles, which makes for a reasonably good day on the trails. I just wish this last hike had as big a payoff as the first one did. You can't win them all, I suppose.
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