Clark Creek Waterfalls

Monday, I was going to get some waterfalls in Mississippi.  After checking out of the hotel, I drove south from Natchez on US-61 to Woodville and headed west on Pinkneyville Road to Clark Creek Natural Area.  Although it's just a couple miles from the Mississippi River, this area is extremely hilly and contains a number of waterfalls.  After paying the day-use fee, I started down the Clark Creek Trail.  It's an old road but heads down steeply, so I knew it would be a steep hike back up on the way out.  Soon I made it to spur to the 1st waterfall, flowing down in three ribbons.

Although it didn't have high water flow, it was taller than I expected and the small gorge was really scenic.

Next I headed to the 2nd waterfall.

Mississippi really needs to work on waterfall naming.  The trail ended at an overlook and I had to climb down a rope to reach the base.

I was really amazed at how rocky this little tributary was.

Some of the boulders were huge.  From here, I got back on the main trail and spotted some pretty butterweed blooming next to a wet area.

I finished up the Clark Creek Trail at a tributary, downstream from the first two waterfalls.  No waterfalls here, but there were some nice patches of wild blue phlox.

From here, I took the Waterfall Trail towards the northern part of the park.  At a graffiti-covered shelter, I found a path that headed down to the gorge at the 6th waterfall.

It was a fairly easy climb down to this one and there were some wildflowers blooming in the creek by the falls.

Next, I creek-walked downstream a short ways to the 5th waterfall.  This one was pretty big and I wouldn't be able to just climb down.  A scramble path along the wall of the gorge led to a rope tied to a tree and I was able to climb down into the gorge using the rope.

The 5th waterfall was a big one and very scenic though all of these waterfalls were pretty low flow.  It would have been tough to climb back up so I just creek-walked down this tributary.

Where it flowed into Clark Creek, I turned right and creek-walked up to the 4th waterfall.  This was my favorite in the park.

It may have been the biggest one and the setting was just beautiful with lots of wildflowers blooming all around.

I was also able to walk behind this one.  Creek-walking back, I got on the Primitive Trail and continued following Clark Creek downstream on dry land.

In under half a mile, the trail forded a creek near the property boundary and then headed steeply up to a summit with a shelter, but it was so overgrown, there were no views from here.  I did spot some beautiful red buckeye blooming along here.

Continuing down, the trail shortly passed two unnamed waterfalls, I'm calling them 7th and 8th.  The trail passed right over the top of the 7th waterfall and it was a small one, so easy to climb down to see it.

Then the trail passed the 8th, which is just downstream of 7th.  This one was a bigger falls in two sections and it was quite strenuous getting down.

I didn't go all the way down to the creek, but had a decent straight-on view from the steep slope.  Soon I reached the southwest corner of the park and the trail turned to the east following another tributary upstream.  Where the trail turned north away from the tributary, I tried creek-walking further up but didn't find another waterfall.  There was one on another tributary where the trail turned, which I'm calling the 9th, and I was able to get up to the base of this one.

From here, the trail got really steep heading up.  I really couldn't believe how steep these Mississippi trails were.  In under a mile, the trail crossed the top of the 3rd waterfall.  This one had another really steep descent into the gorge.

I had almost completed the loop and this would be my last waterfall in the park, so I had a snack down here enjoying the views.

Then I made the steep ascent back up to the trail and finished up the Primitive Trail near the 1st Waterfall.  The rest of the hike back was just a half-mile, but it was steep and I was definitely feeling it in my legs by now.  Not expected for Mississippi.

Back at the car, I had a long drive ahead of me.  I had gotten waterfalls in Louisiana and Mississippi, so my next target was Florida.  I took back roads back into Louisiana and got on US-61 south to Baton Rouge.  Then it was I-12 to I-10 and the long drive east.  After three and a half hours or so, I needed to stretch my legs so got off I-10 at exit 61 in Mississippi for Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge.  The visitor center was closed on Monday, so I just hiked the C.L. Dees Nature Trail.

The trail makes a three-quarter mile loop through a wet pine savanna, the habitat of the critically endangered Mississippi subspecies of sandhill crane.  This subspecies is non-migratory and lives year round in these savannas.

I didn't see any cranes, but did spot some pitcher plants and wildflowers blooming, like these yellow jessamine.

There was also a lot of saw palmetto in the understory.

Looping back towards the start, the trail runs along Bayou Castille.

Towards the end, there was a marsh overlook at a swampy portion of the bayou.

A cypress tree draped in Spanish moss was just past the overlook.  Then I finished the trail back up to the parking lot.

I reluctantly got back in the car and continued east for about another 3 hours to Chipley, Florida and stayed at the Comfort Inn.

Sicily Island Hills Waterfalls

For the first week of March, I headed to the Gulf Coast region.  Sounds a bit crazy, but I was going there to find some waterfalls!  I flew out of RDU on Saturday to New Orleans.  After getting my rental car, I drove north to Natchez, Mississippi and stayed at the Hampton Inn.  Sunday morning, I headed back into Louisiana to JC Sonny Gilbert Wildlife Management Area.  Formerly known as Sicily Island Hills WMA, this unique area is an oasis of hills in a desert of flat.  I took US-425 across the river and into Louisiana to Sicily Island and then followed LA-8 past Leland.  The terrain along the drive could not have been flatter and it seemed remarkable that I would soon be hiking steep hills to waterfalls.  The turn was hard to spot and I initially passed it and had to make a U-turn.  Fortunately, there's not much traffic around here.  On the second pass, I spotted the sign and turned onto a gravel road.  Immediately, there was a fork and I went left where right went to a flea market.  The road was quite steep but easy to drive.  I stopped at the check station to fill out a self-clearing permit and went about another mile to the Rock Falls Trailhead.  A kiosk and shelter make the trailhead easy to spot.  From here, I started hiking the red-blazed trail.  It headed steeply down to the rim of a small ravine and soon I could hear the waterfall and spotted it from the trail.  I scrambled down into the ravine to get some pictures of this small but scenic waterfall.

At 17 feet, it's the highest in Louisiana.

The watershed for this little tributary is very small and I imagine it completely dries up at times.

But it was flowing pretty good today and I knocked another state off the 50 States Waterfall Challenge.

I finished up the surprisingly steep trail back at the road and headed back to the car.  From here, I backtracked to LA-8 and turned left on LA-913 and then again on LA-915.  The turn for the northern entrance was easier to spot and I headed back into the WMA.  In about 2 miles was the trailhead for St. Mary's Falls.  This green-blazed trail is another loop of about a mile.  Almost immediately, there was a split and I went right.  The trail headed steeply down and came to another small ravine with two tributaries.

St. Mary's Falls was visible directly across, so I climbed down to get some shots.

St. Mary's Falls drops about 10 feet and there was a small grotto behind the falls.

I climbed around to get behind the waterfall.

After a couple pictures, I noticed the other tributary that flows into Sandy Bayou also has a small unnamed waterfall just upstream.

It's about a 5-foot cascade over a rock face and had a big pool in front of it.  Continuing on the trail, it followed Sandy Bayou downstream.  Despite the name, the creek was very rocky with some nice cascades and didn't seem like a "bayou" to me.

Then the trail departs the creek and heads back up to finish the loop.  Although well-blazed, there wasn't much of a trail and it was more like a bushwhack.  Back at the car, I drove about another half-mile down the road to the trailhead for Big Creek Trail.  This is the longest hiking trail in the WMA - a 7 mile loop.  The trail split shortly and I went to the left.  For less than a mile, the trail follows an old road then heads into the woods.  The remainder of the trail, if you can call it that, was mostly a bushwhack, but with plentiful blazes, it was easy to follow.

But it was quite steep in places, really surprising for Louisiana.  Initially, it was a lot of downhill, but that means plenty of uphill at the end.  And there were numerous creek crossings, though most were very easy.  Being early March, the wildflowers were not at their peak, but I did see a lot of little violas.

I also saw some pretty yellow wildflowers, some type of ragwort, but I think it's still too early for them to really pop.  Eventually, I got to a swampy area at one of the main tributaries to Big Creek.

Following this downstream, the trail leveled off and soon I was following Big Creek.

There were a couple of really scenic cascades along Big Creek and I stopped at one for lunch.

The trail followed Big Creek for a couple of miles and then follows another major tributary of the creek upstream.  Heading downstream, the floodplain along big creek got more and more swampy.

At one point, the blazes were along submerged trees but I was able to bushwhack along the side and stay dry.

Then I came to a crossing of the tributary where there was no getting across dry.  So I took off my boots and started to wade, but realized it would be at least waist deep so turned back.  I was way over half-way through the loop and didn't want to turn around.  So I bushwhacked up a steep bluff and was able to get around the crossing - should have tried that first!  A little further was another real nice cascade along this tributary and I stopped for some pictures here.

Continuing to follow the tributary upstream, the little creek soon petered out and then trail then started to get really steep heading back up to the start.

Back at the car, I started making my way back towards Natchez.  It was still relatively early, so near Ferriday, I stopped at Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge.  Being Sunday, the headquarters were closed, so I hiked the short trail to the Cypress Creek Boardwalk.  This trail was a lot flatter and more like I would expect in Louisiana.

The trail runs through an interesting forest of palmetto along the hike to the boardwalk.  The boardwalk leads out to a viewpoint of Bayou Cocodrie.

The observation deck itself was built around a huge cypress tree and it seemed like a good place to take a rest beneath this ancient giant.

After a couple pictures, I headed back.  I believe there are more trails in the refuge, but it's kind of confusing and the visitor center was closed, so I just headed back to Natchez.  Plus I was getting hungry so stopped for fast food in Vidalia.

After dropping my stuff back at the hotel, I took a walk through Natchez.  There are a number of beautiful old historic homes in town.

It was too late for a tour of Rosalie Mansion, so I followed the winding road down to the river then took Silver Street up.  I walked along the Nature Trail below the bluff down to the casino and then the Bluff Trail above to the Natchez Gazebo.

Heading back, I stopped at Under the Hill Saloon for a beer and sat outside to watch the sunset.

It was a really beautiful one over the river and the bridge.  After finishing my drink, I headed back to the hotel.

First Signs of Spring

Sunday was my last hike along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the Triangle.  We parked at the Pleasant Green access to Eno River State Park and hiked to Pump Station and back.  To mix things up a bit, we went right at the splits at Eno Quarry Trail, Cabe Lands Trail, and Pump Station Trail and then took Mountains-to-Sea Trail the whole way back.  Although it's still February, we saw some of the first signs of spring - trout lilies.

There were nice patches of them blooming all along the trail.

Another early spring flower was blooming as well - daffodils.  These ornamental flowers are not natural, but a patch of them indicates a former homestead.

The bulbs come back year after year for decades.  There was a nice patch of them next to an old tobacco barn.

Pat spotted two buildings that I had never noticed before.  The roofs on them appear new, so maybe something for park operations.

Our turnaround spot was the old Durham Pump Station, which had a huge number of trout lilies blooming.

We had a snack here, before heading back.  It rained just a little on the way back, not enough to get wet but kind of refreshing.