The search for Rainbow Falls at Chimney Rock NC

11/30/18. Lisa and I

I picked the trail this time. I wanted to go to Chimney Rock and hike the Weed Patch Trail and go to Eagle Rock and the Tunnel Trail. These are new and just opened in May. To park at the Eagle Rock parking area you have to get a permit online. There are only 8 parking spots. The parking has a gate and a lock that they give you the combination for.

We took off down the trail and the first thing we see is a pile of rocks. We like nothing better than climbing. The views were awesome to.

It was hard to climb but of course Lisa made it to the top. I went below to get her pic. The far side had about a 100 ft drop.

It was a little much for me to climb but then I found out she went along the other side and up through a small tunnel. Maybe I could of but we continued hiking.

We continued down the trail and came to Eagle Rock.

It was a huge rock that rock climbers like. We could not find a way to climb on this one. We walked on all sides and couldn’t do it.

mThere was a fallen tree on the rock next to it that she used as a ladder. I never trust a tree! My experience with them is 10 to 1 it’s gonna break!

We walked down the Weed Patch Trail which goes all the way to Chimney Rock, about 9 miles. We turned on the Tunnel trail. It was a nice trail. Stone steps under big rock walls.

It was one big tunnel that really was pretty cool.

Here is where she shared her idea with me that she came up here with. To find Rainbow Falls. We broke out our GPS and turns out it’s only 2 miles! But of course there is not a trail that goes to it! We decide to go find it. It says to go straight down which isn’t possible so we follow the trail back around these rocks and back up to Eagle Rock. GPS says to follow the original trail. Then there is an old road that we follow up then down. It’s now 1.9 miles down towards the falls. Lisa and I are both terrible at map reading and less than ok at reading GPS. I am however good at deciding what goes down must come up so I looked for an easier route!

We go back to the car and head to Chimney Rock to find the easier way. It’s like 1/2 mile from the road. We found an area with a bunch of rental houses and drove to the top and parked. From here we followed our GPS bushwhacking our way up and we come to a road. We follow it a little way and a dirt road goes straight. We take it and come to an area that looks like two dried up waterfalls. One to the left and one to the right. This is where the bushwhacking really begins!

This area is basically an old mudslide area. I believe this area had caught fire years ago. The ground and rocks are a bit unstable around here. The ground is soft there are downed trees and rocks everywhere. Climbing the rocks and climbing this was super hard. Big lesson: never trust a tree! Every tree I grabbed basically came right out of the ground. When there is a waterfall to bushwhack Lisa is like a crazy person! Nothing is gonna stop her. She gets supercharged like the energizer bunny! I wasn’t gonna let her miss another waterfall because I couldn’t make it so I told her to go ahead. I sat there for a while and it was raining. I climbed some more than sat for a while. Then I climbed some more.

I got to the base of a giant climb nearly straight up! She text said she found it. I said I’m not coming up there. She said she was heading back and I climbed some more. She slid down to where I was and found an easier route and of course I followed.

So a little more climbing and I made it to this elusive falls! Bragging rights! Whoop whoop! I made it!

From here we looked directly at Hickory Nut Falls on Chimney Rock. If you google this Falls it will tell you it’s not accessible and you can only view it from up on Chimney Rock in the winter. Wanna bet!

We had some lunch it was now 3:30. Time to get! It gets dark so early. We followed pink ribbons back which was higher up so we would have to climb down to the easy route but I said no let’s go down the rocks. This area was almost straight down! Lisa went first.

She videoed me coming down. It was so funny. I said only go so far and wait for me! Like she was gonna catch me if I couldn’t stop! 😳

We slid down all the way to the bottom. Then the hard climb down began. Back in the mudslide area! Most of this I went down like a crab. On our first scary hike she gave me this talk about 3 point contact. This time I was using 5 point contact, 2 hands, 2 feet and my butt! She went high and I went low and we met at the bottom.

We got back on the road. We were so dirty (mainly from the leaf slide). I was very wet from climbing down that hill on my butt.

I figured I ripped a hole in my hiking pants!

Good thing she has beach towels on her truck seats or I might have to ride in the back!

I’m always following her on crazy hiking adventures. I never think I’m strong enough and I always amaze myself when it’s over! Now if I could do these with as much confidence and ease as her!

What’s a little dirt when you have adventures with a friend! 🏔⛰🍃🦅