The beginning of the trail to Yellow Branch Falls
Cooling off at the Falls
Going for a paddle ?
2nd Falls of the day
Entrance to Stumphouse Tunnel
Original piece of equipment for the tunnel
Tunnel entrance
Hey I'm driving a Chevy !!
Town of Walhalla on route to fallsSlow start to the day as the car hire chap was supposed to collect us to get the car at 9am and turned up at 10.15. I kept my boy under control !!
From then on we had a great day. We started with Yellow Branch Falls not far from Walhalla. A fairly strenuous 2 hour round trip hike through the woods. Temperature has been 90 degrees today so the cool/cold water of the falls was very welcome to cool our feet.
We then moved on to Issaqueena Falls which was a much less stenuous affair. The history of this falls is that it is named after an Indian maiden who hid on a ledge to avoid capture as she fled to warn her English lover of an Indian attack.
Next stop Stumphouse Tunnel and this is really fascinating. In the 1850's they decided to build a railroad from Charleston to Cincinnati. Construction was successful until hitting the mountains around Walhalla in Oconee County. Because they were tunnelling through granite with only pickaxes, sledge hammers and black powder they only advanced 200 feet a month. By the time of The War Between the States they had only completed 4363 feet of the proposed 5863 feet. The tunnel was never completed. In the 1950's the tunnel was bought by Clemson University as they discovered it was a perfect constant temperture and dampness to mature their famous blue cheese, they have since duplicated the conditions at the university and the tunnel is now part of the state parks system and open to visitors.
We walked some distance into the tunnel, about 1600 feet is open to the public, it was soooo cold (and of course damp and dark) but very welcome on such a hot day !!
We stopped off for a look around Walhalla and then home to have a rest before tomorrow's hikes !!
And hey no water towers today !!
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