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Waterfall book has wealth of information
Here in late August, smack in the middle of what my grandmother always referred to as “Dog Days” – those hot, sticky, smothering, end-of-summer days we’ve been having lately – it’s refreshing to pick up this week’s reading selection, the revised edition of “North Carolina Waterfalls” by Kevin Adams.
Our Herald hiking team, which consists of Nick, Scott and me, has been putting this volume to good use. Thanks to Adams’ directions, Nick and Scott found several wondrous waterfalls in the sometimes confusing Panthertown Valley, but those photos won’t be available for public view until next summer’s edition of “Across the Mountains.” In addition, we checked Adams’ previous edition to compare notes on describing the best way to Dill Falls as we were working on this summer’s magazine.
Scott decided to branch out on his own one day and explore some Macon County waterfalls, including Dry Falls. He didn’t need Adams’ book to find that one, which is easily accessible from U.S. 64 between Highlands and Franklin, but he did make use of the book to gather information about other Cullasaja River cascades.
Dry Falls, located just off U.S. 64 between Highlands and Franklin, is one of the area’s most easy-to-find waterfalls. A new edition of “Waterfalls of North Carolina” offers directions to many more. – Herald photo by Scott Hotaling
What we especially like about this book are its detailed directions and trail descriptions. Adams writes in a chatty, first-person style, as if he’s giving directions over the telephone to a friend: “At 0.5 mile, a road turns off to the right; don’t take it.”
He’s also careful to issue adequate warnings as reminders of the inherent danger of our beautiful waterfalls: “In fact, from the base of the upper falls, you can just barely make out the brink of the lower falls through the rhododendron,” he writes. “I wouldn’t get any ideas about walking out to the top, though. This is a very dangerous place.”
In addition, Adams is careful to distinguish which waterfalls are on public land from those that must be accessed through private property.
Adams, an excellent photographer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, shares tips on capturing images as well, and he includes pointers for different seasons.
“Shoot from right at the base to eliminate the clutter from the scene,” he says of Dill Falls. “This causes problems with perspective, but it’s better than having a busy composition. After a snowfall, you might be able to shoot from farther back without the scene looking cluttered. Also, when the rhododendron shrubs are blooming, you can back up and emphasize them in the scene.”
The book’s first edition came out in 1994 and has sold more than 40,000 copies. The new edition is completely updated and greatly expanded, including 600 waterfalls to the earlier edition’s 200.
In revising his book, Adams said he found a lot had changed in the 11 years since the first edition. A number of waterfalls that were on public property when he wrote the earlier book were now private and vice versa, he said.
“I decided I needed to completely revise the book and include as much detailed information as possible about each waterfall, particularly regarding access,” he said.
To find the numerous waterfalls, Adams worked hard, looking at U.S. Geological Survey maps for every part of the state. He even looked at the ones for the coast, “just so I could say I studied every topo map,” he said. But even with the maps, Internet and his wide circle of contacts, finding every single waterfall was beyond his grasp, he said.
Part of the problem is that there’s no concrete definition of “waterfall,” he said. The other part is that “it’s impossible for anyone to know how many waterfalls are in a state as big as North Carolina.”
Adams estimates the total to be between 1,000 and 1,500.
That sounds about right to us.
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