If you visit nearby Linville Falls or the Cascades off the Blue Ridge Parkway and generally there are people everywhere. Why have we been drawn to waterfalls for millennia? That question occurred to me recently while chasing waterfalls in and around Asheville, Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina. I often say that while the NC coast has the ocean, in the mountains we have streams, rivers and waterfalls, so, to each his or her own! Or both!
Hiking to a waterfall enhances the payoff. The journey is often a reward in and of itself, but when you first catch that sound of cascading water in the distance, it enlivens the senses and the anticipation. Speaking of sounds, remember those early white noise machines with different settings including: rain, streams, and forest sounds but, ironically enough, not waterfalls (perhaps the original white noise!). Maybe those machines didn’t include waterfalls because many are pretty powerful. In fact, the energy of the rushing water in headlong tumult is often my first impression, my initial takeaway from encountering a waterfall. If you don’t believe waterfalls are alive, follow a section of water from the top to the bottom of the falls. It’s literally a pulse of water and it seems to float in slow motion as your eyes track it.
Time for some science. Waterfalls (and, in all fairness to our coastal friends, ocean waves) create negatively charged ions in the air. A Columbia University study showed that negative ions increase levels of serotonin (the happy chemical in our brains), and help relieve stress. Some people even report visiting waterfalls makes them feel invigorated. Personally, I felt a kind of mental cleansing…a scrubbing of the neurons, clearing stressors out of my system. All is right with the world standing near a waterfall.
Time for some geology. How do waterfalls form? In their meandering, streams and rivers cross boundaries of rock types. When flowing water crosses from hard to soft rock, it erodes or cuts the soft rock and steepens the transition over time. Fun fact: Niagara Falls is retreating a few feet every year!
I have MANY favorite waterfalls nearby, but I’ll highlight just two of them. One is Laurel Fork Falls not far from Watauga Lake. The first half of the 5.5-mile roundtrip is flat, the rest is more technical but not that steep. When you reach the falls, the cove opens up into a gorgeous amphitheater, a concert of moving water and rock. In fact, a young couple was having their engagement photos taken there when we arrived. The unspoken, yet powerful message is, “Sit down, decompress, dip your toes and soak up the peace and beauty.” The second is Rainbow Falls (the 3-mile roundtrip trail begins in Gorges State park and ends inside the Pisgah National Forest). We didn’t get the advertised rainbow as the sun wasn’t at the right angle, but not because there wasn’t enough mist (hello negative ions!). I walked down to the boulders at the bottom and five seconds was all I could take of the billowing mist before becoming completely soaked through (like walking through a high-pressure car wash!). We think of water as soft or seeking the path of least resistance, but the power from the 150-foot drop was inspiring and palpable!
Time for a road trip! From my ferry ride on the “Maid of the Mist” at thundering Niagara Falls to the breathtaking and majestic Bridalveil Fall at Yosemite National park to standing under and behind the petite but magical Moore Cove Falls, I can say I’m hooked on waterfalls and can’t wait to collect more of them. My advice: DO go chasing waterfalls!
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