Haw Creek Falls Campground
April 3, 2004
When the weather finally decided to
cooperate for a weekend, I thought Haw Creek Falls would be a
good early spring campground choice given it's proximity to
Pack Rat Falls, Pam's Grotto, and Pedestal Rocks.
As soon as we stepped out of the truck we
could hear the rushing of the falls and the creek. It sure was
going to be a great sound to sleep by! The sky was blue and the
sun warm, and there were enough leaves on the trees to make a
partial shade.
Here and there were patches of lavender
Blue Phlox, tiny white stars with pink stripes called Spring
Beauty, and more Triliums than I've ever seen in one place. The
red star flowers are called Fire Pink, the blue ones are
Bird's-Foot Violets, and the strings of purplish-white flowers
are Wood Vetch. I shot the end of a Redbud tree limb with its
distinctive purplish-pink flowers. In the background was a
pretty shrub covered with tiny round flowers, but I think it
was some cultivated variety because it was next to the road and
I never saw another the entire weekend. I also spotted
Dutchman's Breeches, yellow Large-Flowered Bellwort, and
Jack-In-The-Pulpit, but I didn't snap any photos of them.
Once we set up camp, Stacey dug out a big
rubber snake and we all started making plans on how to scare
Brad with it once he arrived a little later with Darrel and
Wanda. Afterwards I scurried up the drainage below Pack Rat
Falls to survey the amount of water there. I got far enough up
to see several beautiful cascades, then turned around to go
tell the others. They were down at Haw Creek Falls taking in
the view. By that time Darrel and Wanda had shown up to spend
the afternoon with us.
James, Melinda, Brad, Cait, Callie, Cory,
Stacey, Grant and I headed up to see Pack Rat Falls, while
Darrel and Cliff stayed in camp. I brought our video camera to
see if I might could make a movie out of the footage. It
probably took us 20 minutes to make it to the falls. Once there
we all just sat there and enjoyed the waterfall for a while.
The only pictures I have of the trip are some grainy images
captured from the video camera. I learned three things from the
videotaping experiment: 1) You need to use a tripod to keep the
camera still; 2) It's better to go alone to avoid your buddies
talking in the background or getting into the background
of your picture; 3) I need a better camcorder.
Still, I put together a couple of small
videos of the trip up to Pack Rat Falls and of Haw Creek Falls.
You can see them by clicking the thumbnail images at the bottom
of this page. You'll need QuickTime (free)
installed on your computer.
