I have written previously about my 2020 unsuccessful attempt to find Hog Wild Falls in Jocassee Gorges near my home. I have since given it another go from the opposite direction but again with no success. My hiking buddies Vic and Brian were eager to find the falls, so an expedition was organized with David and Tracy, fellow members of our ad hoc hiking group,
Hog Wild Falls is located on Hog Wild Creek, but herein lies the problem, no trail leads directly to the Creek or Falls. Vic had mapped a route to hike along the Foothills Trail, then follow Wild Hog Rd, an abandoned forest road to as close as we could get to the Falls. This had been the route of my second attempt. We thought the narrow sluice we observed near the forest road was Persistence Falls, but obviously wasn’t when looking at photos others have posted of these falls. We will have to tag that one another day.
We hiked on until the trail disappeared and where I had abandoned my previous attempt. Brian pushed on a little further and called back that he could see a waterfall. We scrambled down and the unnamed falls turned out to be spectacular with lots of beautiful moss growing on the adjacent rock face.
We could see where we needed to go to reach Hog Wild Falls on our apps and there was some discussion on how to get there. We decided to back track then bushwhack toward the general area. We left the road and started down what appeared to be a drainage channel. David had some time restraints and decided to start heading back and four of us persevered on. The hike from this point on became quite the adventure. Lots of climbing over downed trees, pushing through Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurel, hanging on for dear life to tree trunks and roots, sliding down steep slopes on our butts, a lot of hiking on hands and knees and zigzagging in the general direction of the falls. Definitely a slog but terrific fun! And third time was the charm!
I would not recommend this hike for those unfamiliar with off-trail hiking and should probably be hiked during the dormant seasons. Though I am quite comfortable with solo hiking I would not have attempted the bushwhack section alone and am grateful for my hiking friends with similar adventurous souls!
