(Listen to LP’s Forever For Now for the title’s inspiration and to add a motivational-funk edge to your next 47 minutes)
Featuring:
Lorena Perez ’12 (Trip Leader & D.O. Intern)
Bri Lazevnick ’15 (Trip Leader and D.O. VP)
Cam Parker ‘15
Jonathon Ferguson ‘17
Chase Conrad ‘18
As much as I love and miss TLC, they were very wrong to tell us not to chase waterfalls… it’s actually a great thing to do. And lucky for you Wildcats, Panthertown, NC (A.K.A. Waterfall Central USA) is only a two-and-a-half hour trip away – the perfect amount of time to:
-Listen to a couple of your favorite playlists/albums
-Share real life or not-real life stories with your fellow trip mates
-Enjoy cinnamon-raisin bagels with honey-nut cream cheese
-Nurse whatever effects a late night out and an early morning up have to offer
-Or if you are like our crew, all of the above.
We arrived at the trailhead bright eyed and bushy tailed and embarked with our packs in tow. A couple of minutes down the trail, mid poop-talk, music began to play, leading us to believe we were about to walk up on a marriage ceremony. I was hoping to find church in the wild, but farther down the trail saw that it was only a speaker fastened high on a tree and booming an epic Lord of the Rings-esque soundtrack through the forest. Although the practicality wasn’t there, I completely appreciated the effort and experience.
It wasn’t long before we reached our campsite, complete with an ambient creek. And after each of us hand at the bear hang game we hit the trail with our fannies. Because there are so many waterfalls, (in our two days we didn’t hit half of them) there are lots of methods for exploration in Panthertown, from following streams to bushwhacking to using the footpaths – which was our personal favorite. The great thing about the footpaths is that they aren’t always visible, prompting mandatory I-Spy games to find the trail markers that often look very similar to three-ring binders.
The best part about these waterfalls is that they are all unique. I tried to tap into my inner “crazy Appalachia” man to get to know them all: falls, cascades, one suitable to eat lunch next to, some perfect for walking under, a few that had the potential to make great slides, a couple convenient to sit on, some that offered pristine swimming holes, and others finished the job the rain had started – drenching us – with or without our consent. The first fall we found actually had, of all things, a white sand beach begging for folding chairs, Kenney Chesney and a cooler (a note to future hiking parties).
Add a Thanksgiving dinner, boiled cake, stolen bear hang, sublime thrift shorts, and a delicious double-dutch session and my first D.O. trip was definitely a success – full of new friends, memories, and waterfalls.