First Attempt at Reaching the Limestone Kilns + Waterfall Safety

Early this afternoon I stepped into the backwoods of Gorges State Park in search of some local history - The Lime Kilns. These are a series of ovens carved into the mountainside that were used by early settlers to cook quicklime, a substance comprised of lime and other minerals baked at incredibly high temperatures. They literally baked limestone bricks inside raw limestone found in the Appalachian countryside.

Combine these incredibly interesting artifacts with the series of intertwining logging roads from the early 1900s and you get a pretty interesting walk back in time. Old well heads and pieces of old tools litter the valley below, and throughout the trail you’ll see pieces of old infrastructure such as corrugating pipes and rusty gates.

The kilns are tucked away about five or so miles down the Auger Hole trail and down the mountain via a shoddy footpath. The only thing that stood between me and these unique pieces of local history was a river crossing - and stand in my way it did. While the rapids were not roaring like I’ve seen them do before (we’ll explore those together this spring though..trust me), the approach did reach up to my shins and was flowing hard enough to where I couldn’t afford to roll the dice on grabbing something if I fell. As heartbreaking as it was to leave the kilns behind, I figure they’ll still be there when I decide to try again.

Ok, now for the serious part.

Rainbow Falls, Gorges State Park

On my way into the forest I received a call stating that two people had fallen over Rainbow Falls, a local 125-foot behemoth that’s been taking people’s lives since before I was born and all throughout my life. It is a beautiful sight, so beautiful that I’ve probably been there more than any other natural locale in my life, but it is unforgiving. I’ll put everyone’s hearts at ease and say that these two folks made it out relatively unscathed by luckily clinging to tree branches on the way down, but this is a true anomaly. Had I not made the decision to turn around when I did, I could’ve been the next body that our faithful Rescue Squad had to fish out of the river, and I use the hard language purposefully as these recoveries take their toll on the hearts of our local heroes.

Spring is in the air, so let’s all get out into the world and go on adventures. Let’s conquer mountaintops and descend into hidden valley gems. Let’s swap stories of all the wild things that happen where wild hearts roam free, but let’s take caution when necessary.

Adventure On!

-JGM