The Last Remnants of a Fall We Don’t Want to Live Through Again

Not a Fall We Want to Relive, A Holler in Saluda

Today I had to drive a print down to the Tryon Painters and Sculptors gallery and usually when I do this, we go for a hike somewhere in Tryon or Saluda beforehand. My husband and I checked on-line to see if any of the trails we frequent or haven’t visited yet were open. We knew they had been hit hard by Helene in some places, but we didn’t know how hard. Every website for trails we checked said they were closed, but then we checked All Trails and someone said they had hiked the Missing 40 in the Pacolet River Gorge so we set off to find it. We started driving down Pearson Falls Road toward the trailhead but ended up being blocked by trucks with workers clearing debris, so we turned around and drove down US 176 to the other side of Pearson Falls Road. The road parallels the North Pacolet River. We knew Pearson’s Falls was closed, but the same road takes you to the Missing 40. Below are some photographs from our drive. (The image above was actually taken on the far end of Pearson Falls Road, but I put it as the first image since the incongruity between the fall color and the downed trees was most visible in this photograph.)

Where a Structure Might Have Stood

There were downed trees everywhere and several rock and mud slides. You can see the railroad tracks at the top of the image. Saluda is famous for this dangerous railway line, since it was the steepest standard grade railroad in the country. It opened in 1878 and was closed to rail traffic in 2001. Captain Charles Pearson was the chief engineer of the Saluda Grade, which was built to bring goods up the mountain from the South Carolina heat, with the ultimate goal of connecting the the state with Asheville. It was built by convict labor and Pearson chose this vertical route through the gorge to avoid the underground springs dotting the old trading route along Howard’s Gap. (Here’s a link with more information about this railway: http://www.saludahistoricdepot.com/history-of-saluda-railroad.) We don’t know what if anything existed on this spot before, but there was lots of construction debris littering the ground and we know whole structures washed away in Western North Carolina.

Pink House and Destruction with Remaining Vegetation

There were several destroyed houses and culvert pipes sticking out of the ground, as well as piles of dirt from where the river deposited the earth on its path through the holler. I believe most people got out before the floods came and the river powered through, but I know at least one person died from the storm in the Saluda Gorge. Just like in Buncombe County where I live, there was an earlier terrible flood in this area more than a century ago. On June 6, 1903 the river experienced it’s deadliest flood, killing between 60-80 people in the Pacolet River Valley downstream in South Carolina. (https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Publications/PacoletFlood_June1903.pdf). Perhaps the memory of this destruction led people to evacuate before Helene hit. There have been more recent floods in this area as well, but none as severe as what happened with Helene.

Fall Color on the Ground

The trees did their best to hold the earth in place with their roots, but they weren’t a match for Helene’s wrath. We were unable to go any further so we turned around and went to US 176. The sign said it was closed in three miles, but we were able to get to the other side of Pearson Falls Road. In several places, the road was reduced to a single lane. From the top we couldn’t see exactly why.

Mudslide on US 176

When we got down to Pearson Falls Road by the river and looked back up, we saw that there had been mud slides in several places. I can only imagine what happened to the road where it was closed, if this was the open section. Had I known just how bad it was, I probably would have advocated for not going further.

Tiny Blue House Still Standing

It seemed kind of miraculous that this little house was still standing, although everything was outside on the porch so I assume it got quite flooded. I’m not one to gawk at other’s misfortunes and aside from the River Arts District and Carrier Park, which I happened to drive past, I have not gone into the hardest hit areas. However, there was something quote moving about this little house managing to stay in one piece given how decimated everything was in the area. Fate is indeed mercurial. I also think it is very important that we don’t forget about these hollers and less populated areas and the damage they incurred. They will be needing help for a very long time.

Last Color and Last Trees Still Standing Along the North Pacolet

The river ripped up trees and deposited them wherever they happened to land, along with rocks from the mountainsides. Partial dams were created and we saw lots of trucks and workers cleaning up the debris, so that what was left behind won’t cause more destruction. Although humans are in horror, I did see a beaver as we were driving past and this creature was probably glad to ha e so much work done for it. The dams beavers make and the ones created by downed trees in floods create problems for rivers by blocking flow and causing additional erosion. The images below show a pile amassed naturally by the river on the left, and a pile of cut up dead trees that workers created on the right.

Kudzo Helped Hold the Land in Place

I have never been a big fan of Kudzu, since it is invasive and takes over everything. However, I noticed that in the areas where it was growing, the soil had a better chance of staying in place. In the image above, you can see how the water cut gashes in the banks and changed its direction in places.

Mud and Rock Slide Through a Row of Ivy Covered Trees

I wish I had hiked driven this scenic byway and visited both Pearson’s Falls and the Missing 40 before all this happened. I am sure it was beautiful when a clear river ran through and the trees were still standing. Even here, where the ivy covered trees formed a screen along the river’s edge, I could sense how picturesque this area must have been. On the opposite side of the river is evidence of another mud and rock slide, with a few big boulders that likely fell to the river’s edge during the storm.

Shortly before the trailhead, there is a bridge over the river that fortunately hadn’t been washed away. The image on the left is looking down river towards Tryon. You can see how many rocks and pieces of manmade structures are littering the river, which is also quite brown from all the earth and debris that has washed into it. There are likely toxins as well, and the public has been advised to avoid waterways in Western North Carolina. Besides bacteria from compromised septic systems and sewers, heavy metals can also get washed into flooded rivers.

The images above are right near where the Missing 40 Trailhead begins. You have to cross the river right away and then there are a couple more creek crossings on the 1 mile trail. We decided not to hike the trail even though someone wrote on All Trails that they managed the crossings two weeks ago. It didn’t look advisable due to the color of the water, which is an indicator of its quality, and I’m still healing from a broken wrist. When we got home, I looked the Missing 40 trail up on another site and it says this trail is also closed pending cleanup, which we expect will take a long time after our drive today.

Jumbled Nature and Debris by the Tunnel Under the Train Tracks

There is a tunnel under the train tracks after the trailhead closer to Saluda, and lots of debris and trees and rocks were all jumbled up there.

Chaos Below the Culvert

This drainage system was built to keep the train tracks from flooding and where it poured out, which is also where the river flooded, there was chaos everywhere. I can’t imagine what this area sounded and looked like during the flood. The creek near my house caused enough damage and we were downstream from the mountains and there were fields for the floodwaters to flow into. Here it was like a giant funnel.

The North Pacolet River Meandering After the Flood

Rivers and creeks are unable to carry all the rocks and sediment with them as they run their course during a flood. When they deposit the material they’ve been carrying, the current shifts to the opposite side of where these sandbars are created and the river changes course. Even after the cleanup is completed, and I have no idea how much will be left and how much can or should be removed since the amount of down trees and manmade materials clogging this river was incomprehensible to me, this area will be forever altered.

Collapsed House

When we got to the tunnel under the train tracks, we decided to turn around and go back to US 176.  On our way, we saw this house that has clearly collapsed off of its foundation. (I removed the house number out of respect for the surviving owner. I learned from a newspaper report later that one of the owner’s was killed.) The sign on the gate says “Danger No trespassing Mud Slide in Progress.” My heart goest out to all lifeforms that inhabited this region. Some people are scared to keep living here. When rivers become this silty and floods are this extreme, fish mortality also increases because they expend a lot of energy fighting currents that they don’t encounter is less severe floods. All the sediment and organic matter also consumes oxygen they need to survive, and that does not come back until algae and plants can produce enough oxygen again. The mud and rock slides likely destroyed the homes of creatures as well.

Climate change is very real and we need organisations like NOAA to alert us to extreme weather events like these, and of course FEMA to provide assistance to everyone in need. After our drive, we had lunch in Tryon before dropping off my print. Three FEMA workers came into the restaurant to talk to the owner to get an understanding of her needs post Helene. So many people were impacted in Western North Carolina that the State has estimated the total cost of damages at $53 billion dollars. Many residents did not have flood insurance. The State is clearly in need of help from FEMA to help people rebuild or relocate. If these programs end up on the chopping block, it would be very difficult for affected areas to ever recover. NBC News reported a week ago that “Currently FEMA aid covers at least 75% of the cost of major disasters, but Project 2025’s proposals would reduce that share to as little as 25%.