I think I have always enjoyed camping. When I was very young, my Dad would take my brothers and me out to the local state parks where we would sleep in an old army surplus canvas tent, cook on an open fire and listen to his silly jokes. The “Old Man” would tell us, “Boys, once the itch to be outdoors gets in you, it would never go away.” I was too young to understand what he had awaked in me at the time, but I understand it now.
In the Summer of 1973, I discovered backpacking and primitive camping. This amazing activity involves heading into unknown woods with a group of my best friends, carrying heavy packs through to previously undiscovered destinations. There was no better test of our survival skills, our endurance, and our very manhood. The language of the trail was a little course, our maps were poor or nonexistent, but the stories of our adventures are the makings of folklore. The relationships we forged, the adventures we lived shared and the places we discovered were real and life-changing.
When you become a backpacker; you must have a trail name. Your trail name describes something about you and will be used to identify you among all backpackers. Your trail name is given not taken, it makes you part of the tribe; a group that travels together and relies on one another. My tribe was made up of Trail Rabbit because he walks faster and farther than any of us, Ungus who wanted to be called anything but Gus and Jorge because it is fun to say loud and he would answer to it. My trail name is Hairy because, at the time, I wore a very long beard and very long hair. Each of us are unique and different individuals, we have very different lives, political views and belief systems, but we were bound together by our love of the outdoors and the adventures we lived out together.
The Story of the Toe Falls discovery
Toe Falls is a small waterfall that spills over a flint shelf very near the source of Chimney Top creek in the Daniel Boone National Forrest. You won’t find it on any map because it was discovered by Hairy and Trail Rabbit in the Summer of 1978. The expedition included Hairy, Trail Rabbit, Ungus and Jorge.
We first descended from the trailhead next to Chimney Top Rock on Trial number 221. It was hot that day and our packs were heavy. We took our first break when we reached the creek at the bottom of the long descent. Sitting next to the creek and drinking our fill of the cold creek water, Ungus said, “We should follow this creek and see where it comes from.” We hoisted our packs and started walking upstream.
There was no improved trail going this way, so the going was slow, difficult and always uphill. But as is often the case, the more difficult path took us to some great discoveries. There was the “Water fountain” which was a flow of water coming out of the side of a rock wall, ten feet above our heads. Then we passed the “Flush Hole” where the creek disappeared underground in a swirling like the flush of a large toilet. Perhaps the most festinating was a cave that went straight into the ground. We lowered Jorge into it with a rope around his waist and a flashlight in his hand. When we pulled him up, he told us the creek was down there and there were blind fish in there… This claim was never verified and Jorge did like to make stuff up.
After a full day of exploring we were exhausted and decided to make camp at a place where the wall of the gorge came very narrow and the rhododendron thicket made it impossible to pass with our packs on. The camp was set and we put out traps to catch crawdads for supper. Trail Rabbit wanted to see what was upstream past the thicket, I decided to go with him. With no packs, we were able to clear the thicket in a few minutes. We were rewarded for our efforts by popping out of the woods as a waterfall. We removed our boots to cool our feet in the spring water that flowed over it. Right then we proclaimed, “Toe Falls” and that is what it is named to this day, in ink, at least on my topo map of the area.
What a gift from God. He loved us enough to create Toe Falls. He inspired Ungus to call for the adventure to be simply upstream toward the source. He provided a great camping spot next to the creek. He gave Trail Rabbit and I enough energy to walk the extra ½ mile to celebrate His wonder. And He made crawdads delicious. God is so good.
A gift from God
In my walk with Christ, I have learned that God wastes nothing in his creation. Everything in his creation is there to draw you closer to him. All of your experiences and all that that you see, hear, and do will work to draw you to him (Romans 8:28-29). Toe Falls is only a small waterfall nestled way upstream from the Red River. It was cut by a little creek running through the Daniel Boone National Forrest. But everyone I know that as visited it in the more than 40 years since its discovery, will speak of it with reverence and awe. You know that they met God there. It is one of my favorite places on Earth.
God teaches me to forgive
Six years after the discovery of Toe Falls, I had graduated from college, married Gay and moved to Florida. Ungus and I had had a falling out over some financial matter and no longer spoke to one another. In the meantime, God had called my name and I got saved. Ungus had also moved to Florida and lived just across town but I was still mad and not interested in seeing him.
Then it happened. God spoke to me through my pastor Bill Caldwell. He started the sermon with some scripture about forgiving others and then spent the next what seemed like 2 hours beating me up for holding unforgiveness against my friend. That very afternoon I drove to where I knew Ungus was living and asked that we forgive one another. We hugged and kissed for a good long while and received a much-needed mending.
Ungus’ Final Rest
Ungus died in his sleep a few years ago. It may have been true that he smoked too much and perhaps he did not take the best care of his health, but he knew God and he loved Toe Falls. Ungus was one of seven children. The funeral was a private affair for just the family and he was cremated so there is no grave and no marker. It was decided that we would spread his ashes at Toe Falls as soon as an expedition could be arranged.
In October of 2011, seven of us packed our packs and met at the trailhead. After the long steep hike down we set up camp and took turns jumping off the falls into the pond below. The water felt like it was 40 below and the air temp was only about 50 degrees. Soaking wet and teeth chattering we celebrate our lost friend. Two of Ungus’ brothers took turns pouring ashes into the running water above the Falls. Ungus made one last jump into the pond and we all cried. It must have been some kind of scene; Seven would be and nearly frozen mountain men dressed only in their shorts balling their eyes out like little girls. We have never spoken of it again.
We cried like babies because we will miss Ungus and we will not get to experience this heaven on earth with him again. But we also cried because we all know Christ and He has prepared a place even more beautiful than this place… and Ungus was already there.
Sometimes we are not sure why God places people in our lives and takes us to the places he takes us. I cannot say for sure what God and Ungus talked about in while he was lying in his hammock above the quiet rushing of Toe Falls, but I do know I am personally glad they talked. Because God took Ungus to Toe Falls and many other places to make me a better man. Thanks be to God for creating Toe Falls to cement my relationship with Ungus, and for the fruit of that relationship in my life.
