Walhalla

Seth and I escaped for a Saturday adventure the weekend before he would be consumed with graduate studies.  We had originally planned to visit the BMW factory and museum in Spartanburg but learned that it is closed on Saturdays.  We made a last minute backup plan and took a trip to Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls in Walhalla, South Carolina.  We packed a lunch, put on our hiking gear, and jumped in the Subaru hoping the GPS would guide us to our final destination.  The GPS unfortunately couldn't find the final destination so we had to use our own smarts to find our way. 

Stumphouse tunnel was started in 1852 to connect the port of Charleston with Knoxville, Tennessee.  With the onset of the Civil War and lack of funds construction soon came to a halt.  You can only walk part way through the tunnel as falling rock from an air shaft has caused most of the tunnel to be blocked off.  The tunnel is also full of condensation...aka it is wet in there.

  

Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls are in the same park.  We were expecting a real hike and were dressed for it...but we just had to walk about 50 feet from the car when we came to the overlook for the falls. Issaqueena was a young Cherokee woman who fell in love with a white soldier.  When she found out that the Cherokee were going to attack the settlers she made a 96 mile ride to warn them.  She named the streams along the way...6 mile creek, 12 mile creek, etc.  After she warned the settlers the Cherokee chased her to this waterfall.  Issaqueena pretended to jump over and hid until the coast was clear.

Since the hike was not all we expected it to be we decided to make one more stop on the way back home.  There is a nuclear power plant that provides power to most of the area and they have a World of Energy display.  We went to learn how different types of energy are harnessed.  The Power plant uses the water in this lake to cool down parts of the machinery which makes this lake a little warmer than normal throughout the year.  We looked for three eyed fish but couldn't find any.

 

 

It was fun to get out for a day and explore the area.  There is so much to see out here.  I'm starting to think that even if we went every weekend we would not see it all before Seth graduated.