Waterfall Memories

My folks recently took a vacation to the Blue Ridge Mountains and visited a waterfall called Turtleback falls. I knew of the place and described it to my Dad but the place he was at seemed somehow different. The falls themself sounded the same, but how he got there was entirely different. I finally figured out why I have been so confused! It has COMPLETELY changed since the last time I was there. When I was in college, we used to go there a couple of times a summer. We'd frequently run into folks from Clemson and often heard that people died at Rainbow Falls. I knew a dog that went over Rainbow Falls and survived - had to have surgury on his leg (badly broken) but he survived! We would park on the side of Hwy 281 and hike down to 'Bust Ass Falls' and slide down it till we were ready to move on (usually after someone got hurt). I have a picture of all of us standing at the top. I understand from the article below, that is now private property and you can only look at the falls from afar. We would then hike down to Turtleback Falls and swim in the lagoon and slide down the rock off of the Falls - about a 10 to 15 foot drop into the water below. We'd also leap off the boulders surrounding the lagoon into the very cold water below. I've swam behind Turtleback and there is a small ledge about 1 foot below the water (about 1 foot wide) you can stand on while the waterfall hammers down about 2 feet in front of you. I remember how scared I was swimming towards the falls after someone told us about the ledge behind the falls. I'd always thought of myself as a decent swimmer, but as I swam freestyle towards the waterfall with 2 other friends I started questioning weather I would be able to do this. Just as I got close to the falls, I could no longer breathe because of all the mist and powered through to the other side of the waterfall. When I came up on the other side of the waterfall I was in a near panic to draw a breath of air and rest - I was totally spent from the effort of swimming against the current and under the weight of the falls. My other friend shouted over the incredible roar of the water - "there! - reach out!" Sure enough there was a ledge, just below the surface, about a foot under water. I dragged myself on to the ledge and stood. It was only about a foot wide, but when I pulled myself on to it and stood in the shin deep water, the sight in front of me was beyond words. As the three of us stood on the ledge with our backs against the bedrock, a massive wall of water hammered down in front of us, lit from the sunlight behind it. In that moment I felt a rush of relief as I stood awestruck knowing that the risk had been worth it. After standing there a few minutes enjoying the site and catching our breath we all looked at one another as we knew the journey back to the other side of the waterfall could be just as hairy as the journey in. Almost as one, we leaped from the ledge straight out into the falls to avoid the water trying to push you down and under. Instantly as we made contact with the water, we were thrust under water and away from the falls. Swimming as hard as we could in the direction of the bubbles - UP - and breaking the surface once again gasping for air. At one corner of the lagoon, the water rushed out in a 5 to 10 foot wide torrent towards Rainbow Falls - 125 foot drop to the ground below. I remember being a little scared but nothing on the level I should have been!
The risk we sometimes take when we are younger amaze me to this day. Looking back on it I would have done it all again had I known what it would be like to stand behind that waterfall. Later in life my Mom shared a quote with me - "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's learning to dance in the rain". This day I learned a dangerous, intoxicating dance with a waterfall in a seemingly never ending storm. It was a magical moment etched in my memory forever. Makes me grin just thinking about it.
That was one day back in the summer of 1990. Below is the article that explains what happened over the past 17 years - http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/horse1.htm