I am pleased to add the 45th of my GBH Brief-Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I get wordy with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So, I will publish these brief Posts regularly.

 

Introducing High Falls County Park

 

Fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger introduced Judy and me to High Falls County Park on March 19, 2025. Town Creek, sourced on Lookout Mountain, tumbles 35 feet en route to its outlet on Lake Guntersville, a TVA impoundment on the Tennessee River. Join me on this brief-form photo essay introduction to the beauty and wonder of the falls.

When we lived in central Pennsylvania, The Blizzard of ’93 dumped 28 inches of wind-driven new snow on March 13. We had pretty much dug out by the 19th, but spring woodland forays were still weeks ahead. March 19 when we lived in Fairbanks placed us still deep in winter but with daylight returning, suggesting the promise of a distant spring. Here in northern Alabama, March 19 is serious springtime. We picked an ideal day to visit the falls…mild weather, ample recent rainfall to surge the creek, and a spectacular sky.

Park Caretaker Roger proved the perfect host — knowlegable, friendly, and happy to be of service.

 

Interpretive signage enhanced the experience. The 1998 bridge crosses Town Creek above the falls, built upon the same stone piers that supported the wooden structure that burned years earlier.

 

The natural wonder and historical context embellished our visit.

 

The Chief Architect at High Falls

 

Our area receives 55-inches of annual rainfall. Town Creek’s watershed basin lies in Dekalb County atop Lookout Mountain, several hundred feet above Lake Guntersville on the Tennessee River, the creek’s destination. Water seeking outlet is persistent, relentless, and gives no quarter on its quest for the sea. A little more than 4.5 feet of rainfall a year across the creek’s basin channels a lot of water over the sandstone bedrock hosting the falls. The falls carry 458 feet of basin-wide rainfall per century. That’s a mile of rainfall every 1.15 millennia, the blink of an eye relative to the age of this region’s tail of the Appalachians. Leonardo da Vinci knew 500 years ago that the endless cycle of water is the chief architect of natural forms:

Water is the driving force of all nature.

 

Let’s focus on the beauty, magic, wonder, awe, and inspiration of High Falls. My narrative is not necessary.

 

I recorded this 52-second video of the falls from the foot bridge.

 

The still images draw me toward reflective waters, dormant streamside forests, and a cirrus afternoon sky.

 

Tumbling water invigorates, inspires, and lifts me toward something higher, beyond my reach yet within my aspiration and appreciation.

 

A thirty-five foot drop roars and rumbles, thundering within my chest…within my heart…my soul. I thank God that over the past two years I survived a stroke, triple bypass surgery, bilateral inguinal hernia repair, and two total knee replacements. Nature-Inspired Aging and Healing — and my loving wife of soon-to-be 53 years — gave me strength to recover and thrive.

 

My 56-second video of the falls.

 

A final view of the falls from above. Water is the driving force and the incessant spirit of Nature.

 

We visited the park for the falls, but I must mention other delights.

 

Other Natural Features at High Falls

 

Moss-covered ledge rock on the far side of the footbridge.

 

A lichen colony securing anchorage and sustenance on the bridge handrail.

 

A feeder spring providing a last minute increment to Town Creek 150 feet upstream from the falls.

 

I’ve photographed scores of horizontal yellow-bellied sapsucker drill holes on hickory, yellow poplar, loblolly, and other tree species. This was the first time I’ve seen vertically stacked drill holes. Can someone explain?

 

Henry David Thoreau compared a life well lived to an active cascading stream:

Most men have no inclination, no rapids, no cascades, but marshes, and alligators, and miasma instead.

 

Closing

 

I accept the challenge of distilling these Brief-Form Posts into a single distinct reflection, a task far more elusive than assembling a dozen pithy statements. A spring afternoon first visit to High Falls paid mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual dividends beyond measure. John Muir captured the sentiment I felt as we explored the cascading falls of Town Creek:

As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing.

Nature’s special treats await our discovery, our understanding, and our interpretation!