A ranger in the Pisgah National Forest is working to figure out what needs to be done to keep people from getting themselves injured or killed in falls at the forest’s many waterfalls. He and a committee are considering restricting access to 14 sites to increase safety.
Dave Casey, a ranger in the Pisgah District, realized something needed to be done after a June 23 fatality at Rainbow Falls on the Horsepasture River near Gorges State Park. The Asheville Citizen-Times, which reported about Casey’s work, says through July 4 of this year there had been six waterfall-related deaths across the North Carolina mountains, making it one of the deadliest summers in recent history.
Casey is conferring with personnel from Gorges State Park, Lake Toxaway Fire Department, Transylvania County EMS and the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority.
“We’ve identified 12 waterfalls, as well as Looking Glass Rock and John Rock, places that can be accessed by our trails, where we’re inviting people up to these places where there’s a hazard,” Casey told the newspaper.
There are 11 warning signs about the danger posed by waterfalls between the trailhead in Gorges State Park, the 1.5-mile trail to Rainbow Falls and a sort hike upstream to Turtleback Falls. Signs on National Forest property say, in English and Spanish, “Death and Serious Injuries have occurred here.”
In addition to forming a committee, the Forest Service felled several dead or dying trees across the opening at the top of Rainbow Falls to deter people from entering the waters. A new sign near the top of the waterfall says in part: “Many People Have Died from being swept over Rainbow Falls. Two since June 2018. Entering the river anywhere upstream of this point can be fatal.” A new sign has been added to the approach to Turtleback Falls, as well.
No closure order specifically prohibits people from entering the Horsepasture River or the rocks above the falls.
H’Money Siu, 16, of Charlotte died after falling from the top of Rainbow Falls on July 4. On June 23, John Shaffer, 42, of Charleston, South Carolina, was swept over the falls while trying to save his dog and was killed. Eleanor E. Dorman, 28, of Asheville slipped while wading in the pool of water at the top of Rainbow Falls and was swept to her death on June 8, the News Herald of Morganton reported.
Also this year, a 41-year-old Wake County man died in a May 29 fall at Elk Falls in the Pisgah National Forest in Avery County. Two others have died at Elk Falls this summer. An accident on May 30 injured a man and woman at Upper Whitewater Falls in the Nantahala National Forest near Cashiers.
Casey had no timeline nor suggestions for how his committee might make people behave more responsibly at waterfalls.
He said the waterfall safety group had discussed having personnel stationed at the falls during high visitation times, such as holidays and weekends. “But with 12 permanent full-time employees for 170,000 acres of land and numerous waterfalls, the practicality of stationing any one ranger at any one waterfall is not realistic,” he said.
The group is considering enacting a closure order at the falls, which would mean fines for anyone caught crossing the barriers.
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