Immediate Danger and Politicians Keeping Us "Safe"

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I went for a ride yesterday.  I went up to Whitewater Falls, just into North Carolina -- about 45 miles from my home in Easley, SC.  You take South Carolina route 130 (that turns into North Carolina route 281), a fairly smooth road with many sweepers, to get there.  It is one of my favorite roads and favorite sights to see in the area. 

As I reach the entrance, there are cars parked everywhere along both sides of the road, even though there is no real place set up for such parking.  People are walking and standing along the road for a considerable distance.

They are in harm's way.

Why?  Simply because they came there to see what they own: Whitewater Falls is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service.

Here is a look at what they own, taken on one of my previous visits. 

But the gates are closed and locked. The usual volunteer who stays there in his camper and oversees the area is not there because the park is closed. 

Even though the park is administered under the Forest Service, they say that their "decisions [on closings] will align with local city, county and state actions to provide for human health and safety (ie. quarantine, curfew, and other social restrictions)." 

So I suppose that North Carolina's Democrat governor Roy Cooper is responsible for the closing and endangering visitors who have to park and walk along the road. 

Again I ask, why?  The reason given by leftists like Cooper is that they are protecting our health from a virus.  Remember though, that this virus is not significantly different from past influenzas.  Old people and those already sick with some other troubles should be very careful, but the rest of us should not be punished and treated like disease-carrying vermin, keeping us out of places like this one for no good reason. 

So Cooper is putting people in imminent and immediate danger along that road so they might not get a virus while they are in the wide open outdoors.  Read that again, if you will.  Does that make sense to anyone? 

Being in the indoors has now been determined to be more likely to spread the virus than being outdoors.  So closing facilities like Whitewater Falls makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?  NOT. 

Well, I note that there is a parking lot just a tenth of a mile south of the falls entrance.  This lot is for hikers on the nearby Foothills Trail.  That trail goes many places, but one of them is to Whitewater Falls right next door. 

See the immediate surroundings on this map:

So that parking lot would be a good place to park, right?

Unfortunately, since the main Whitewater Falls parking lot has been closed, and the volunteer made to stay home, people parking in the gravel lot have experienced vandalism to their vehicles.  Just two months ago, one visitor reported that they "had somebody come and knock my car window out while we were hiking. There were probably 10 other cars parked there when we first arrived and 3 of them (including me) got their windows knocked out."

So, if you can't park in the lot where there is a volunteer who can watch over it, you are subjected to vandals who break out your car windows.

You can always park on the road, remember!  Ah, yes, with cars whizzing by a few feet away from you. 

Note on the map above that the trail from the gravel parking lot has a spur that goes to the restrooms at Whitewater Falls.   Don't be expecting to use them, though, because they have been locked for months now.   You have to use the great outdoors if you need to go!


Think about how much this reaction to a virus is costing us in enjoyment, damage to vehicles, accidents, inconvenience, higher costs, and on and on?  They say that suicides and depression are on the rise, and some of the 40+ million people who have lost their jobs will never recover economically. 


Well, back to the ride today.  I manage to turn around near the entrance to the falls parking lot, but the view of oncoming traffic is poor.   Another danger. 

I go about four tenths of a mile south on 130 and turn onto the Bad Creek Pumped Storage Facility road, and follow it to the overlook on Lake Jocassee.  The view is always nice here, but there is a little rain so I don't tarry.

Instead I go back to 130 and the Wigington Scenic Byway to the overlook onto Lake Jocassee. 

A bit hazy today, unfortunately, but the rain has stopped.

Then I turn back and follow SC-130 and SC-11, then US-178 back nearly to home. 


It was a nice day for riding.  I hope they open the parks again soon.

Email, call, or write Governor Cooper to urge him to do so:

• email  
• 919-814-2000
• North Carolina Office of the Governor
      20301 Mail Service Center
      Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

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