Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Selling Greenville
your favorite real estate podcast here in Greenville
South Carolina I am your host as always
Stan McCune I am a Realtor right here in Greenville
South Carolina you can find all of my contact information in the show
notes if you need to reach out to me
for any of your local real estate needs
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today I've got a special guest on the show
Thomas Mabry
also known in the hiking and photography community
as the Honey Badger or just Badger
and Thomas is a hiking and photography extraordinary
is a professional photographer
he has a lot of experience
hiking to and from
a lot of fantastic waterfalls in the southeast region
in and around Greenville
I've hiked personally with the Badger before and
very very knowledgeable just about the area
so I get why am I on a real estate show
having the badger on here
well it's my show
I can do whatever I want for
for one thing there's no rules here
right
but
but also I get a lot of questions from people that are
are looking at Greenville
maybe from out of town or
or whatever that are like
what are some of the things to do
and of course
hiking is one of the premier things that we can do
both in Greenville and day tripping to Greenville so
I wanted to have Badger
on to discuss some of what he's experienced
so badger welcome to the show
thank you so much for coming on
hey thanks Stan
it's good to see you again
yeah absolutely
so let's just start with the most obvious question
why the nickname Badger
that that's a good one
I started hiking in South Carolina
North Carolina
Southern Appalachians about 10 or 11 years ago
I retired or was retiring from the practice of law
and found myself kind of at wit's end
and I grew up hiking among other things
playing college football and a lot of other sports
but the hiking when I moved from Knoxville
it's my home over to the Carolinas
I started getting a reputation
and one of the reputations was is that
I would go anywhere and do anything just about hiking
and
I was hiking with a friend of mine
oh and yeah
that's a good reputation
I was hiking with a friend of mine
Todd Ransom and
we bushwhacked the 200 foot Flat Creek Falls in
Panthertown Valley which is
it's in North Carolina but it's
like everything else
it's really close to the border of South Carolina
and easily accessible from South Carolina
actually it's closer to Greenville
to there than where I live in Asheville there
there's a picture of Flat Creek Falls
on the
I guess it'd be the right hand side of the picture
is where we bushwhacked
and that's my photograph of what's called the boss
and the boss is the main drop of Flat Creek Falls
what was that
and I'll get to the point
what was unprecedented about this hike
and how I got my nickname
is that no one had had done this before
this bushwhack right next to this waterfall
so Todd said you're just like that honey badger
there was a video a few years ago about that
honey badger video yes
it gained quite a bit of notoriety
and he said
you'll do anything and go anywhere
and you don't give a yep
I remember blank yep
you remember that one yeah
it was it's a
it's a it's funny
but that name stuck
and then it's morphed over the last 10 years to Badger so
people in the hiking community
and photography community
refer to me as Badger
if I go up on Rhode Mountain like I did last Friday
they'll say oh
it's Badger so some people know me by Thomas
but most people know me by Badger yeah
that that's amazing great story
so how many years ago was that that you
that you did that bushwhacking
that would be 2,015 oh OK
no yeah
2,014 actually OK
if I'm thinking about it in August
and that would have that would have been
probably right before you and I met actually
so and you were you were definitely
you were definitely the badger when I met you
yes and
so that was a few years later that that we hiked
I believe we did a we did like a four waterfall hike
if I remember correctly something like that
I think we did
Moonshine Falls and a bunch of others yes
if I remember correctly that's right
I was trying to think of which ones we did
we did Moonshine and those ones in Asbury
I I guess the
the Asbury Retreat allows people to go
I guess they still do allow people to go in and
and hike in that area those waterfalls are really nice
especially Moonshine I like that one a lot where
yeah now remind me I'm going to actually well
I'm gonna share my screen here for a second
so people can see
for those that don't know
the a really great app
or a really great website to see these sorts of
of things is this website called All Trails
so right here we go Moonshine Falls and yes
I remember we did Confusion falls as well
we did yes on that trip so mm hmm
this is just
so that people can kind of see where it is again
if you're looking on YouTube
it's not
it's basically in that Caesars Head adjacent area
and that's beautiful up there
so is that where would
in terms of like South Carolina specific hikes
like where would that kind of rank for you
and what are a few others that that you really like
in in South Carolina specifically
do you want the very difficult ones the off trail ones
or do you want the on trail ones
give me whatever you got oh the
listeners are gonna want some stuff that they won't just find on
you know on GBL today or
you know one of those resources right
the one of the ones I like the best is I think it's
in the heritage area
they the one where you where you drive by the
I'm trying to think of
you drive by the road and you can see the waterfall
as it comes in and oh
the one that people will like wade in yes
that one there's a lot of trails up to there
with waterfalls if one wants to go far enough
and those that's an
that's an excellent
and that is a trail as far as I recall
and there's waterfalls on
up from what you see at the roadway
so I believe this yeah
wildcat wayside that's what I was digging for yep
okay and that's a pretty good place to start
it's very crowded right there on the roadway
of course
and it's a it's a very pretty waterfall but
on I'm sure on all trails
they have some information
about how to get to the upper waterfalls
and those are best accessed when
we've had quite a bit of rain actually
but that's a great area to hike
mountain heritage I think is what that area is called
okay there's a there's some
there's one hike I'm not even sure called Mashbox Falls
I I think I forwarded a photograph of that to you
I'm not even sure it's on all trails
let's see let's see Mashbox yeah
it's right off of a US 2 76 yeah
it they've got oh OK
they've got something here
let's see what they've got OK
well it took me there hold on
matchbox falls
okay so it said you're
you're right it
it that's a sick
it's here but there's something weird about the
it's giving me a no trail result 0 out of 0 stars
so that is a
that is an interesting find cause I've never been there
so how hard is it to get there
yeah that's it's not too far off of 2 76
you probably get some information on
the internet about access
but that one is about a 65 foot waterfall
and it's absolutely gorgeous
but it's not for the timid or faint of heart
that's one of those off trail waterfalls
the another good trail is one you and I took
over in Asbury
I I think they still allow it's private property
I think they still permit persons to go in
if you sign in over there at Asbury
there's some waterfall hikes like in O'Connor County
the one I like the best is
yellow is it yellow Ford Falls
I think it's yellow Ford Falls
I'd send a picture to you yes
Yellow Fork branch or yellow
yeah Yellow branch Falls
I get the I get the forks
and the branches
and the creeks stand mixed up sometimes
and it's a lot of
it's a lot of information to have in your head
yeah Yellow Branch Falls Trail
that's it
I would recommend that especially after a good rain
this is that's a very good hike and it's not too far
and the end result is
one of the most beautiful waterfalls
to me in the southeast
because of the way the water comes over that waterfall
and yeah that's incredible and in strands yeah
you can see the strands that that
it comes over let me find it
it's real nice
is this your picture yeah
that's it yeah
if you back up one
yeah that one right there is
I'm sorry I'm jumping the gun not that one okay
hold on let me find the right one here okay
here's Mashbox Falls that's Mashbox yeah
that angle
I had to climb up the side of the mountain to
to get that photograph but
it's pretty from just about any angle
that is Yellow Branch okay
Trail Falls that's
that's gorgeous and was this in the fall
looks like that you took this
it looks like it yes
I would have tried to go on the fall if I could
that's when a lot of
a lot of the waterfalls are very pretty
with the leaves changing color and all yeah
yeah that
I'm gonna have to check this one out
cause this isn't one
that I'm familiar with so it looks like
looks like a little a little elevation gain
and this is okay so this is in terms of Greenville
this is past Clemson
going towards
kind of the western border of South Carolina
out there in Oconee County
which is a right
for those that don't know that are listening
a Coney County is a great playground of
of western what Northwestern South Carolina
I mean that is a place where they love to hike
love to bike love to kayak
canoe all that stuff I
I I love that part of our state
because of how outdoorsy it is out there
it is it's very nice
so in terms of
well I before I do a hard pivot here
are there any others kind of in the South Carolina
you know area kind of within
let's just say within
less than an hour and a half to Greenville specifically
that come to mind is like hey
people need to check this out
I'm thinking Jones Gap State Park
and I think that's in Greenville County
there's a number of trails in that area
there's
waterfall
there's two or three waterfalls that are just gorgeous
one of them is Jones Gap Falls and
I'm thinking one of them is Rainbow Falls
but I'm not sure it's
there's one of them that comes off of the escarpment
seems like it's 100 and something feet high
but those yeah
that that looks like it
yeah that's Rainbow Falls right there
that's Rainbow okay
there's so many Rainbow falls around that
sometimes I get those confused as well
but that's a gorgeous waterfall to hike to I
it has some elevation gain and it's a commitment
but if you're ready for that
it's certainly worthy once
once you get there
Jones Gap Falls
I think I sent you a photograph of that one
Stan let's see here
let's see here we got Mills Creek
Lee Falls that's Lee Falls
we got Buck Hollow Falls Buck Hollow Falls
that's not for the faint of heart
if you're an extreme hiker
you can you can contact the
the badger on Facebook at Thomas Mabry
if you type in Thomas Mabry and Badger
you'll find
you'll find me there or I'm on Messenger that way too
and I can give you an idea of what you're in for
okay with on that one
what we were talking about Jones Gap falls
it's not as difficult to reach as
Rainbow Falls but it's really pretty
it's I think
it's one of the most underrated waterfalls in the southeast
do you see the color
down at the bottom of the waterfall
with the rocks it's absolutely gorgeous
and it's not too and that's that hike is not
and as I recall not too hard to get to that waterfall
now one thing that so my kids
I've obviously taken my kids hiking
cause I love to hike yes
but there's one thing that they always want
and that is when there's water
they wanna get in it so how many of these have
you know the ability for
how many of these have
like pools that you could actually get into
or are any of these good obviously wildcat wayside
you know you can just drive right up
to it and the kids can jump in
and that's what you know
you always see people waiting in there
but
are any of these others that we've been talking about
good for you know
kids to jump in and wait around
I think Jones Gap has a
plunge basin that the one we're looking at there now
yep I don't think Yellow Branch
I do not think Yellow Branch does
I can't recall
maybe you remember Stan
about Moonshine Falls and Confusion Falls
I don't think that
that they
had a plunge basin or that one could
could use as a swimming I don't think so
the best bed is yeah
the best bet for
trying to find somewhere to take the kids
if they wanna swim I think would be Wildcat Wayside
not necessarily the first waterfall
but there's other waterfalls that have
places where someone can swim
mm hmm on further up the trail sure yeah
I for so I can't remember if Confusion Falls might have had
a plunge basin
Moonshine Falls you can get plenty wet there
oh yes you can yes
you can there's
so the falls themselves are pretty accessible
but in terms of like actually swimming or
or waiting I
I don't remember that being
it's been a few years since I've been there
I think I've been there right me three times
if I remember correctly and
and one cool thing for those that don't know
so you know
Moonshine falls and badger
you might know more history than me
but my understanding is
moonshiners actually went up there
and there's still a barrel that you can see
that's a remnant from the prohibition
there was last time I was there yeah
yeah there was
there's a lot there's a
there's a lot of barrels around
a lot of waterfalls in Western North Carolina
South Carolina up
upstate and in Georgia I've noticed
well Tennessee too
sure well
Virginia too
and were those all moonshiners
do you think yeah
they're moonshiners how about that
yeah there's one near
Limber Gorge called Stillhouse Falls
and it was named because there was a still
right at the waterfall
how about that it
and you can climb up in the cave
and see where they used to
distill the Moonshine
there's endless
endless effort and creativity when it comes to alcohol
no doubt it turns out
is there any is there anything that you've done
kind of in the lower portion of the upstate
or have you mostly been in the mountainous areas
well you know
downtown Greenville's not too bad
I've been down to
I guess it's Reedy Creek
that goes right through downtown Greenville
mm hmm that whole area Stan
well you know that you're there
it's really beautiful and it's
certainly worth someone taking an evening or so to
to go and visit there
I haven't hiked too much
outside of the mountainous areas
in the upstate to answer your question yep
I think I hiked down at Kings Mountain one time
but I'm not sure if that's even in
South Carolina or North Carolina
not sure but that was a nice area as well
now I I'll tell you
Crowder Mountain is really nice
I have hiked there that's in South Carolina
Crowder mountain Crowder
I think it's South Carolina
it's right on the border
if it's not in South Carolina
I was thinking it's South Carolina
it looks like it's just over in North Carolina
so that's up
past Gaffney OK
past Gaffney
just off of 85 so that's great
that's super accessible right
there's one other one
called Big Rock
the Big Rock area and it's in South Carolina
and I think it's off of Highway 11 foot
the Foothills Parkway and a lot of that is
there's a path up to it but there's a lot of boulders
and if you like rocks
like my girlfriend Kitty Myers does
that is a great place to go and check out the rocks
you can act
you don't have to climb the rocks necessarily
there's a trail to the top but
if you're ambitious and want to climb the
the climbers
they climb a lot at that area too
at Big Rock is it up there
is it near Charlotte
no big rock is
I think it's called the 9 Mile
wilderness or something like that
is the whole is the area is it
and I'm thinking it's off Highway 11 up
it wouldn't be too far from Wildcat wasteland area oh
okay yeah I'm
if this must be one that all trails is struggling with
I'll have to I'll do it yeah
there's big there's a big rock
it's it oh
is this it okay yeah
I think it's that's it yeah
so this one here is no
this this can't be it cause this is down near Augusta
no
that's yeah would not be it
so I'll
I'll have to do some digging on that
but that's interesting
I'll have to I'll see what I can find
so it's up there near Wildcat Wayside
which is it's I think it's
they call that area the 9 Mile Preserve stand I
I believe
let's see Nine Mile Preserve Nine Mile Reserve
I don't know all trails is struggling for me here okay
they're not wanting to pull any of this stuff up
okay but what about
what about
you know more of a day trippable kind of thing
you know if someone wants to go
you know maybe two three
four miles with Greenville
Spartanburg areas kind of their starting point
where would you direct them to go
for hiking
Jones gap okay
so I think that's that gives you more
that would give someone more options
what about
in so obviously Jones gap is
is phenomenal is there anything we can go here
let me pull up
I pull up this map here you know
I now that we start
I start thinking about that
what is the name of the preserve up there
that's so nice it's
it's close to Greenville
it's on the Greenville Highway between Asheville
it's in South Carolina okay
I'm trying to think of the name of it
that persons go to it's a preserve
it's a famous preserve
I probably should have studied up a little bit more
on my South Carolina trip
no you're fine but
that's a that's a nice area to go to as well
I've done I've done Bridal Veil Falls before
that was a that was a good
you know oh Dupont
Dupont's pretty close yeah
Dupont
national or state forest in North Carolina
is right on the border
of North Carolina and South Carolina
and it's certainly worthy
they have some great waterfalls in that area
and the Heights are not too bad
what about in the
Asheville or even like north of there
do you do much up there yes
well if
well we
yeah we talked about Linville Gorge
earlier
I think when we were getting ready for the podcast
yep
Linville Gorge is a great area to hike in
not necessarily in the summer because it's very hot
but in the spring and the fall it's really pretty yeah
and there's some manageable hikes
part of it is closed because of Hurricane Helene okay
but a large part of it is open
like Hawksbill Mountain trail is a really good trail
it's kind of steep but it's short
which is which is good and that's a nice trail to
to go to
yeah that's yeah
I think that's a picture of it right there it is yeah
this is the Hot Springs Mountain Trail
it's the right it's the top
the top trail on all trails in okay
in the gorge do they still OK
do they still fly I think so
so I I've never witnessed it personally
but I know several that have witnessed ou rUS aircraft our
basically military aircraft
practicing through the gorge
flying through there kind of like Top Gun style
have you ever witnessed that yourself
oh yes
more than once that's
that's cool what's
what's that experience like
that is oh
that's nice well
you can hear
you can hear the aircraft coming in
and it sounds like this roar
and you're sitting there going or
or standing there hiking
and it will stop you in your tracks
and because you hear it for
you hear the roar of the engines miles away and then
the aircraft will swoop in and
come right up above the gorge and it's a
it's an incredible sight to see yeah
it's just every time you know
you're just looking up and going wow
but I believe those practice
they the practice still goes on
I must have seen it half a dozen times amazing
what is I don't know when it's gonna happen
so you can't really plan on it
but if you're
fortunate enough to be in the gorge at that time
it's quite an experience yeah
so you've talked a lot I've
I've seen you talk a lot about epicity and epic
epic stuff what's like
what's your most epic hiking memory that you have
that just pops into your head
thee Creek elaborate what
thee creek okay
I'll tell you about
that's the first thing that popped in my mind
thee Creek is how do you spell that
yeah t h e like the creek
the creek like I'm not sure you'll find that one on
all trails okay
this is another
this is another one of your one of your little secrets
we're I'm gonna have to well
I'm gonna have to link to your information in
in in the show notes
so the people can reach out to you for
for some of these right now
if you I guess
if you go to Facebook and you type in Thee Creek
T H E E Creek and Badger you'll get a
trip report that I made of our trip down the creek
the creek comes off of the Black Mountains
which are the highest mountains east of
the Mississippi River and it descends about 3 miles
and 4,000 feet down to Rock Creek
and one day we decided that we would start at black
at the Mount Mitchell State Park
and go down to Rock Creek
and we had to stay overnight
that's a pic yep
that's me that's above
those two waterfalls
can be seen from Mary in North Carolina
and from the Blue Ridge Parkway
and that's the highest one there
and that looks like me in a one of those waterfalls
but that was one of the off trail
that's an epic off trail hike
I don't know how many people
I know a few people have made it
maybe a dozen that I'm aware of
I'm sure others have as well but
if you really want to have quite an experience in your
and you are experienced off trail hike or I
I don't mean just one or two times
I mean you do it more or less for a lifestyle
this is the last frontier of
Western North Carolina waterfalls
and there's a number of them that come
that come off of the Black Mountains and they're all
they're incredible
that trip we had we had to bivouac
because we couldn't make it all the way through
in one day that's crazy
yeah it was crazy
but I look back on that experience and go
don't think I would do that again
but I'm glad that I did it hahaha
I'm glad we all survived just because
just because of all the bushwhacking
just how yeah
there's a lot of a lot of places in South Carolina
North Carolina Georgia have logging trails
and that was a remnant of the logging industry
about 100 years ago
and a lot of times you can access a logging trail
even when you're bushwhacking
and that will help you get from one place to the other
without reinventing the wheel
so to speak
the creek had nothing like a logging trail in there
I don't think they took
I don't think they logged in there at all
because of the steepness of the terrain
so every waterfall that you went to
and they were 60 70
80 feet high you had to bushwhack around
and so you're crawling over and under rhododendron
and it's just
it's another one not for the faint of heart
what but
how did you even know it was there
had you just heard about it
Kevin Adams
who's a waterfall
expert and has written the seminal
waterfall books for Western North Carolina had
he was either getting ready to write his book
I think he was getting ready to write his book
and he and I communicated and he and Rich Stevenson
waterfall rich had been down
the creek and
I don't know why
we decided that Thee Creek would be a goal
but Kevin and I started talking about it
and he gave me some of the waypoints of the
where some of the waterfalls were on Thee Creek
so that we had an idea where we were going and
Kevin had done some research
on the last frontier of North Carolina
waterfalls
that he had not covered in his previous books
or online as well and so
so that became a goal for some of us
but after people read
they read the trip report they're going
you know I'm not so sure I want to do this
but
that was that was and I use the word epicity
that was an exercise in epicity that the whole trip was
I think there were 13 waterfalls
wow and a 3
over 3,000 foot vertical drop
and it's all either in the creek
or just adjacent to the creek
when you have to bushwhack around the waterfalls
that's so yeah it was quite the experience so I mean
how many miles of bushwhacking are we talking about
I wanna say three or four three or four miles
I'm Thomas I'm gonna
I'm gonna have to
I'm gonna have to let you have that experience
I'm not in the I'm not in the
in the game of bushwhacking for three or four miles
and that doing a 3,000 foot
the descent alongside a waterfall
no thank you yeah
it was either in the creek or adjacent to the creek
and I'm not sure who came up with the word swack
it's a bushwhack creek whack
I think Rich Stevenson did
but that's a great description of what it was like
at the creek wow
and in other places that I've been to
so how many bear sightings have you had
bear
well yesterday here in Asheville one
I'm pointing out the front window
I was working on my computer
and one came up to the window and
said hello so
out in the wild
we've had several I gosh
I don't know
does it anyway
the bear they don't really bother you that much
they don't care about you for the most part
for the most part they don't consider Badger
this kind of badger is food but they
they're usually turn away and
and go away from you
I remember one hike I was making in the gorge
one morning with a friend of mine
and I like to do sunrise photography
and so it's dark and we have our headlamps on
and we turn I come around the corner and there's a bear
and so I just stopped and I said
hold on just a second here
what's going on I said
there's a bear right up there
oh my god
which I understand
if you haven't seen a bear in the dark in the gorge
that would be terrifying to be honest
you would have that kind of reaction
but I said the bear will go on
and sure enough
the bear turned around and went on up the trail
but we ran into the same bear two more times
on that same trail was it following you and it yeah
it didn't bother us you know just
the bear was out foraging for food in the pre
dawn hours and we just happened to be
a two legged creature who came along and
was not interested in us right
but that that's not to say
that's not to say
that one should go up and greet a bear
no like handshake that
that don't do that no
that's where people get hurt
injured and I
I have quite an aversion to people who tamper with
wildlife I don't care what kind of wildlife
whether it's snakes whether it's bear
whether it's deer whether it's Badgers
doesn't matter
they're we are in large parts stand on their property
absolutely it's not our property
but they were there first or
or you know
they were there
and their generations before were there first
so I'm not a proponent at all of bothering wildlife and
and of course for
for those that that are interested in camping
if you're camping anywhere in these areas
anywhere in the woods you've got to bear proof
your campsite because definitely bear fruit
yes people
you know I think most people will know that but
but I've
I have heard some stories of people that are just like
oh no we'll be fine
we'll you know
leave little scraps you know
out here and there don't do that no
don't do that and don't keep food in your tent either
I had someone I know from Panthertown Valley
who was a new hiker and that new hikers are great
we want more hikers hike hiking is a good thing
but she had left food in her tent
and so the bears decided that they wanted that food and
and that was a harrowing experience for her
so what once a bear decides that they want food
it's pretty hard to stop them
it is yeah
I would just get out of the way if
yeah the food is not as important as getting a wife
in the bear I did you mention Panther Town
this is a great
little area if you wanna do some
some basic camping or even some I
I did a very very basic backpacking trip with my
with my kid
several years ago and she's little
she was little she's not little anymore
but back when I did it
and that was a lot of fun
so this is also a I think a great option for people
it is yeah
in terms of Panther Town is
I'm sorry I
yeah Panthertown is where I got
started hiking in Western North Carolina really
and that
that picture was
that Schoolhouse Falls and Panthertown is gorgeous
mm hmm there's so many areas to hide
what are
in terms of like
camping or backpacking do you have any
any specific recommendations outside of some of these
that you've already mentioned
some of some of the areas
the Panthertown is a good
place to camp
there's camping in
the gorge Limber Gorge Wilderness
yep that
I enjoy that
there's some camping along the Appalachian Trail
in various places even on rhododendron
there's some you have to be careful and
where you camp
but there's camping opportunities up there as well
there's camping opportunities in Tennessee
in the Cherokee National Forest
there's camp
camping opportunities in Sumter in South Carolina
and I think O'Connor State Park has camping that's
that's a nice place to camp as well
tell
tell us a little bit cause I'm
I'm sure that some of the audience will be interested
in just kind of knowing
you know in
in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene
how are things in Asheville
how are things in Western North Carolina
what is the current state of affairs up there
Hurricane Helene hit us hard
I don't even
it's hard to describe because
we're in Asheville and
we did not suffer any direct damage where we
we being used specifically you Kitty and I
yeah Kitty and I live
but the areas around us were devastated
Swannanoa River
was awful
it just I go by there in my
you know running my errands
in fact I was there this morning and
things
it's hard to talk about that
what I did after because I'm a photographer as well
I went out and documented a lot of the
Helene catastrophe in fact
one of the news reporters for
I think it was a Greensboro
television station interviewed me
he called me a disaster personality
hmm okay
which I guess you can I don't know what that means
I guess you can take that a number of different ways
yeah but
it was I was going to so many places
and documenting so many places that
it got to the point stand where I had to stop doing it
it was
it was bringing up that the whole Helene catastrophe
over and over and over again
and every place that I went to
back cave
Cane River
Green Mountain relief
North Carolina
didn't make it to many places in South Carolina
but
went to places in Tennessee that were hit hard as well
and a lot of times
we were going to see if something was open
in other words you know
to go to a waterfall that we
Kitty and I would want to go to
in fact on Saturday night
we went to Elk
Elk Mills which is in Tennessee to try to find a
a way to one of our favorite waterfalls
just to see if the path was open
and so
it's hard to tell what's open and what's closed
people ask me that a lot and it's a legitimate question
I would just refer them to the national park website
or the Tennessee State Park website
or the North Carolina
or South Carolina authorities to find out what is open
because there are places that are not open
but there are a lot of places that are open
I think Nantahala where Panther Town is
did not suffer as much as some of the other areas did
north of north and east of Asheville
but yeah it was it's
I think it's worse than I could possibly describe
yeah and I'm
you know it's
I don't get into hyperbole
but my goodness some nature I'm
it's incredible
what happened in a three hour period of time
and I know that there was rain that preceded
the Hurricane and all but
all of that
destruction happened in a period of three to 4
5 hours yeah
yeah of the storm that
you know that such
it blows my mind yeah
well it
it blows my mind too
I was completely ill prepared for it
I'd never I like
I knew it was gonna be
I knew we're gonna get a lot of rain and all of that
but the
the idea that we would have a golf storm come up
and still have Hurricane and
and not just like
not just like low level Hurricane force winds
there were wind gusts that
some people in Greenville
that went over 100 miles per hour here
and I
and I believe up in your neck of the woods as well
they got some of that too
and that just doesn't happen like we just and
and people need to understand that I've
I've actually I don't know if you saw this
but I guess there's some kind of a I
I can't remember if it was US News report or whatever
that that ranks the
the top cities to live in
and Greenville went from like
No. 2 in the country to like
not even being on the list or something
because of the Hurricane it was just like guys
we don't get golf hurricanes
I mean yeah
maybe if you're really concerned about climate change
and that that's gonna become a regular occurrence
but even I
I still don't see that being a regular occurrence
that was just
it was just such a unique confluence of events
well historically
the flood of 1916
was the benchmark for all the worst floods in Western
North Carolina
and I had done some research on the flood of 1916
but I had a history background in college
and so things like that interest me
and it flooded Asheville and I mean
it was it was terrible
and when the Greenville I guess it's Greenville
Spartanburg
National Weather Service predict
they do the predictions for our area as well
they predicted that this Helene would be catastrophic
and similar to the flood of 1916
I had a chill go down my back
because if it was that bad
then we would have and it would be awful
and it was this is worse
Helene was worse in the flood of 1916
even when I talk about it right now
and I remember that forecast
I have that chill that goes down my back because it and
and we weren't prepared really either
Stan that that was an occurrence that happened what
100 years every hundred years
and you can't predict that
I mean it could happen
you know this Hurricane season
but probably not that's why people are rebuilding
yep and so
yeah people went two
three
four generations before between those two worst storms
and there's some flooding that goes on
some of the other storms is pretty bad
but nothing like those two storms in recorded history
yeah did
were you in Asheville when that all happened
like did you yes
so yes
so you kind of witnessed it
were you were you kind of like trapped in your
in your house for a time I mean
how did that what was that like
yes we were trapped here
not necessarily in
our apartment we live in an apartment complex
not in the apartment
we could get out and as soon as everything
the wind stopped basically blowing and all I was
I got out and I tried to get out of our area here
and if I went up the road
and tried to go up the mountain
then we were stopped and I said oh that's
there's trees everywhere
then I tried to go in the other direction
I couldn't get out either
so someone came some
some guys came and they cleared part of it out
and Kitty and I went down to the French Broad River
and saw where it crested
now that was a whole other experience
watching artwork flow down the river and us
is heartbreaking but
we've both of us have worked in we're
I'm still
we're both still working in the recovery part of Helene
especially in North Cove
I'm working with
Melanie Harris and a group in North Cove
and we're into the recovery part now I
I'm sorry the long term recovery part
I guess is a better way to put it sure
because that community was devastated and
we're start we remember what happened
it's less than a year ago
but we want to everybody wants to move on
but we have to take stock of what's actually happened
take care of that before we move on
but I think we are moving on
I'm kind of surprised actually
just from a personal standpoint
based on the destruction that I saw personally
and where things are now and even in Asheville
there's a lot of work to get
downtown Asheville you wouldn't be able to really tell
that the Hurricane hit here
at all and so persons who
persons who are concerned about coming to
I guess Greenville's the same way I
I don't know I need to come down and visit
but yeah if you go on like the
if you go on like the Swamp Rabbit trail
for instance
you will see some parts that are damaged by Helene
where the trail is
you can still go on the trail
but it'll get bumpy at some points and
and you can tell that there's Hurricane damage
there's some other right
some other places where it's obvious
but it's mostly cleaned up right
well
downtown in Asheville you
it's very hard to tell if you're at the River
French Broad River at the River Arts District
oh you can tell because
the French Broad River crested higher
than it ever has in history
well I couldn't believe where the water line was at the
at the front gate of
or I don't know if it was a front gate
but one of the gates at the Biltmore
like I saw that you're wide right
that that was it was like
it was like 20 feet high oh yeah
at the
historic gauge is the what you're referring to
and I've got a pass to built more for my photography
so I go through there all the time
and every time I go through there
I look up and I don't know whether it's
I don't know if it's 20 feet
I don't know how high it is
but you're driving your vehicle
I'm driving in my Jeep and I look up and I'm going
I can't believe the water was
10 feet higher than where I'm sitting right now
it's incredible and so
but Biltmore
is a part of us by the river
by the Swannanoa and part of it
of course the big part of it
of course is
is up the mountain so Biltmore
they suffered a lot of damage at first
but I go there you know 2
3 times a week and it's in
it's in really great shape
they've done a good job and
and maintain so I guess my point is
is that even though this was a disaster
even though there's so many things that
that need to happen as far as recovery
and people have lost their homes
and I don't want to downplay that
I think we need to remember Helene and I
I do a post on Facebook called keeping it Real and
it's kind of a series and
one I did about Rhode Mountain
they had a the
hundred mile an hour winds
at the top of Rhode Mountain
that you mentioned earlier
sustained winds and I was up there last Friday
and I couldn't believe it
but you have you know
you have one place where there's all this destruction
and the next place
the most beautiful rhododendron garden in the world
and so it's kind of
that juxtaposition of the two places is incredible
as well but
you know the
the main yeah
the cities
have come back and I
I don't I just don't want to dissuade
people from coming to Asheville
or Greenville because that
you're doing yourself a disservice
the cities are doing well
the water supply is good
all the things that were a problem for a while
are not a problem now
and maybe we've Learned something from this Hurricane
as far as how to rebuild we'll see yep
yeah I
I hope so
you know I think it
you know Greenville the
the biggest thing for us was
you know
electricity was out for some people for several weeks
for the most part there
there was plenty of property damage
but it wasn't it was mostly from fallen trees not
not as much from flooding
right which
you know
we don't have the rivers that that Asheville has
you know we've got the Readi River
but they've done a good job of
of setting things back off the Readi River
for the most part
so that it's not going to cause a tremendous amount of
of property damage I mean
I've got a creek actually right next to my house
I'm actually for
in case I
I should have said this before for those watching I
you can see a different background right now
my office is being
worked on right now
and I'm excited for you guys to see it
in the future
but I'm currently recording from my sunroom
directly in front of me is my driveway and
I've got a Little Creek not a
it's very small
I mean it's like a trickle
like a a few inches
but when we get a big rain
it comes all the way up to the top
and actually part of my property
and my driveway is in a flood plain
so we had
some of that water actually did come into my garage
but thankfully
the way they built my house was very smartly again
they anticipated this almost
even though my house is old
it's like 60 years old
old but they built the
the garage runs the entire length of my house
that butts up towards the creek
so we did have water come in
but it mostly stayed in my garage
a little bit seeped
into the door that goes from my garage into my house
we were able to just wipe it up and that was it
so I was I was very grateful for that cause again
I was completely ill prepared
I woke up that morning
saw that literally what was
it wasn't an eye anymore
but what was the eye of the storm went over Greenville
which was a a hard turn from what they were predicting
yes
and then I heard all the wind
my electricity went out it was like okay
here we go
I've we've never had electricity out for more than a day
so that's kind of what I thought in my mind okay
electricity is gonna be out for a day whatever
and then we realized okay
this is a this is unique
there are just so many fallen trees
mm hmm
so we don't need to rehash all of that
but I'm you
with you being up there
I felt it would be remiss if I didn't
if we didn't talk about that
so people know what's going on
like you said some people are avoiding the area
don't avoid the area
don't avoid Hendersonville or Asheville
or any of these hikes up there
no yeah
I would check ahead right
if I'm going to hike a certain place
I would check ahead to see if it's open or not
and we hiked at Rhode Mountain last Friday
and the Appalachian Trail and all those trails
they've been open just about since Helene
they did some you know two or three or four weeks
maybe a month they did some other stuff
as far as getting the trees out of the way
but for the most part yeah
that's our group right there yeah
if you're watching if you're watching on YouTube
I pulled up a little article that
that the Badger wrote for Knoxville
Tennessee Today or yes
Knox TN today.com right by the road
a nice little article about
a hiking group that went on the road
yeah if you wanna read some adventures of Badger
and rock sprite
Kitty Myers and guys like the guy on the right there
John Forbes who is the gnome and Denise Bishop
this is the hiking sticks and lipstick group
and John and I don't wear lipstick
but we are ambassadors to the group
in other words
they like for us to come along and hike with them
so this was our group last Friday
and I write an article for Knoxville Today weekly
the showcases photography
and also the adventures that we are on
and if it's sometimes
my editor tells me that the articles
are not only informative but
they're fun to read and they
they have a humorous side to them
that might be interesting to readers
so yeah it that's primarily a Knoxville
Southern Appalachian type
article that I write but
I have to come down and write
something about South Carolina too
because yeah editor gives me some
she gives me some leeway as to what the adventures are
as long as they're somewhere in this area
have you the Southern Appalachians to me standard
that's all of us that's you
that's me yeah
that's everyone who that that lives in this area
so and I'll
I'll link to this article in the show notes
so the people can pull it up
is there a place where I appreciate that
is there a place where they can find your photography
yes
they can find my photography at on Instagram okay
at honey Badger images alright
I'm gonna pull up my personal Instagram here
hopefully nothing crazy will be on here
Honey Badger images
and I need I've got a couple of photographs
I need to put on there
that one there's a video of Ron Mountain
I like to call that area Narnia because it was like
you go in as which path is
where am I gonna go from here
that's incredible and yeah
I love the excuse me
the rhododendrons have lost their bloom
but they're still gorgeous
that's a picture from Rhone Mountain that I took
I don't last Friday I guess
and the tall mountains in the back are the Black
Mountains the tallest mountains east of the Mississippi
and you can see
rhododendron and flaming
the flame azaleas in the bottom part of the photograph
that's one of my favorite scenes up there
you can see Ron mountain
but look at the mountain ranges as they
you know go on
it's a we live in a remarkable part of the world here
absolutely
oh yeah and here's another one of that Narnia
I guess I assume this is the Narnia
it is yeah that's the same area
I've that photograph has engendered
let's put it this way a
a lot of interest in persons who want to purchase that
and they
persons can purchase that by contacting me on Messenger
through Facebook primarily
and I think that my
my email address is attached to Instagram
and to Facebook so okay
that's a way to contact me as well okay
I know someone purchased that one this morning
as a matter of fact how about that
so how yeah how large what
what's the what's the largest print size you can go to
oh gosh it oh
I could I could take that one out somewhere
that is optimized for 16 by 20 okay
so and I could go double that
okay with it yeah okay
oh that that's one of the waterfalls coming off of
the Black Mountains that's the yeah
apocalypse it
that is about 1/2 a mile above Mitchell Falls
Mitchell Falls is where Elijah Mitchell died
he was the one that Mount Mitchell was named for
hmm and he got he historically
he got into a big
a big controversy with Thomas Clingman
as to which mountain
was the tallest mountain in the Southern Appalachians
and so he was trying to prove that Mount Mitchell was
the tallest which he was right
Elijah Mitchell but he died on this Creek
trying to get back to civilization
wow I'm not sure that
that's not for the faint of heart either
yeah it doesn't look
it doesn't sound like it but that
that fall is incredible
I'll just cycle through a few pictures here for those
you know for those wanting to see
oh this is fun
did you
did you get any hail from that storm last night
we got hail here in Greenville
just a Greenville hail a little pea sized hail
yeah we got just a little bit
but we about three or four weeks ago
we got enough to cover our back deck
oh wow that yeah now
that was during the that yeah
the one before that was during the storm
I went up to Rhode Mountain
sometimes
I'll go up there when the conditions aren't that great
and that was a nighttime shot right there
of the rhododendron hmm
well Badger
you've been extremely generous with your time
I don't want to keep you any longer
but I'm going to link to
these different social media accounts
assuming that you're okay with that in the show notes
oh yes people can reach out to you
they can message you on Facebook or Instagram
that's correct and Facebook yeah
Facebook Thomas Mabry
and like I said if you
if you wanna find me
and you type in Thomas Mabry Asheville
or Badger Asheville
you'll find it on Facebook or Instagram at Honey
Badger images okay perfect
well I appreciate you Badger
as always thank you so much for coming on the show
do you have any
any last things you'd like to say to the audience
well thank Stan
it's good to see you again
I appreciate you reaching out to me
so that
I could talk a little bit about what
goes on in our area I think it's like I said before
do I promote the area
I probably do promote the area through my photography
and it's not necessary
it's not like a direct promotion where I'm well
I don't know I do benefit from it
never mind but what I'm saying is
we live in one of the most beautiful
places in the world
Upstate South Carolina South Carolina Georgia
Tennessee North Carolina
parts of Virginia West Virginia
I mean this is a great area and I grew up here
so I'm biased
but I haven't lost my love for the mountains
haven't lost my love
for exploring the mountains or the waterfalls and
I'm not gonna leave
I guess I've got a few more years left in me
and hopefully I'll be able to
continue doing the things that we've been doing
as far as the exploring and photography and all
absolutely but again
I appreciate you reaching out to me Stan
and I'm glad to see you're doing what you're doing in
in Greenville and the other areas
I guess I'd encourage people to contact Stan too
because if you want to yeah
really because if you want to live in this area
the guy like that
you've been in business for many years
you'd be the kind of person who I would want to go to
to say
is there a property available in this area that
I might be interested in so anyway
that's a plug but it's at thank you
I don't I don't plug people unless I trust them so well
I really appreciate that and I also I don't I don't
I don't obviously work in Asheville
I can't work the
you can't be knowledgeable about
too many different markets
cause real estate is so local
but I know great realtors in Asheville as well
so if anyone's listening from that area
need a realtor let me know
I'd be happy to refer you out to
to a realtor in that area as well
absolutely but Badger
thank you so much
I really appreciate you coming on the show
for those
that are listening thank you guys so much for listening
you can find my contact information
and the Badger's information in the show notes
please like rate review subscribe
we will talk to you guys next time