Near Camp Cherokee: Another Wallenda Crossed Tallulah Gorge

Before Nik Wallenda did his successful and

spectacular walk across Horseshoe Falls last 

night,his grandfather Karl Wallenda shocked 

the world with a feat every bit as difficult.

It was 42 years ago, as commentators noted

 last evening, that The Great Wallenda walked 
across Tallulah Gorge in Georgia, to great
fanfare and publicity.  The great faith of both
wire-walkers is unmistakable.  Nik was heard
by millions, praising and thanking God for
this opportunity. Decades before, Karl stated,
"I could not have done it if I had not had
my God in my heart."  Likewise, both men
had a goal of inspiring others to dream big
and have the faith to accomplish those dreams.

On our return from the great Camp Cherokee

reunion, Billy Hamby and I took a side trip 

toTallulah Falls, a site I had been 

to a couple of times.

As the sign says, it's 900 feet down to the

Tallulah River at the bottom of the gorge.

Compare that to the 170 foot high Horseshoe

Falls (plus 20 feet higher for the cable) that

Nik Wallenda crossed.

Swirling winds and mist?  Yeah, we got that.

Torrential waters awaiting below.  You bet.

Karl Wallenda's death-defying walk was 

big news in Georgia and the world.  A

roadside stand provides a great view of 

the gorge and a display of some of the

media hoopla at the time.

Several cars were stopped there this

day to get a free view of the mammoth

gorge and peruse souvenirs and snacks.

But not since 1970 have the crowds

gathered here, though the gorge itself

is as awesome as it ever was.  No doubt

officials worried about negative publicity

if Wallenda had fallen to his death.  But

he emerged a world hero, as Nik is now.

As far as I know Karl Wallenda's walk was

not televised nationally.  There are plenty of

photographs on the internet, but I haven't

found any video of that risk-filled stroll.

You may want to check out Karl Wallenda here.

The roadside stand takes me back to the 

'50's in my mind.  It has everything you would

have expected to find at a tourist trap a half

century ago.

I wonder if a few folks will make a pilgrimage

to Tallulah Falls to see this spot, just as masses

are sure to visit Niagara Falls just to view the

site of Nik's latest conquest.

Now I will share my secret, never blogged

about before.  In the summer of 1975, I was

part of a party of three who descended to the

very bottom of Tallulah Gorge.  Here's how it

happened.

That summer at Camp Cherokee we had a

guest naturalist, "Ridge Walker" (is the

pseudonym obvious enough)?  Ridge was

a professor of zoology at LSU, and his 

specialty was arachnology (as in arachnophobia).

Yes.  Spiders.  

Ridge Walker, accompanied by myself and

Jim Wilson, descended the treacherous and 

steep trail to the very bottom of the gorge.

(Apparently there are stairs now.  Not then.)

There we set about netting spider specimens

from the underbrush along the Tallulah River

in hopes that Ridge Walker could identify

some previously unknown species from this

unique ecosystem.

That was an unforgettable day and the steepest

trail I've ever climbed, including Mount 

Mitchell, NC; Sharptop Mountain, VA; and Stone 

Mountain, GA. But it was nothing like two brave 

men who crosseda vast gulf  of open air under 

threatening conditions on a narrow cable.  

Thank goodness!

P.S.  I thought I was pretty brave to share a 

cabin with this honkin' big wolf spider in 

Blue Robin. Courage comes in many forms.