Blackberry Falls Earth Cache EarthCache
Hidden : 6/8/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Blackberry Falls is a waterfall that falls off the mountainside and descends into the stream below.  It is very beautiful and a place that my wife and I frequently take pictures.  The falls also has an interesting geology.

Blackberry Falls is a waterfall that falls off the mountainside and descends into the stream below. It is very beautiful and a place that my wife and I frequently take pictures. The falls also has an interesting geology.

Blackberry Falls is a waterfall that descends from the side of the mountain. It can be seen from the road.

We have included parking coordinates and request that you park at these coordinates which happens to be our driveway. The walk from our driveway to the falls is less than 50 yards. Although the falls is not on private property, the area neighbors keep up the area around the falls. Please only visit between 8 AM – 9 PM and park at the requested parking coordinates.

Waterfalls are formed when water acting as an erosive agent wears away at the soft rock and soil leaving the hard rock to channel the water from the higher elevation to the stream or river bed below. This process occurs both above ground and below ground. As more and more soft rock is eroded the falls become steeper and further accelerates the erosion process.

In some instances this process occurs underground and the water flows downhill until it comes in contact with hard rock forcing the water to channel around or over the hard rock. This is the case with Blackberry Falls.

One of the interesting things about this falls is that it seems to appear from nowhere. The geology of the area includes an underground stream which feeds the waterfalls. This is ground water that has found a fissure to come to the surface. When it rains, water will find permeable areas to sink deep into the ground. This area contains many large rocks which make it easy for the flowing ground water to be channeled and flow down the mountainside underground. The spaces between these large rocks allow for the water to flow while the hard rock which is mainly impermeable channels the flow and acts as a barrier to keep the water in the channel. The water flows until it reaches the fissure in the Earth which allows the water to make it back to the surface. Once at the surface it plunges down off the side of the mountain and into the stream below.

Waterfalls mainly come from two main sources:
a. River systems
b. Stream systems
Blackberry Falls is an example of a stream waterfall. Although you cannot see the stream, it is there but flows underground.

Waterfalls are classified in multiple ways. One common way is to classify falls by their features. We are going to include descriptions of several different types of falls.

Cascading Falls – These are falls that may have several drops (cascades) attributed to the falls.
Ledge Falls – These are falls that reach a ledge or end of a cliff and fall to the bottom the falls.
Overhanging Ledge Falls – This type of falls is created when a portion of the ledge or cliff sticks out past the rest of the land and the water freefalls to the bottom of the falls. This type of falls is usually spectacular to view and in some cases there is enough space between water a land that a person can walk behind the falling water.
Slide Falls – This type of falls is the most common and is created by water flowing over large rock formations and cliffs and descending to the pool below. This normally occurs multiple times with this type of falls.
Parallel Falls – This is a falls in which 2 waterfalls are descending in parallel.
Fan Falls - This type of falls starts out as a very narrow stream of water and as it descends spreads out into a fan like formation in which the base of the falls is much wider than the top.
Staircase Falls – This type of waterfall flows from a single stream and descends over many small ledges. When viewing this type of waterfall it appears to look like a staircase.

References: Eastern Waterfall Guide, Glaubitz, R., Retrieved from the internet at address (visit link) 1999 – 2000.

Waterfalls 101 retrieved from the internet at www.world-of-waterfalls.com/featured-articles-waterfalls-101-how-a-waterfall-formed


To claim this cache you must answer the following questions:


a. Based on your observation of the falls, why does the water come out from underground where it does?
b. How many places does water come out of the fissures from underground?
c. Tells us the approximate height of the falls from where the water comes out of the mountain to where the water reaches the stream below.
d. Tell us the width of the falls at the top
e. Tell us the width of the falls at the bottom where the falls meets the stream.
f. Tell us what kind of falls this represents based on the descriptions above. Hint: This falls actually can be classified as two of the above and either one of them is sufficient.

Please email us your answers. Please note taking photographs is not required to claim this Earth Cache. If you do take pictures, we encourage you to include them with to your log.

Congratulations to SpongeBob CachePants! FTF!

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