Fatal Accident At Windy Falls
April 29, 2008
James Karpinos a student at UNC Asheville fell to his death off of Windy Falls in Transylvania County while hiking this past Saturday with his girlfriend Lindsay Mirkin. Both of them have extensive outdoor experience and met while working as troop leaders for the University’s outdoor program.
Mirkin, a teacher at Reynolds High, said the couple arrived at Windy Falls about 11:30 a.m. with two dogs in tow. He had wanted to take her to the falls for weeks, she said.
They hiked through the first few falls, stopping to swim in a pool at one point. He had never hiked to the fourth and fifth falls, so they decided to continue, she said.
Mirkin stopped to rest, while Karpinos continued to walk along the rocks.
“He kissed me, and I said, ‘Be careful,’” Mirkin said.
She had her head down, raising it just as he slipped on a large rock, she said. He was able to stop himself for a moment but eventually fell into the water below.
Mirkin rushed over the rock that bore tracks of mud from the Crocs shoes he wore. She said the rocks were very slippery.
“I couldn’t find him, and I saw his shoe floating at the bottom,” she said. She thinks he fell about 4 p.m.
“My legs wouldn’t work, and I had to crawl on hands and knees up the mountain” to find cell phone service, Mirkin said. She got through to emergency workers at 4:30 p.m.
According to news reports it took rescue workers a half a day to get into the base of the falls. According to the World Waterfall Database Windy Falls drops 720 feet;
Windy Falls is a long series of cascades on the Horsepasture River. There does not appear to be any vertical portion of the falls over 20 or so feet, and the tallest individual cascade is only around 80 feet tall. The falls drop just over 700 feet in about 1/2 a mile’s stretch of river, and thusly appear to be nearly impossible to see in entirety from one place.
I’ve read a number of hiking and outdoor travel sites about this particular waterfall and almost all of them urge extreme caution while hiking there because of the dangers. We who love the outdoors sometimes forget how unforgiving nature can be if the worst case scenario befalls us. James Karpinos funeral will be latter this week in his hometown of Chapel Hill North Carolina.
Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose
Moose Droppings is a place that chronicles my journey, Ill explore new places and ideas Ill learn new things and Ill teach the things Ive learned to others. Join me on the adventure and hopefully it will help you in your outdoor endeavors.
What an awful thing to happen.
You’re right though, it is a reminder that nature can be unforgiving and it is up to us to be careful and safe.
James knew that, too. He was a NOLS graduate, for one. Waterfalls will bite. But he wasn’t doing anything that my husband or my brother wouldn’t do. He just slipped. It could happen to anyone (even the most careful), especially if they’re wearing Crocs footwear, which have NO footing on slippery surfaces. Last falls I went (Paradise in Jackson Co) to, we had to climb down into the falls holding onto tree roots. I was okay when I had soft ground, soil, but once I touched rock (even dry rock), my feet would slip out from under me. I took my crocs off, and wedged them next to a tree so that I could get them on my way back out. My husband was out walking on a very slippery ledge – and I hate to think that his bare feet might have been all that kept him there (he had shed his crocs, too).
James was my classmate, and I wouldn’t wish what happened to him on anyone. All of my thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family. Our campus is heartbroken.
Hey Britta,
Thanks for stopping by and your heartfelt post. Jame’s family and friends certainly are in my thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time. I hope my posting about this tragic event does not suggest that James was careless in anyway because that is not the purpose of the post. We as people who love the outdoors be it Hiking, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Hunting, Fishing, etc. take a risk every time we enjoy those pursuits and sometimes accidents happen. I wasn’t aware what type of footwear he had on at the time but your right about the limitations of crocs on slippery surfaces.
I hope that everyone that James touched during his brief time on earth can find peace and remember the memories of the good times they shared.
-Moose-