Firefighters recovered the body of a 24-year-old woman who fell about 160 feet to her death Thursday afternoon at Rainbow Falls, according to the Lake Toxaway Fire Department.
Two hikers were in the water at the top of the waterfall when one friend turned around to find that the woman she was with had disappeared, said Lake Toxaway Fire Department Chief Carmon West.
"This waterfall is very slick and dangerous," he said.
The woman had been walking in the creek a good distance away from the edge of the fall when she lost her footing on some rocks covered in algae, according to spokeswoman Cathy Dowd with the United States Forest Service. She was then swept over Rainbow Falls by the swift current.
"Above the falls the current can be rapid and the rocks can be slippery," she said. "It might look like its not rapid but if you walk into the water you can get into slightly deeper water and that’s where it can (become dangerous)."