Chattooga River

For my first backpacking adventure, I headed out to the Chattooga river with my friends Rake and Aaron.  The Chattooga forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina and has been listed as a "Wild and Scenic" river.  This title affords it some very special protections from development.  The river is also surrounded by national forest lands on both the Georgia and South Carolina sides.   This makes for a great hiking environment.

We set out and quickly found ourselves at Licklog falls where we encountered our first group of backpackers.  Two men and a dog had camped there the previous night and told us a bit about where we were heading.  We wished each other well and departed.

As we hiked the trail, I really enjoyed our short encounters with other backpackers.  All of them were friendly and there was an instant bond in the common fondness of torturing our bodies with heavy packs on a hot day.
One couple that comes to mind was the pair we met later in our day.  I'm sure we looked exhausted, but to me, they looked very fresh on the trail.  Being out in the middle of nowhere, I knew this wasn't the case.  In fact, everyone looked fresher than I felt.   They were coming from where we were going and we asked them about some possible campsites up ahead.  She told us we were headed into the "high country" and the sites would be beyond that.  While she spoke, her silver ring glinting in the sun and had caught all of our attention.  Before they continued on the trail, she held up her hand to show us the ring. "We just got engaged!", she told us with enthusiasm.  We congratulated the happy couple before heading toward the "high country".   "Did she say high country?", I asked.

"My heart sank when I heard her say that.", Aaron replied.

Getting up that hill at Round Top mountain was made a bit easier with some of my new equipment.  Some items that I didn't take as seriously prior to the hike, I now know are vital.  The first of those is the pair of hiking poles I happened to pick up on a Wal-mart clearance shelf.  From the beginning of the day, I relied on those poles to help keep me from falling, and later, to help support my weight.  Rake also taught me Saturday morning that hiking poles make good spider web removers as he lead our group along the trail.

Another piece of gear that I learned to treasure on the trip was my new water bladder that fit neatly in the pack.  With a tube coming out and over my shoulder, I was able to sip water much more frequently then we would stop for a break.  Having water that available is something I will not do without anymore.

There was gear that I learned I may consider for next time.  Like proper hiking clothing.  Both of my partners wore hiking pants that had plenty of pockets, were light weight, and unzipped at each leg to convert into shorts.  Meanwhile, I traveled in jeans.  Although not uncomfortable, they were heavier and slowed me down from playing in the river past ankle deep.

Lunch time on Saturday was a favorite moment of the weekend.

 We found a place on the river that was littered with boulders.  After a few minutes of quietly enjoying the river, we started exploring the shore and wading in the water.  Stopping at a large rock above the water, we contemplated jumping in for a swim.  Unsure of the depth, we chose not to risk the jump.  Had I not been in jeans I may have done it, and I wasn't going to be pulling off my jeans to jump in unless someone else did it first.  After Rake finished counting fish, we packed up our gear for more walking.

All together we hiked around ten miles on Saturday.  It was somewhere around five pm and the eight mile mark that I felt like I had reached my limit.  We stood at a promising riverside campsite and discussed our options.  "This site looks great!", I voted.  Rake consulted his map and Aaron, who never sat down, wanted to go on.  So the three of us pushed onward to our destination of Burrell's Ford campground.

Check back in a day or so to learn about our camp, river baths, and Sunday adventures.