Walk North 200 Years

I spent the past weekend backpacking in the woods.  Backpacking is something that I have done several times over the past few years, but this was my first time joining Randy's Boy Scout troop for an outing.

We hiked in the area of the fish hatchery near Walhalla, SC.  We got to the parking lot Saturday morning around ten in the morning and went looking for the trail head to the Fork Mountain Trail.

We didn't realize it would be that hard to get to.  How far do you have to walk north?

Myself and two of the leaders of the pack were the adults guiding this group through the mountains.  Saturday was clicking along and we were all having a great day.  At some point after lunch, when the miles really started adding up, a few of the boys started to get really wore down but we we pushed on. We had set our goal of making it to the Chatooga river for camp and we were determined to make it.

Lunch on the trail.

 Crossing one of the many creeks

 Filtering water was a team effort

 After a water bottle went tumbling down a steep hill, someone had to retrieve it, and then find a way to climb back up.  I just took the photo.

 This sign was badly faded and confused a few scouts for a few minutes.

 Look, it's me!

It was around 7pm when we set up camp and we had hiked over 9 miles on Saturday to get there.

By 7:30, two of the boys had eaten and retired to their tents.  Many of the others put up hammocks and refused to get up, eating dinner where they lie.

Once the sun was down, we had a small camp fire, which inspired several boys to get up and walk over.  There must be something about camp fires and Boy Scouts.  The leaders and I watched as the boys tried blowing on the fire to get it burning bigger.  The problem, as you can see in the photo below, is that the two sets of boys were blowing embers and ashes on each other.  We had to put an end to the fire building at that point.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed South on the Chatooga trail until it intersected with the Foothills Trail.

The sun rising behind our camp

 Finishing packing up before heading out Sunday morning.

 On the trail.

 Filtering more water.

At that point, we still had a few wore out Scouts, so we offered an option.  Take a half mile trip downhill to a parking lot and wait or hike up hill for three miles to get the cars.  Splitting our group wasn't ideal, but the suffering some of the boys were going through, it seemed like the best option.  For some of those boys, it probably felt like we hiked north for 200 years, as the sign near the trail head suggested.  This was their relief.

The total weekend trip, including getting the cars, was around 15.5 miles.  We had beautiful weather all weekend and no serious injuries.  My first backpacking trip with the Scouts was a success.  It's hard to spend a weekend in the woods with a pack on your back and not enjoy it.