First Backpacking of 2014 - Ellicott Rock

We finally made it out of the house last weekend and hit the trail.  The four of us got up early on Saturday and headed for the Chattooga river.  We had some goals in addition to surviving and on the top of the list was finding Ellicott Rock.

Ellicott Rock is a rock in the Chattooga river that defines the boundry between North Carolina and Georgia.  The surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, carved the letters into the rock in 1811.  Nearby is another rock on the bank of the river, called Commissioners rock.  This is a rock carved in 1813 to mark the boundry of South Carolina and North Carolina.

The four of us made slow and steady progress toward the river throughout the day.  By four in the afternoon we had reached the river and began our search.  You would think there would be a large sign pointing you to the historic spot.  Instead we walked right passed it without noticing.  A quick check at GPS and our maps and we turned back, determined not to miss it.

This time we spotted the pink flagging on a tree that was not visible approaching it from upstream.  I climbed down the banking and climbed the rocks along the edge of the water.  I wasn't seeing anything and I wasn't 100% sure what I should be seeing.

I was close to giving up and declaring it not to be the right spot (this was the 2nd time that I had climbed down to inspect rocks) when I decided to check one more spot where some initials were carved into a tree.  This was a little harder to reach, climbing over moss covered rocks on the waters edge.   Again, I was about to give up and I looked up to my backpacking friends waiting for me to find it.  As I started to head back it caught my eye.  "1813".   It was much more faded than I had anticipated but there it was!  Commissioners Rock!

It reads: "LAT 35  AD 1813 NC | SC"

In the second picture the SC is just below my hand and the N of the NC is just below the "A"

I called up to the group and they made their way down to see if for themselves.  Once we were standing there I noticed a small red ribbon tied to a branch directly over the spot.  This is the spot where three States meet.

I had one more rock to find as everyone made their way up.  I wanted to see the mark that Andrew Ellicott made over two hundred years ago.   I climbed the rocks back to where I had started and it caught my eye.  Not much farther upstream from the 1813 inscription was a rock marked N | G.

 In the below photo you can see the N G in the rock closest.  Toward the upper right you see a branch hanging over the river.  That is the branch with a small red ribbon that hangs just over Commissioner's Rock.

I found it!  Everyone came back down to the waters edge for a closer view.
In the next photo you can see the youngest of our group pointing to the N G mark.

Although we had been hiking and carrying our gear for seven hours, accomplishing this goal of our trip gave us a renewed energy.  That new energy was quickly used up and by five we were ready to stop.  A beautiful camp site emerged on the side of the river and we claimed it ours for the night.

After setting up camp and getting a fire started we all relaxed on the rocks and had some dinner.
Just before setting up camp we encountered some other hikers that asked if we knew where Ellicott rock was located.  We were glad to help these hikers and an hour later they thanked us on their way out of the wilderness.

After dinner we convinced the kids to leave the flashlights off for a few minutes and marveled at the amount of stars you can see when there isn't the light pollution of being in town.  Watching the stars for a few minutes was another check mark for the trip.

Later this week I'll share more from our trip which includes Goldilocks, waterfalls, a camp mobile, and more.