Tuesday, May 21st, 2024, 1010-1800
Oconee State Park Tamassee Knob trailhead to Chattooga Rive camp, mm
15.2 miles, Gain: 2560′, Loss: 2280′, elevation 2030′
After AT Trail Days came to an end, it was time to head home. On the way, I planned a stop to visit my friends Esther and Wayne in Tyron, NC. It was only a few hours drive from Damascus, breaking up what would have been a ridiculously long drive to Miami. Once there, I couldn’t help but notice that I was only 50 minutes from the eastern terminus of the Foothills Trail and that it was going to be sunny for several days. After the BMT, I was sick of the rain and feeling pretty tired, so I’d mostly written off the idea of hiking the FHT (I added an H to the initials, so as not to be confused with the FT-Florida Trail). After all, it seemed like a much better hike for the late fall, enjoying the colorful foliage, lower humidity, and cooler temperatures. But I needed to test my new HMG backpack that I bought at Trail Days and also was not excited about going back to the heat in Florida. I guess I just couldn’t help myself, I had to do another long trail.
In the day before of planning for the hike, I found that arranging the shuttle from one end to the other was remarkably easy. There’s a list of shuttle contacts on the Foothills Trail Conservancy webpage (https://foothillstrail.org/). The first driver I called, Taz, was already taking another hiker, scheduled for 8 am in the morning. Perfect! So I quickly threw all my stuff together the night before, as it was scattered in the back of my car in various states of dampness and dishevelment. I drove to Table Rock SP early in the morning and paid $12 to leave my car in the parking lot for 3 nights…they were kind to also give me a veteran’s discount. I met Taz and the other hiker, Jacob, and we drove to the western terminus at Oconee SP. Taz hooked us up with a resupply cache in ammo boxes at the 28 mile mark, so I only had to carry 1 day of food at the beginning and 2 days for the second part.
I did almost no preparation for this hike, other than already having trail legs and my hiking gear ready to go. I knew the trail was very well marked and I had the Far Out guide. But otherwise, I hadn’t done any research through the FB pages or read any blogs. Normally I spend some time doing both, just to know what to expect. For this short trail, none of that was really needed. In fact, it was kind of nice setting off, having zero expectations or prior knowledge.
Jacob and I helped each other take obligatory starting photos at the sign and then he took off at a fast pace. At first I was tempted to try to match his speed, but happily my care-free attitude prevailed. After my blazing 3.5 day coverage of the 95 mile Smokies section of the BMT, I had nothing to prove and I wanted to take things much slower. I’d planned 3.5 days for 77 miles this time…and there was A LOT less elevation change than in the Smokies. This trail would be easy in comparison. Jacob was trying to do the whole trail in a respectable 3 days, which was definitely doable, even with a late start this day. As such, I didn’t figure I’d see him again. He was young, very fit and preparing for an ultra running event. He even had a smaller pack than me.
I immediately met another woman, De, who’d gotten a ride with a different shuttle driver, John, and started the trail at the same time. We hiked together much of the day and it was nice to have some company. She had a more typical-sized pack but still smaller than most I saw on trail. A few hours in, we picked up Gutsy, a Triple Crown hiker that was in her 70’s. She recognized me as a repeat offender as well, and we had a nice chat. Her husband Odometer was day hiking the other way, helping to support her hike. I quickly realized that this was a very popular trail given it’s length, location, and relatively easy logistics. There were many access points, making it ideal for shorter day and section hikes. I saw more hikers in one day than I saw in 2 weeks on the BMT.
I stopped at Lick Log Falls to go for a swim. I wasn’t hot and didn’t really need to get wet, I just couldn’t resit the beautiful pool that was there. Since I hadn’t done my research beforehand, I slowly started to realize how much water was a feature of this trail…especially waterfalls. This was the first of many swims below waterfalls…bliss! De stopped for a lunch/snack break with me and we carried on for awhile longer. We caught up to 2 more women who she knew through the FB page. She’d vaguely planned to meet up and do the hike with them beforehand. She opted to hike a little further with me, then wait for them at the next campsite, as they were moving slower.
One thing I constantly heard from other female hikers was that they lamented not being able to find other women to hike with. Sisters, didn’t I know it! Finding someone that matches your pace and other hiking styles is hard, especially for me. Which is why I gave up a long time ago, and went solo for most of my hikes. For hikes like this, with no navigational challenges and plenty of other people around, a solo effort was actually my preference. But I had many more challenging western US hikes planned (like one in Arizona near the border), for which I really hoped I could find a suitable hiking buddy. Mostly I worried about my security around non-hikers, especially with things being rather tense over border security and politics these days. I almost never worried about being alone with wild animals…the number one reason I heard other women cite…but this changed slightly by the end of this hike.
De stopped at the Sims Field campsite and I was back to being alone for the late afternoon, enjoying some really scenic trail along the Chattooga River. I carried on for another 4 miles, feeling a bit tired as the trail got a little rough towards the end. It had been so cruisy most of the day…or maybe I just hadn’t noticed because I was distracted by talking to De. I missed her, but I was also eager to hike my own pace and find a nice campsite, all to myself. I’d planned on doing about 17 miles total for the day to a dry campsite on a ridge (being more assured of no people or habituated bears), but I stopped short when I found yet another treasure along the river.
I’d already passed so many tantalizing sites, some in close proximity to fabulous swimming holes. The river had many small stepped waterfalls along its course, making it one of the most picturesque I’d seen. The final primitive site just before the Burrells Ford developed campground didn’t have a swim hole but was still too primo to pass up. I’m starting to get better at knowing when to damn my mileage goals and stop at beautiful spots. This is also the beauty of hiking solo…I set the rules and can also break them. Besides, it was plenty late and I could make up extra miles on my 4th and last day.
This site was about as good as it gets. No one else came by the rest of the evening and I promptly went for a dip to cool off and wash away the sweat. There was a sculpted rock at the river’s edge that I turned into the perfect chaise lounger with my foam sit pad. There I soaked my feet and had dinner while watching The Beaver Movie. That’s right, there was a beaver den right across the river and I watched the occupant pulling down and munching on rhododendron branches for over an hour!
At least I think it was a beaver, but also could have been a muskrat. Either way, it was cool to see it just going about it’s business, ignoring me. I also took glamor shots of my new pack. It felt wonderful on my back all day and I already knew it was a winner. It might be the most comfortable pack I’ve ever worn…but I also had almost no weight in it. Even my tent looked pretty proud, despite missing the peak frame and being a little floppy at the top. I felt I’d finally found my winning combination of gear for the GDT…fingers crossed! I certainly found a winning campsite at the end of this lovely first day on the FHT.
