Foothills Trail - Jocassee Gorges 3.5 days

[glassymountain]

Foothills Trail – Jocassee Gorges Section (NC and SC)

STATS:
Distance - 32 miles from Laurel Valley to Whitewater Falls
Duration - 3.5 days
Weather – Low 42F, High around 65F, mix of sun and clouds, full moon all night

Hammock Setup – ENO Double, ENO Pro Fly
Insulation - JRB No Sniveler underquilt, Moonstone 800 Lucid bag
Pack – Kelty Illusion 3500
Weight – Total pack weight 27lbs with all gear loaded. Could have easily cut 3-4lbs in hindsight
Cooking – Littlbug Junior (wood burning), aluminum 800ml old mess kit pot & lid, homemade cozy
Firestarters – Firesteel & cotton balls
Dinners – Hawk Vittles bacon grits, Knorr Teriyaki Noodles + chicken, Hawk Vittles SW Lasagna

SUMMARY

My wife agreed to let me go on a 3+ day backpacking trip for my 41st birthday present (she stayed with the three kids). What a great wife! This was a tough hike for me. This section of the Foothills Trail is very remote. I only saw 3 other people hiking on the trail the whole time. The trail starts at Laurel Valley in Rocky Bottom, SC and finishes at Whitewater Falls. It crosses the Toxaway river, the Horsepasture river, the Thompson river and the Whitewater river plus lots of mountain streams. So the trail has an abundance of steps and bridges. Elevations ranged from 2600ft to around 1200ft, and the trail goes down to each river and then back up before going down to the next one.

My knees were getting pretty sore after the first 12 mile day. A seasoned hiker I passed on the trail recommended I try two walking sticks rather than my one, and that helped tremendously. If she hadn’t recommended that the first day then I probably would have finished using them as crutches!

The first two nights I slept out with no tarp. It was a bright and full moon. I had to put my cap on over my eyes to get some sleep. I stayed plenty warm even on the final night where it was breezy and sprinkling.

The Littlbug wood stove worked great. It was my first time cooking with a wood stove. I did discover it takes more time to get the fire going, and can be a pain to restart once the main meal is cooked in order to clean up or make drinks. It took me time to get a system going, but everything cooked fast and easy. I loved not worrying about having enough alcohol along to burn.

I have to thank Shug for suggesting Hawk Vittles. The Southwestern Lasagna was wonderful! I added some extra Parmesan/Romano and scraped the pot clean. I had to order more first thing when I got back.

VIDEO (First try at this, so let me know if it doesn't work)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh2YLplSvlQ

A FEW PICS (for those who don't want to see the video)

Near the start:


A cool bridge:


Very long suspension bridge:


My setup the final night with a mild misty rain:


Whitewater falls at the end:

[NCPatrick]

Fantastic video! Loved the music too. I've got to get down there soon and see some of this scenery first-hand.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

[HannahsDaddy]

Great report! We are leaving early Friday AM to do Laurel Valley to Laurel Creek Falls. After seeing your report, we may go farther than that. Do you think this section could be done faster than 3.5 days? I wanted to be out sometime Sunday.

[MrTiles]

most excellent. Thanks for sharing!

[glassymountain]

Great report! We are leaving early Friday AM to do Laurel Valley to Laurel Creek Falls. After seeing your report, we may go farther than that. Do you think this section could be done faster than 3.5 days? I wanted to be out sometime Sunday.

I had planned on camping at Laurel Creek Falls but it was full of 10 or so scout tents when I got there. Went 4 miles further to camp at Rock Creek by around 4pm (12 miles total). It's a somewhat damp camp site (lake mist) but otherwise is nice.

It is definitely doable in 3 days or 2.5. I would normally start hiking around 9am and finish by 1:30-3:00pm doing 10 mile days. It gets dark around 5pm. There are a lot more camp sites than are shown in the trail book, though not all have water at the site. 2 days would be pushing it for me.

You could also get out at Bad Creek and skip the final 3-4 miles up to Whitewater falls if you wanted to shorten it. Or perhaps start further in on Horsepasture road if you're familiar with where the trail crosses that gravel road.

[islander]

Nice trip report. The Carolina's seem to be calling me for multi-day trip.
Pretty photo's & video. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[BEAS]

very nice video thanks for sharing

[mbiraman]

Very nice video, beautiful place, lovely waterfall. With the woodstove /alky combo you'll get your own system of doing things and it may change over the first while but you'll get tuned in and faster at it so all will be well. Thanks for sharing. Whose doing the music??

[carolinasbackpacker]

nice report (loved the vid), although that pic of WWF brings back some bad memories. I had a pretty nasty fall at the bottom of the falls getting out to the bridge. It had been raining and the rocks were really slick. Luckily we were finishing at bad creek access. Seeing this video makes me want to go back and conquer my fear for that section.

[Backtrack]

Awesome trip and report! I will put that area on my to do list. Thanks for sharing.