I had not posted anything about my April hike on the Foothills Trail, so I’m catching up now. If you want to skip the narrative, there’s a short video/slideshow linked at the end.
About the trail: The Foothills Trail is a 77 mile hiker-only path along the Blue Ridge Escarpment in northwestern South Carolina, with parts of the trail in North Carolina and just across the river from Georgia. There are several spur trails that provide opportunities for a longer hike. The trail and its spurs connect five state parks, and include a beautiful stretch along the Chattooga River (think “Deliverance”). Water is abundant and the many waterfalls are a highlight of the trail. Many have said the Foothills Trail offers one of the best “bang-for-the-buck” hikes anywhere in the East and I’d have to agree. The Foothills trail is well maintained and only short stretches follow forest roads. Although no permits are needed, there are a few restrictions on where you can camp. Access was easy by car, and trailhead parking seemed secure. The best source of information on the trail is here: http://www.foothillstrail.org/.
The hike: I solo-hiked the trail, completing the main trail, all of the spur trails, and then some, twice (in yo-yo fashion) over a 13-day stretch in mid-April. After a long drive from Houston, I used two trailheads (Caesar’s Head and Bad Creek Access) to segment the hike, allow re-supply, and schedule drives into town. Although many folks hesitate to repeat trail they just hiked, it worked for me as there are not many re-supply options (although caching would be one). My largest food carry was six days, but I completed that segment in five.
Early April proved to be a perfect time to hike the Foothills Trail. It was mostly leaf-off on the ridges and lush and green in the valleys. Temperatures were perfect, with daytime in the low 70’s and nights in the low 50’s. Outside of one very strong storm (which I side-stepped in town) the weather was clear and dry. Water was abundant and waterfalls were full, especially after the storm. Because the water was so high, I had to jump across a narrow section of rapids on the appropriately named Whitewater River at the end of a footbridge that wasn’t quite long enough. I slipped and almost went in, losing a hiking pole in the process. It was the only hairy moment on the whole trip.
Finding places to hang was not a problem at all, although at one desirable spot my 5’ tree straps were barely long enough. Because I was repeating trail, there were a couple opportunities to slackpack to a trailhead and back, so I did. Black bears are supposedly abundant in the area, but I didn’t see any – I still hung my food every night.
Gear: Hammock bliss double-wide; HG cuben tarp with doors; Revelation X TQ and JRB UQ; Merrell Moab Ventilator Mid boots (switched to Cascadia trail runners ½ way through); REI Flash 65 backpack; Sawyer squeeze; canister stove with GSI Pinnacle cookset; Kindle Paperwhite; food was mostly home-made, except dinners which were Packit Gourmet or Hawk Vittles. Also, +1 on ExOfficio briefs (no monkey-butt – ‘nuff said), and Darn Tough socks (no blisters in 216 miles).
Highlights: The waterfalls; hanging on Drawbar Cliffs and along the Chattooga River; meeting folks on the trail, including HF members Grits and Mothership (both from Boone, NC area – Mothership has thru-hiked the AT), Ray and Rick (from a Cincinnati meetup), trail angel Bobby McGee, who had a cold beer for me at the Burrell’s Ford trailhead (guess what song went through my head for two days), and an 82-year old gentleman hiking in to see the Oconee Bells in full bloom; Big Mike’s in Brevard (craft beer, great pizza and wings); not dying in the Whitewater River.
The video: “Picked myself up off the ground” is the first lyric of the SCI soundtrack, which seemed appropriate for a hammock hanger, and to some extent I tried to follow the lyrics in the slideshow (it’s not chronological). I captioned most of the locations and the vegetation that I thought I could identify. Sorry if the captions are tough to see (it was my first attempt at doing this). Grits has also posted this video on his HF trip report. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7N_7KtWAsE
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Originally Posted by swankfly
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