Destination … not reached. Did it matter? Absolutely not.
I had the chance to get most of the kiddos out of the house for an overnighter. Mrs. STinGa stayed back to shuttle the oldest one to and from dance practices on Friday and Saturday. I’ve wanted to explore the Chattooga River area for a while and this was a fine time to start.
I picked the kiddos up from school with everything packed. We stopped for gas, a quick run through REI for a few last minute items, and then boogied north. We park in the Walhalla Fish Hatchery (pic 1) parking lot and had to share it with one other car. Whoo, what a crowd.
While my kids love camping and going on day hikes, this was their first time back packing. I didn’t know how far we would be able to get, but our intended destination was Ellicott’s Rock and Commissioner’s Rock. Everyone did great and we hiked until it was getting dusk. (Pic 2) We were able to find a spot large enough for the crew and set up camp with just enough time left to eat before darkness settled in. (Pics 3, 4, and 5)
It got a little cool during the night, but PLUQs worked well enough to keep us happy.
After getting up and getting packed, we decided to keep on going a little while longer to see what we could see. Breakfast was on the trail and on the go. (Pic 6)
After hiking about 30 - 45 minutes, we came across B Ford camping area. It looks like a great place to stay on the next overnighter. It is a nice flat area with the undergrowth cleared and plenty of trees left standing for us hangers. We ran across two guys relaxing by a fire pit overlooking the river. I guess they belonged to the car we saw upon arrival. We chatted with them for a few minutes and headed back out. From this spot, it was another 1.8 miles to the rocks. Due to family obligations and little legs, this had to be our turn around spot.
On the way back, we stopped for lunch at a good wading spot. The kids had a chance to play in the water while I “cooked”. While we were here, another hiker strolled through. After greetings were given, he said that he had a few trail books that he had written on the local trails. He gave me his business card and asked that I check him out when I had a chance. After we got home, I checked out his site. Guess what … I already had one of his books. Silly me didn’t recognize him as the author. I hope to see him again on future hikes so I can thank him for his works. It's always nice to support local people, especially those who are friendly and take time to encourage little ones to keep exploring the wilderness. http://www.gabartramtrail.org/purchase.html
After we finished eating, we worked our way back to the car. With about ½ a mile left on the trail, the littlest one started complaining about being tired. I refueled her with some crackers and she powered through. Overall, the trip was a super success. I now have a pretty good idea of where we can go and what we can due for upcoming trips. While we didn’t make it to our initial destination, everyone had a blast and was asking when the next camping trip would be.
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