A "Character Building" hike; Hwy 28 to Warwoman Dell and back
After nearly four months the dogs and I were overdue for a backpacking adventure. Indecisive about whether to return to a familiar leisurely route or to venture into unfamiliar strenuous territory, I chose the latter. After finding the Bartram Trail on Alltrails.com I started hiking at 9:15am on Thursday, July 30, 2020, but no sooner had I started hiking I noticed that this route seemed to be a reverse version of the Chattooga River Trail that I hiked almost exactly 1 year ago. There are many diverging trails in the area, and I was later able to estimate that approximately half of this trip was the same as the former.
Packing the bag on the day prior to heading out.
Our starting point was Highway 28 at the Georgia-South Carolina Line. The dogs are ecstatic to start hiking. Once we start hiking we notice that the start point was our turnaround point for the former trip.
On the first day sporadic cloud cover helped keep the temperature cooler than what it would have otherwise been. Fortunately there was no rain for the duration of the trip.
Earls Ford contains road access, so there are frequently weekend car campers. On Thursday there was nobody in the area, but there was a bag of ant-covered MRE trash. In retrospect I am not sure why I decided it would be a good idea to dig through it, but my curiosity yielded two sealed containers of random food - vegetarian lasagna, and a mystery package. Unfortunately I quickly noticed that the lasagna had a small twig piercing the bag, so I fed it to the dogs. They loved it. The other bag contained pop tarts. Those cold, compressed questionable-ingredient pastries were the best Pop Tarts I've ever eaten. My dumpster diving was completely vindicated. Great snacks for all.
Take note of this bridge with the broken hand rail. We'll see it again.
Like many other hikes there is constantly foliage blocking the view this time of the year, so there are only occasional opportunities for photos beyond the trail itself. The Chattooga River divides Georgia and South Carolina. We're on the Georgia side.
There is conflicting information on how far I traveled. This rock indicates that there are 22 miles between Hwy 28 and Warwoman Dell.
Once I climbed some significant elevation in the latter part of the hike, I was able to make contact with, David, KN4ZKT, one of my ham radio buddies. This was the first time that I was able to use the portable DBJ-2 Ham Portable Dual Band J-Pole antenna that David gave me. We primarily talked on the W4WCR 70cm repeater, located at Black Rock Mountain in Rabun County. In several areas of the journey I could even hear Bulldog 93.3. I want to tip my hat to the man who showed me that Height is Might. Rest in peace, Frank.
Green Gap, 1.3 miles from the turnaround point.
The "Warwoman" were women designated by the Cherokees to preside over the fate of captives.
Mabel at the Warwoman Dell shelter.
Camp consisted of a ground pad and a sleeping bag used as a blanket. I hiked until 9:15pm, which was slightly after dark, so that I could reach the radio spot from before. We had been hiking for 12 hours. I set up the J-pole antenna and talked with David for awhile. After that I listened to Bulldog 93.3 until I went to sleep. This photo was shot on Friday morning.
The J-pole antenna setup.
Some time in the early morning the dogs dashed toward some critter in the distance, and Mabel yelped. I didn't see anything or think much of it at the time, but when I looked at her snout I noticed a small wound. I wondered if this scenario would play out like the movie Cujo. Fortunately this wound had almost completely healed within a day...Of course Cujo's wound healed too, until he became a rabid mess. Ha!
The second day was strenuous, particularly after lunch. Here's the "more difficult" signage that I kept thinking about as I was hiking the tougher segment.
Remember the bridge with the broken hand rail shown earlier? A tree fell on it, and it was difficult to cross. I ended up carrying each of the dogs across.
A view from the same vantage as the earlier photo
A spot where I took a 25-minute rest. In the afternoon of the second day I was very fatigued, and more than ready to reach camp. My goal was to camp near the car so that I would be able to return home as soon as possible. Martha Brooke's Zoom funeral was at 11:00am on Saturday, so camping close to the car would have been necessary.
Lying in the water.
When I filled up my water bottles, the dogs both rested. The longer we hike the more tired they become.
In the past the dogs were scared of bridges, but apparently that has been resolved.
This was supposed to be my campsite on the second night. As I was tiredly hiking on the return trip, I falsely imagined a nice beach area with a decent camping location. After not seeing this and rationalizing that I was very tired, worried that I would not make it back in time for Martha's funeral, and there was no possibility of any radio communication in that low point, I went ahead and returned home on Friday evening. It seemed like the right decision.
This photo indicating a distance of 19 miles to Warwoman Dell was shot at the Highway 28 trailhead. The rock in the earlier photo indicated that there are 22 miles between the two points. Who knows? All I know is that it felt like 44 miles round trip, but whether that's true is a mystery. I either went 38 miles or 44 miles total.
Millie relaxing in the dog fur covered passenger seat on the trip home.
