2 Days, 1 Night, 38.6 Miles, Re-Hike of Previous Trip
This backpacking trip's inspiration was twofold - solo hiking the previous course and backpacking over the Thanksgiving break. Last Thanksgiving break the dogs and I hiked the Newton Bald Loop Trail. This time I did not take any amateur radio equipment, and with my usual sophomoric preparations I drove in mid-30's temperatures to the trailhead, ultimately starting at Laurel Valley just before 8:50AM - the same starting point as the trip three weeks ago with Chuck.
This course is 19.3 miles point to point, which is 38.6 miles out and back. The starting Point is Laurel Valley in Rocky Bottom, SC, and the turnaround point is the power lines.
As with all backpacking trips the dogs are enthusiastic at the starting point. They want to run around the parking area, but they must sit for a photo.
The failed bridge had still not been fixed, but I oped to take the normal path both ways, thus opting out of the detour. The normal path is a lot more scenic.
Déjà vu of the downed bridge from the last hike.
There are several benches along this trail during long steep areas. It occurred to me that these are added for the benefit of the people hiking up the mountain. We were descending as we passed by the bench - but on the return trip this bench offered an excellent rest.
In the first hour or so of the trip I remembered to change the clock on my camera for daylight savings time. This photos and next are from the Flatrock Campsite - they should be before the detour. This was the campsite where Chuck and I camped on the second night. I stopped for a photo and continued walking.
Laurel Fork Falls. This was the turnaround point for Chuck and me 3 weeks prior. It was 12:20pm, and I had decided to continue hiking for the remainder of the day as far as I was able. My goal was to double the former trip's total distance of 16.2 miles. During this trip I traveling nearly 2.4x the distance of the former trip. My thought is that since I am able to hike that distance I am responsible for doing so. Beyond this point there are tons of hills and scenic views.
The trails parallels several service roads, and there are several locked gates along the way with signs indicating that these "logging roads are closed". Thank goodness the roads are closed - backpacking without traffic is preferable.
Crossing from South Carolina to North Carolina. Aside from a couple of small signs along the trail there is nothing notable in the area aside from a steep hill.
Only North Carolina posts a bunch of stupid rules in the middle of the woods. Disregarded. This track encapsulates my feelings on the matter:
I hope you enjoyed that 1971 flashback from The Five Man Electrical Band as much as I did. Shortly after the sign is a sharp descent leading to the lake and ultimately to the Toxaway River bridge.
Beautiful lake view. There was nobody else here. Excellent. We stopped to admire the view for a few minutes.
Benches and signs installed as part of an Eagle Scout service project. Reminds me of the benches I installed for my Eagle project in the Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve.
Mabel was getting tired, so she stopped to rest on a steep incline. You can see where she was bracing but still slid down half a foot or so.
This is a rule I didn't break.
This sign is close to the bridge the crosses the river at the end of the lake. It was 3:00, and with 2-3 more hours of daylight I decided that the Bear Gap Campsite seemed like a good campsite and turnaround point.
After crossing the river I walked for 2 hours and 45 minutes - which seemed like forever.
I figured that I would have easily traveled six miles in this time frame, but I never saw any marked campsite. It was getting dark and I was tired, so after approaching power lines that intersected the trail I decided to turn around and locate a suitable place to set up camp - but not before taking some long-exposure photos...
Notice that the sign indicates Toxaway River is 6 miles away. The means that the Bear Creek campsite was just beyond this point, or I completely missed it. It's a mystery.
The moon and the power lines.
It was dark, and I threw down my pack and rolled out my ground pad and sleeping bag. As usual I was too lazy to set up my tent. Overnight the dogs were howling, running around a perimeter of the camp site, and simply not letting me sleep. I was not comfortable anyway.
At 5:15 I felt some light precipitation. Although it didn't last, I immediately snapped up (I wasn't sleeping anyway), broke down camp, and cooked breakfast. My stove's fuel canister ran out of fuel while I was boiling water for my oatmeal, but fortunately it was hot enough to complete this meal. This meant that the only usable food I had at this point was trail mix and one lunch consisting of tuna and crackers.
I started hiking on Wednesday at 6:00am - using a flashlight until it was bright enough outside to see just under an hour later. This is another view of the lake.
There was some light precipitation. While it never became too extreme to cause significant trouble, the threat was there throughout the day nonetheless. This is particularly concerning when it is cold.
While there is no sign indicating that hikers are entering South Carolina, there is a sign telling them that they are leaving North Carolina.
It was just before 11:00am and I had hiked just over 11 miles on my second day when I reached Laurel Fork Falls again. I filled up my empty water containers at the turnaround campsite where Chuck and I stayed 3 weeks prior. I was considering whether to hike back to the car or to spend a second night in the woods at the same site where Chuck and I spent our second night.
The water fill-up site and the turnaround campsite from three weeks prior.
Laurel Fork Falls
There were RV's and car-campers at The Laurel Fork Campsite both times I passed by. This area is accessible by road.
I rested at the Flat Rock Campsite upon arriving at 2:15, and I decided to hike the remaining 3 miles and return home Wednesday evening.
One of the many nearly-straight-up climbs on the trip.
Back to Laurel Valley - where the car was parked.
My pack was irritating my back throughout the second day, so I was glad to finish carrying it.
As usual the dogs were fatigued upon the trip's completion. The 2.5-hour return trip contained heavy rain, and there was a thunderstorm in Athens all night. I was thankful that I had decided to return home Wednesday night.
This was a strenuous but enjoyable trip, and I am glad have completed the second annual Thanksgiving break backpacking trip.