Today was my first full day on the trail, and I couldn't wait to get moving! I also couldn't wait to see the beautiful Chattooga again. While I didn't come across any questionable characters with banjos, I did meet some very interesting thru-hikers.
Music featured in the video: “It Looks Like The Future But It Feels Like The Past” by Doctor Turtle, “Georgia’s Banjo Brigade” provided by teknoaxe.com, and “The Monk and the Cowboy” by Michael Ramir C.
Trail Journal
October 13th 2020
Pigpen & Licklog Falls to Sloan Bridge
15.1 miles
After doubling my mileage goal the day before, I was motivated to take on bigger miles sooner rather than later. I wanted to try getting all the way to Fish Hatchery camp.I knew from backpacking the Chattooga over the Summer I was in for some beautiful scenery. It was even lovelier this time with the touch of Fall colors in the trees.
Way up ahead I saw a girl about my age crouched by a stream filtering. The last thing I wanted was to scare the living daylights out of her. So I tried to announce myself as I got a little closer
"GOOD MORNING! How's it going?!"
"Aah! GOSH! Sorry, I didn't see you there."
Fail... epic fail.
Her name was Lilian. We hiked along the river together for most of the morning. She was so cheery and friendly. Her boyfriend/hiking partner on the other hand didn’t say a word.
She said this was the longest backpacking trip they had ever been on. This was also a shakedown for a much, much longer adventure. Her goal was to thru-hike the AT in the next year or so... but I get the feeling her boyfriend was just along for the ride in all of this. Which explained a lot. I get it. I too have a man who isn’t exactly eager to spend days hauling a 30lb pack through the woods. But because he loves me more than he despises backpacking he puts up with it from time to time.
I didn't see them again after Burrell's Ford, so I can't say if they finished their thru-hike. Lilian seemed really determined though, so I choose to believe they did. While I would have liked to stay at Burrell's Ford, I still had plenty of daylight and energy to keep going. Still it was a great place to take a load off. The way the sites are lined up in a long corridor always makes me think of it like a hiker hotel. Picnic tables, iron grates on the fire rings, 2 privies, easy river access, trash receptacles, AND bear cables. It's absolute luxury compared to some of the other campsites I.ve stayed at.
Maybe I'm just bad at reading the map, but I couldn’t for the life of me find the Fish Hatchery camp. So, I pushed on toward Sloan Bridge making it a 15 mile day. I noticed on the Oconee side of the trail sites aren't marked as clearly as the Pickens side. I took the figure swaying in a hammock in the clearing down below as confirmation this was the right place.
"Would it offend you if I camped here tonight?" I called down.
"Not at all." he replied
This wasn't his first rodeo. He thru-hiked the trail last Summer. In his words: miserable. I'll give an amen to that. My shake down trips over the Summer were brutal! He decided it was worth doing again, only in a cooler more amicable season.
I got my stove to work! My campmate thought it was a pretty cool piece of gear, which made me feel like I might actually get the hang of this thing before the trip was over. I enjoyed sitting there feeding it sticks over and over. After an exhausting day it was relaxing to just focus on keeping the small flame going. For dinner I had grits and bacon jerky. I added some dehydrated mushroom and onion pieces to make it a little more interesting. I didn't think I was going to like it, but grits wound up being my favorite meal of the trip. I looked forward to the next night I could make it.
Tonight I decided… No matter what. Even if I have to drag my sorry behind up Pinnacle and roll all the way down, I am going to finish this hike. If someone twice my age can do this not once but TWICE, then I've got no excuse.
Note to self: Collecting little sticks in a bandana throughout the day was a great idea!