September 14, 2022
Day 3: 10.18 miles
Today is another slow start. We all had several beers last night, and it takes us a little bit to get going. I crawl out of my hammock about 0845 and busy myself with camp chores. My first order of business is usually the bathroom, followed by changing into my hiking clothes for the day, brushing my teeth, and then packing up camp. I usually sit down for breakfast after all my other chores are finished. The campsite we picked last night conveniently has a pit toilet for bathroom duties and a bear box for storing food, so I don’t even have to dig a cat hole or drop bear hang today, making the morning chores move a bit more quickly.
The three of us discuss our plan for the day over breakfast. There are two waterfalls that we can hike to from here, but neither of them are right on the Foothills Trail. We want to hike out to Kings Creek Falls after breakfast, before we don our packs for the day. This hike adds about 1.3 total miles to our day, going out and back from our campsite. I’ve seen photos of this waterfall and know it’s gorgeous so I’m excited to see it. It does not disappoint, and we spend several minutes enjoying the view and taking photos.
Back at camp, we strap on our packs and have to make a decision: are we going to hike out on the Chattooga Trail along the river to visit Spoonauger Falls, adding nearly two miles to our hiking day, or will we head to the Foothills Trail, skipping the waterfall? We ultimately decide to go to the waterfall, and begin our slight detour off the FHT. The Chattooga Trail follows the Chattooga River to a spur up to Spoonauger Falls. Turns out, it’s worth the detour. This is our second nice waterfall for the day. Back on the Chattooga Trail, we continue to follow the river until we reach an intersection marked with a sign pointing down the intersecting trail that reads “Foothills Trail 1.1.” We head uphill, and will join the Foothills Trail about 0.6 miles up from where we camped last night.
Back on the FHT, we start with a significant amount of elevation gain over the first few miles. We climb up and up, away from the river. Bethany is a much faster hiker than I am, being both taller than me and in better hiking shape (she just finished the Colorado trail), and she and Jess quickly pull ahead of me. I don’t mind, because it gives me a chance to hike at my own pace for a bit. As we climb, I eventually get cell signal for the first time in 3 days and pause a moment to send a few messages.
I have texts from my good friend, the “Fearless Leader” I’ve mentioned in other posts, that she was trying to hike out to find us, but parked too far away. I wish I’d had signal sooner to tell her where we’d be, but she tells me she’s left us a “present” and also warns of a yellow jacket nest near where we will camp tonight.
At the top of the climb we reach what has been the only view of the entire hike so far… And it isn’t really much of view. From the trail we can see Whiteside Mountain, a hike that I’ve done many times between Highlands and Cashiers, NC. The view is really far away, but it is pretty. Mostly I’m thankful that from here the hike is more or less downhill. We’ve been going uphill for what seems like hours and a reprieve from relentlessly climbing sounds wonderful.
The next milestone in our hike is Fish Hatchery Road. We reach it before too long and spend a few minutes in the parking lot picking up trash. Jess has carried a stuff sack specifically for trash and has been diligent about picking up any that she sees on the trail. Leaving the road we come across trail magic in the form of a cooler sitting on the side of the trail. The cooler is courtesy of someone named Taz and is full of ice cold sodas. I don’t normally drink soda and I couldn’t tell you the last time that I had one, but I open a Cheerwine and chug it before I even know what’s happened. While we are all standing around drinking our sodas, another female hiker comes up behind us. “Are you Cowbell’s friends?” She asks. “Yes!” I exclaim. “You must be the other Jess.” She HAD caught up to us, and we chat while she drinks her soda. She asks where we are camping tonight, and we tell her we plan to go to East Fork. She asks if we mind if she joins us. We all decide to meet there.
Not too much further along we come across the trail magic left by FL. As I’m trying to untie the bag out of the tree, I get stung by a yellow jacket. It’s only a mild sting, but I yell, “we have to yank it down and RUN, there are yellow jackets!” I jerk the bag out of the tree and take off, not stopping until we are a safe distance away to stuff the treats in Jess’s pack and keep moving.
From here the trail is relatively easy even though there are several sections where roots and rocks really test the ankles. Like yesterday, today my ankles are extremely sore by this point in the hike. I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced this level of ankle fatigue and make a mental note to do more ankle strengthening exercises at home. The going is pretty quick, and we have three more waterfalls between here and camp, and also apparently a yellow jacket nest to avoid.
Hikers Peril Falls is a trailside waterfall on a small feeder stream, It cascades down a tall rock face into East Fork Chattooga River. Lower and Upper Sloan Bridge Falls are directly on the river, and both are river-wide. Both also require a scramble down the bank to reach, and as badly as I want to climb down for a better view, I’m not sure my ankles will tolerate the scramble. I decide not to risk it, satisfied with my birds-eye view; I’ll come back and see them another time if I want up-close photos.
Just before reaching the campsite I spot the yellow jacket nest that FL mentioned. It appears to be very active and I stand and watch multiple yellow jackets flying in and out of the nest for a few minutes before I decide to run through. Just before I’m ready to dart, 1800 comes up behind me. I explain to her what’s happening and warn her to either stay close on my heels as we run through, or to wait for them to settle down before she tries to pass. She decides to run with me and we take off. We’re at camp in just a few minutes, where we find Bethany and Jess getting ready to set up their tents.
This campsite has lots of dead trees, so I take my time finding a safe spot to set up my hammock. Afterward I cook dinner: tonight I’m having my old favorite Mountain House Chili Mac. Jess and I both packed out a mini bottle of Yukon Jack to sip on with dinner, and Bethany packed out a Budweiser. After dinner I’m ready to call it an early night. I’m exhausted, and my feet and ankles really hurt today. I’m hoping putting them up in my hammock and resting overnight has me feeling better tomorrow.
Adventure Like A Girl 
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