Chattooga River Trail - Ellicott Rock - 4/2-3/11

Chattooga River Trail - Burrell's Ford Road to Ellicott Rock
Out and Back
4.3 miles each way
Moderate

April 2-3, 2011 This past weekend we went backpacking with Matt, Beth, and Matty Brayley. As this was the first real backpacking trip for all of us, we chose the Chattooga River Trail from Burrell's Ford to Ellicott Rock (the corner of NC, SC, and GA) which, by all accounts, was an easy hike with minimal elevation change.

This section of the Chattooga River Trail is four and a half miles following the Chattooga River on the South Carolina side. As advertised, it was generally easy hiking with a few steepish spots and some places that were walking through roots and over slick rocks. We met early on Saturday morning. My GPS did not do a very good job of getting us there and at one point wanted me to drive into someone's back yard. After several "Find Alternate Routes", we made it to Burrell's Ford Road. We nearly missed Matt and Beth, but as we were driving by a trail head (for the wrong trail), I saw Matty run out between cars. We figured out where we were and where we needed to be and proceeded to the trail head for the Chattooga River Trail.

The first part of the hike was through an open forest. It was level, smooth hiking. It wasn't right next to the river, but close enough to see it through the trees from time to time.

About two miles in, we came to a large level area that makes for a great camping spot. There were camp sites right next to the river and lots of room away from the river in which to camp. The northern border was a creek that fed into the river. We talked about stopping there, but decided to press on. Later on, we decided we'd have liked to have that decision back.

There was a very nice bridge crossing the creek. Across the bridge, the Chattooga River Trail goes left and continues north while the Foothills Trail splits off to the right (east).

After this bridge crossing, the trail took on a different character. It became narrower, more rocky and rooty. Also, the trail ran closer to the river. There were a couple places that the trail was narrow and a bit tricky with a 15 - 20 foot drop into the river (through the trees and brush, of course). In those areas, we held on to the pack straps of Elijah and Matty. Also, the trail was not as level as the first two miles had been with lots of little up and downs that made the kids "tired."

There was a small creek that was only a problem because we were trying to not get our feet wet. Most of the year, this crossing is probably not even noteworthy, but on our trip, it was too much for the kids to get across without getting wet. So Matt and I took turns carrying packs and children across the creek. We did this coming and going. The kids had lots of fun. Each time we would stop to rest, they would spend their time throwing rocks into the water.

Since we had never been on this trail, none of us knew what to expect or exactly how far it was to the campsites we were looking for. We had read that there were several nice campsites just past Ellicott Rock. With three small children, and Beth being pregnant, we debated turning around and going back to the sites that we had passed earlier in the day. It was a difficult decision in that the trail had been hard and going back was not appealing. Our concern, though, was that we would hike another mile and not find a camping area and have to go even that much further back. We decided to push on. About a half mile later, Beth cried "Mercy." As we debated what to do, a couple of hikers came from the direction we were headed and told us the campsites were just another quarter mile ahead. With relief, we pushed through the last little bit and found a beautiful campsite right next to the river.

We set up camp as the kids played in the water and around the site.

We built a fire and made dinner. As it was getting dark, the kids were playing some sort of war game when Elijah started screaming bloody murder. We ran to him and discovered that he had ran into a knot on a low hanging branch and made a pretty good hole in his noggin. Thankfully, Matt brought a good first aid kit. (Note to self: Improve your first aid kit before going on another trip.) He is also a trained First Responder. I held Elijah while Matt cleaned him up and bandaged him. The wound wasn't nearly as serious as Elijah thought it was, but it bled like crazy.

There was a nice chill in the air that night, and we all slept soundly, huddled deep in our sleeping bags. The boys slept with the draw strings all the way up and their heads tucked inside the bag. Aside from the hard ground, which my old body doesn't care much for, I slept rather well. The next morning, we packed up and headed back down the same way we came in. Everyone was tired and it seemed like a long walk back to the car, but all in all, it was a good trip. It was especially good to see Matt and Beth and see the three boys play so well together. As before, the boys slept all the way home.