Foothills Trail Thru-Hike – Day 4 - 3/26/15 – Rock Creek to
Cantrell Homesite –17.9 Miles
A long stretch without water, uncertainty about where to end
the day, and an unexpected section of ups and downs made Day 4 our toughest one
on the Foothills Trail.
Cathy and I packed up very wet tents and started the morning
off with an uninspiring few miles to Laurel Fork Falls, the trail doing the
now-familiar weave on and off old logging roads in drizzly misty fog. As usual, Cathy quickly outpaced me but
waited for me to catch up at a Lake Jocassee boat access spur trail. Half a mile later we reached the overlook to Laurel
Fork Falls.
Laurel Fork Falls from a distance – after a brief look,
Cathy kept going but I sat down for 10 minutes to eat and reflect.
I skipped the side trail to the top of the waterfall (a great
campsite location, BTW, for those who plan better than we did). For a couple of miles past Laurel Fork Falls the
trail was in rough shape, dozens of blowdowns alongside and occasionally across
the trail. Perhaps there was a recent weather
event, a microburst that toppled trees? The
FT crossed Laurel Fork Creek multiple times, always bridged, but this was not a
picturesque walk in the woods.
A Hobbit-like bridge across Laurel Fork Creek
Bloodroot
I met up with Cathy again at Virginia Hawkins Falls (named
for an executive secretary of the FTC) and we enjoyed a nice rest. The waterfall was lovely but hard to
photograph in the dappled sunshine that had finally appeared.
Past this point we knew the trail would begin to climb and that
water sources would be scarce. Campsites
were also limited – we might end up on the summit of Sassafrass Mountain or
just at some flat spot beside the trail.
Since Cathy’s filter had failed, our only treatment source was my Aqua
Mira drops, so we had to be together to treat water. Sitting at the waterfall, we assessed how
much water we still had and then prepared another liter for Cathy to carry on
ahead.
Then began an unexpectedly rigorous series of ups and downs
that took all my energy (plus one intriguing encounter – see footnote). Unlike Heartbreak Ridge, where its reality was
less than its hype, the five miles from Virginia Hawkins Falls to the Laurel
Valley access parking was a shock to the system. Quick switchbacks up, then a reprieve of
switchbacks down, followed by an abruptly steep uphill…maybe the guidebook doesn’t
note it because the difficulty is less severe from the other direction. All I know is by the time I connected with
Cathy again we were both toasted. She
said carrying that extra liter of water did her in.
At the gravel parking area we hung our tents over the sign
board to dry. A dayhiker there told us
we could scramble down under the upcoming Highway 178 bridge to get water (I
think this is Estatoe Creek). No mention
of this in the guidebook; would have been nice to know. Cathy felt that she still had enough water in
her own Camelback so I took the extra liter she had hauled for the last five
miles, then retrieved another liter from Estatoe Creek to be sure we had
enough for cooking at camp.
Back on the trail.
The next section to Chimneytop Gap was a little kinder and gentler. As I crossed F. Van Clayton Highway, I
noticed a tractor-trailer that was obviously too long to make the hairpin turn
there and was stuck. A couple of cars were
forced to stop and their drivers were out in the road trying to advise the truck
driver, but it looked like it was going to be a long night.
The climb up Sassafrass Mountain seemed interminable – well,
it is the high point of South Carolina (3,560 feet) so it should require some
effort, I suppose. What used to be a tree-covered summit with no
views has now been clear-cut in anticipation of “improvement” with an
observation platform. Not too pretty
right now, but hopefully it will get better.
As for camping there, forget it. The wind was fierce and you can tell by Cathy’s
body language that we will keep moving.
Back in the woods, we began scouting for a campsite, any campsite, any
reasonable flat spot. We saw a place
where two tents could fit in, but pushed on and found the old Cantrell homesite
mentioned in the guidebook – hurray! The
original stone chimney and a more recently constructed 3-foot-tall stone fire ring with eight
stone “thrones” encircling it, plus a stick shelter. Surely the Boy Scouts had been here more than
once.
There was plenty of room for tents and a young couple had
already claimed their territory. There also
was a spring somewhere nearby but since we had hauled our water we didn’t
bother to look for it. We popped up our tents, put on an extra layer against
the chill as the sun set, and prepared to cook our last supper on the
trail. And…my stove igniter wouldn’t
work. And…my matches wouldn’t stay lit
in the breeze. Thanks to Cathy’s
Jetboil, I didn’t miss dinner.
Maybe not our longest day in miles, but this was our biggest
day in elevation gain, problem-solving and decision-making. Whatever tomorrow brings, we’re going
home.
“When you’re safe at home you
wish you were having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you
were safe at home.” ~Thornton Wilder
*Footnote: Often
when hiking I repetitively count my steps in my head, 1 to 10, or hum a
song. During the tough part of today’s
hike I softly sang the refrain of a song I’d heard in worship the previous Sunday
that goes like this: “Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy on me.”
The cadence was perfect for my pace and I walked for some time in a “zone-out”. Suddenly I felt a tingling sensation, a slight
blurring of vision and diminished hearing.
I distinctly felt that something, a presence, was walking with me. Not scary at all, rather exhilarating. I don’t recall exactly where I was or how long
it lasted (more than a flash but surely less than a minute). In thinking about this a lot, I believe
that I entered a walking meditative state and encountered God/Holy Spirit. Hmm.
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