2 Nights - Chattooga River Trail - Segment 2 (26 miles)

Join us for a two night backpacking trip along the last 26 miles of the Chattooga River Trail. We'll meander along the Wild & Scenic Chattooga River, see a few waterfalls, traverse the Ellicott Rock Wilderness, and finish out near Highlands, NC.

This is a moderate to strenuous hike. Not suitable for beginners. We'll remove you from the going list if your profile indicates you are a beginner.

Day 1
2:10 PM set up shuttle, those leaving cars will meet at the end point (Chattooga River & Green Creek Trailhead - GPS link below) and get shuttled back to the start. We'll need 2 volunteers to set up the shuttle. See notes below.

3:00PM meet at Russel Bridge Chattooga River/Bartram Trail access (meetup event starting location. GPS link below)
Hike ~7 miles on the Chattooga River Trail (221) to the Simms Field campsite (Gaia GPS waypoint) along the Chattooga River. On our way we'll pass Licklog Falls and Pig Pen Falls. We should get to camp by around 7 and have enough daylight left to set up camp.

Day 2
Hike ~8 miles to a campsite (approximate Gaia waypoint) along the Chattooga River near Ellicott's Rock in the Ellicott Rock Wildnress. Note: we are open to going further if someone knows of a good camp site with water nearby after this point. Please reach out to Heather via DM if so.

Day 3
Hike the remaining 10 miles to the end point. We'll pass some of the most beautiful views of the Chattooga River in this more wild and less well maintained section of the trail. Expect to navigate around/over/under tree blow downs.

Total ascent: 6,044 ft
Total descent: 4,942 ft
Nigh time lows could be as low as around 30
Well behaved dogs welcome. We'll have Aspen (11y/o female lab mix)

Please make sure you are familiar with the route via this Gaia Map or pick up a copy of the Chattooga River map from Pisgah Map Company. There are a lot of intersections on this route so it could be easy to get lost.

We generally hike about 2 - 2.5 mph, but like to stop, soak it all in, and generally take our time so this is really a "hike your own hike" adventure. You should plan to be comfortable navigating the route on your own, possibly hiking alone at times, know where we're camping each night, and be okay not having someone lead you every step of the way.

We'll watch the weather for Clayton, GA & Highlands, NC leading up to this trip. Generally, precipitation chances of greater than 60% or nightly low temps below 20 will result in rescheduling the trip.

Shuttle Logistics

• We need 2 volunteers who can fit 4 people total + packs to leave a vehicle at the end
• We need 1 volunteer to pick up those leaving vehicles at the end Friday afternoon at 2:10 PM that can fit a total of 4 people + 1 dog & 4 packs.
• We will be leaving our vehicle at the end because we generally take our time/don't want folks waiting for us.

Starting location: https://goo.gl/maps/XeSLTYo5mtD3KnUz5
Shuttle setup location (end point): https://goo.gl/maps/7wQiiRVfd765eiZ96
Gaia map route: https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=18.6/-83.1089/35.0009&pubLink=zlTIt2q76SvHKSEugXHnzz7N&trackId=4cc10350-954d-476a-a4e8-e344f92e0ffd