Day 1 – 17 June 2011
The Conasauga River Trail is a winding stretch of trail that follows the river through the Cohutta Wilderness, some of the most remote forest area in the Southeast. There are no sweeping vistas here. Even the cliffside parts of trail are heavily wooded. Still, what the hike may lack in vast views is more than made up for by the beauty of the river itself, which meanders its way through the valley. At most if not all of the 38 fords hikers encounter on the trail, one is challenged to simultaneously take in the winding sight of the river making its way over the clusters of boulder or patches of smooth, slippery river rock while attempting to maintain sure footing in the process.
On Day 1 of our three-day, 13.5-mile hike, Phillip and I arrived around noon, having made arrangements to take a shuttle from where we parked near Murray’s Lake. Perhaps for a longer stay we could have followed a longer route back to our car, but the lack of time and circuitous routes on this trail make shuttling (or multiple cars) a necessity for weekend packers in a single-car situation. It should also be noted that, to preserve the beauty of this area, group sizes are limited to twelve or fewer hikers.
The first day of hiking was fairly easy. The walk down from Betty Gap follows a creek bed for about a mile or so before you reach the river proper. From there on, be prepared to get wet; the water is cold, but, especially on hot days, it is very refreshing. 
The hike on Day 1 was almost uneventful. I say almost because in the process of taking pictures, Phillip slipped and dunked his camera. It was having a few slight electrical issues, and the lens was shot, but it’s taking pictures again. Since we were only hiking a half day on this first leg of our trip, we decided to make camp around the fourth or fifth ford. Campsites line the river, averaging roughly one or two between each ford. Most of the ones we passed were unused on this particular weekend. In all, I think we saw four or five small groups consisting of at least one group of day-hikers; we also saw one large group of ten or twelve. For the most part, though, we hiked uninterrupted for long stretches. The campsites in this area really show of the creativity of the hikers who use them; many of them sport rock seats and card tables.
We found a nice campsite on the far side of the river and off the immediate trail. 
We got to camp around 3:30 or so, not knowing how much light we’d have for how long since the mountains and heavy woods overhead, but, fortunately, the sun follows the river bed this time in year in this spot. I was probably able to write until well after nine that night, even with the occasional sprinkle on a relatively overcast day. This campsite was right on the river, so it was on the humid side.
Food and water are typically the heaviest things any hiker packs in at the start of a hike; the upside of that weight is the fact it gets lighter over the course of the hike (and you should definitely be packing out all of your trash!). My packed weighed approximately 26lbs. I think Phillip’s was around 27lbs. Added to the weight factor the possibility of taking a dunk or two–it’s inevitable that you’ll get wet, but how wet is up to the elements–and you quickly realize the necessity of lightweight, water protected gear/food. We used dry bags for our clothes, lined our sleeping bag sack with a garbage bag, and packed every vulnerable item in a combination of Zip-Locs and plastic grocery bags.
A testament to our desire to travel light, for food we had some yummy Knorr rice and mushroom for dinner on the first night with Hit cookies for dessert (these are really light, cheap, well-packaged cookies…and they are so yummy!). Our breakfasts were a pack of oatmeal and a Folger’s coffee bag each. (Folger’s coffee bags look like tea bags, and are the lightest weight alternative to our regular fresh ground morning java). For lunches we had thin bagels (they hold up well) with peanut butter. We also carried trail mix, turkey jerky, and Crystal Light packets, which are small but go a long way if you want some flavor to your water. In all, our food weighed less than a pound per day per person (what I consider to be the rule of thumb to planning backpacking meals).
Day 2 – 18 June 2011
We started out around 10am on Day 2 and the fords really started to pick up in this leg of the hike. The trail is downhill most of the way. It was still overcast, but most of the damp was appreciated; the weather stayed cool (though humid) and kept both dust and bugs down for the bulk of the day. 
The trail is relatively level much of the way, but you definitely have to watch your step where it narrows; I could see this trip being a lot more challenging had the rain been stronger or more persistent. After about a dozen more fords, maybe five miles, near Rough Creek, the river widens, spanned by several clusters of large boulders perfect for having lunch and enjoying the brief afternoon sunshine. Here you run into the Tearbritches Trail, and Hickory Creek and the Conasauga share the trail.
On a warmer day, we’d have checked out the swimming holes. The river is fairly shallow at each of the crossings, though there were a few fords that managed to soak my shorts to the pockets. The wider fords like the one in the Rough Creek area were my favorite. Though it’s definitely tricky footwork getting across, there are also options for just “crick-walking” all up and down the river, exploring for pools to swim in. With thunder and lightening threatening, we picked up our packs and made tracks. Four more fords later, we worked our way through a small clump of blow downs to our campsite, having logged about six miles for the day.
The storms that have hit this area of the South have resulted in more than a few big blow downs and pretty good sources for firewood in this leg of the trip. Day 1 was a bit more of a challenge in that regard. The damp didn’t help either; we spend a lot of time looking for dry wood and, ultimately, drying out wet wood. Our Day 2 campsite shows off the resourcefulness of some hikers. Spaced around the fire ring were rock “Bark”a-lounger seats and strategically placed flat stones that gave us great surfaces to use. There was probably space for a few more campers, but Phillip, Ketchup, and I were glad to have it to ourselves. This campsite boasts a better elevation than our previous one, sitting at the back of a rocky beach with nice large boulders and some areas well deep enough to swim around in. I wasn’t too adventurous about this; I’d been wet all day, and of all the things we could have forgotten to pack, we had to forget towels! Still, it would have been pretty chilly regardless. Hanging the bear bag was much easier at this campsite. The trees here offered up several good options some ways from our campsite.
We did get a bit of a storm in the early evening, but since we’d anticipated rain, we threw our footprint over the wood we’d gathered and then transferred it to the vestibule of our tent. We leaned the larger pieces on end against a tree. The wood out of the rain, we used Ketchup’s lead to string up our footprint into a shelter for ourselves. With Ketchup tucked in behind us, we listened to Grateful Dead tunes while we waited out the storm. The evening turned dark pretty quickly; we only caught a few rays after the storm before the sun went down.
Day 3 – 19 June 2011
Our third day offered us the best weather; it was much warmer, and the sun (and humidity) came out pretty early. That morning, before we broke camp, we found a large male dobsonfly roosting on one of the rock lounge chairs. Phillip had just gotten up from sitting there and moved the rock a bit; he was instantly glad that he hadn’t sat on the lounge in the way its creator intended. Aside from a good shock he might have experienced more uncomfortable consequences. [Actually, it’s the females and their blood-drawing pincers that you have to be careful of; the males’ mandibles are pretty harmless, though creepy-looking as all get out).
Though we were up pretty early, we lolled until the sun came out and started our final leg of the hike in the late morning, around 10, working up a respectable sweat along the way. A nice breeze made the walking pretty nice to start off, but by afternoon we were glad for the moment of cool each ford promised. I think the weather also had an effect on all the interesting fauna (and flora) that we were able to spot.
If you check out our video, you’ll see several stretches of river from Day 3, as it was the sunniest day of the trip. There is a fair-sized swimming hole that would be nice for a dip around the 9th mile of the total hike. Another comes around mile 10 or 11, near the 33rd or 34th crossing; there is a larger campsite just before the crossing and hikers can go for a dip in the swimming hole here. We also saw some of the largest fish we’d encountered on the trip at this hole, probably because the river moves much more slowly here as it passes between our low bank and a high cliff face. Still the fish weren’t that large, maybe 10 inches long from the tip of the mouth to tip of the caudal fin. We saw what looked like catfish or sucker fish (we couldn’t really get close enough to tell) and some small trout.
In addition to the host of fish and blooming rhododendron (this is late in the season for these mountain flowers) we also caught sight of some funky colored mushrooms, and a red spotted newt. We also saw lots of galax and wild ginger; the wild ginger was especially on the moister, shadier parts of the trail. The two plants look similar to me with their heart-shaped leaves, but in the areas where it grew together it was pretty easy to tell the lighter colored galax from the darker, variegated leaves of the wild ginger. [Please note, Phillip and I follow the principles of "leave no trace" ethics. It is illegal to harvest plants; wild ginger is especially threatened by this practice.]
The last mile or so of this hike, we gained a lot of elevation. The humidity evaporated, and we found ourselves funneled out of the lush of the valley into dryer, summer air. We were probably out of the parking area by noon, hot and sweaty, and wishing we could copy and paste the weekend back on end for a few days more. Next time, maybe the sun will come out before our last day on the trail; regardless of the temperamental summer weather, we enjoyed our 3-day getaway. I hope you will too.
Gear Test
On this trip, we used the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) bear bag technique. It takes some patience.* You have to make sure the bag is both secure and high enough that a bear can’t reach it while at the same time making sure that you can.
*Disclaimer: It probably took us a dozen takes to get this bag up. It’s not always this difficult, but our options for branches that were high and strong enough while still being accessible for us to reach were pretty limited. Couple that with the soggy conditions and the fact that Phillip can’t throw, and you have a recipe for a mildly frustrated Phillip. Fortunately, he did manage to get the bear bag hung successfully.
We prefer the PCT method because it allows us to carry only a few small, lightweight items and provide a truly bear-resistant bear bag. All you need is a 50-foot length of cord, 1 carabiner, and 1 small pouch.
I use the pouch as an aid in getting the line over a tree branch. I’m not the best thrower in the world, so getting a rope over the top of a branch twenty feet off the ground can be frustrating, especially if I’m tying the rope directly to the rock. I fill the pouch with small rocks, ice, packed snow, sand, or anything else that will give enough weight to make it over the tree limb.
Once you’ve got the rope over the limb, by stringing your bear bag line through a carabiner attached to your food bag and pulling the bag all the way up to the limb, you’re able to use a clove hitch to tie a small stick the line as high as you can. Then, when you (slowly) release the line, the stick gets jammed at the carabiner and your food bag remains high up in the air. the only thing for a bear to grab is the line hanging down. To lower your food bag, simply pull the line and lower the stick until you can untie the hitch. Then, since there is nothing to jam into the carabiner, your food can be lowered to the ground.
I also like that, during the day before it’s hung for the night, I can tie the clove hitch while the food bag is at chest level, leaving it accessible until we’re through with it.
I’ve recently seen a similar method that uses a small piece of PVC pipe instead of the stick. Although you can find a stick in the woods and not have to carry the PVC into the woods, untying a clove hitch that has been hanging with weight all night can be a pain, especially if it’s had a lot of weight or has been raining. This method allows you to untie the hitch by releasing the unweighted end, saving you some cursing while you’re trying to untie a knot with a growling stomach.
Directions to the Trailhead near Murray’s Lake
Directions to the Trailhead at Betty Gap
Contact Information
Chattahoochee National Forest
Michele Jones – Conasauga District Ranger
3941 Highway 76
Chatsworth, GA 30705
Phone: 706-695-6736
Transportation Shuttle ($85):
Dick Anderson
706-276-2520
Emergency:
Dial 911
US Forest Service: 706-695-6736
State Police: 706-272-2200
Trip Data
Trail Type: One-way (shuttle needed)
Total Distance: 13.5 miles
Trip Duration: 3 days
Difficulty: 4/10
Click here to download this GPS file (.gdb).
Click here to view in Google Earth (with photos)
Conasauga River Trail - Profile
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