Thru Hiking the Bartram Trail (& Life Events)

On the heels of my Benton MacKaye Trail hike, I managed to squeeze in a hike I have had on my list for a year or two now: The Bartram Trail. The Bartram Trail stretches approximately 114 miles from the Georgia-South Carolina border to Cheoah Bald in North Carolina. The southern terminus is at Russell Bridge where Highway 28 crosses the wild and scenic Chattooga River. The Chattooga is truly wild and scenic, but it also bears this official designation and is therefore, thankfully, protected from development. If you have ever seen the 70s film “Deliverance” (starring Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, and Ned Beatty, amongst others), then you have seen some of the more famous rapids of the Chattooga River, because that is where those whitewater canoeing scenes were filmed. I have paddled the Chattooga River many times, and no, I have never heard banjos while making my way down the river, thankfully. I do like a good banjo tune, just not the implication behind “hearing banjos.” Poor Ned Beatty….  All jest aside, the Chattooga is far from the middle-of-nowhere, no-one-around Appalachian adventure. The river experiences recreational use and traffic by locals and non-locals year round, offering rafting, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and whitewater carnage-gawking opportunities.

Years ago when I was beginning to develop intermediate whitewater kayaking skills, I started paddling what is commonly known as section 3.5 of the Chattooga river. The river is divided into sections for paddling/rafting purposes. Section 3.5 combines the second part of section 3 with the first part of section 4, which is the more advanced section with the famous set of rapids known as Five Falls. Most rapids on section 3.5 are pretty tame, with the exception of Bull Sluice and Woodall Shoals. Bull Sluice is a rapid that pours over a limestone rock face, with a large, partially (or fully, depending on the water level) submerged boulder right in the middle known as “Decap Rock.” The river channels all of its force around a large boulder outcrop and pushes the water over this ledge, hence the term “sluice.” One must navigate strong currents to paddle left (easier) or right (harder) of Decap Rock. There is pinning potential behind the boulder, and there are underwater caves throughout the rapid where a person, or boat, can become submerged and stuck. People have, of course, perished in this rapid. It is called Decap Rock because of the visual one might imagine if one were to get stuck at head level behind it. Therefore, Bull Sluice requires a certain level of skill and confidence to paddle safely. It is rated as a class 4 rapid due to the potential consequences. I used to pull my boat up onto the bank and walk around this rapid until I trained long enough to have the skills to comfortably navigate it (and actually enjoy myself doing so).

Likewise, Woodall Shoals must be paddled with care. There is a “sneaky” route you can run on the right of the shoals to avoid the main spot of danger. I always run the sneak to avoid any risk on this one. If you run the main ledge, it is considered class 5 because the ledge has almost no breaks in it, forming a powerful recirculating hydraulic at the bottom of the drop. In other words, most of what drops over it doesn’t continue downstream, at least not unless the rapid decides to let go of it. While it may seem like it would be simple to just paddle fast and give a good solid stroke upon landing to continue downstream, this rapid can stop even the most advanced paddler on a dime. The power of the water combined with the shape of the rocks create a large area where current is moving in reverse of the flow of the river, so it is hard for whatever is stuck in the rapid to gain access to downstream moving water. The boat gets sucked backwards, turns sideways, the paddler gets flipped, struggles to find downstream moving water with the paddle, rolls up (hopefully), gets flipped again, and again, etc. This process of repeatedly rolling up only to get flipped again is known as being “window shaded.” Not good. These types of recirculating water features are known as “holes,” and the hole at Woodall Shoals is not one you want to get stuck in. The sneaky route, on the other hand, is a really fun drop and running that side reduces the rapid (and risk) to class 3.

Anyway, these risks can be mitigated with training, good decision making, route choices, setting safety, etc. The more advanced section of the Chattooga River, section 4, contains risks similar to the above, with more challenging paddling scenarios to navigate. The river narrows and becomes more powerful, but the scenery also becomes more stunning and rugged. It is truly an amazing and humbling experience to paddle this section of the river. To date, it is probably my favorite stretch of whitewater I have ever paddled. When I was frequenting this segment, I ran it conservatively at lower water levels when most of the rapids were a bit easier to manage. There is even a rapid that passes by “Deliverance Rock,” deriving its name, of course, from the film. If you are ever interested in seeing this part of the Chattooga River, there are several rafting companies that run trips on sections 3 and 4. I recommend section 4 for the scenery and thrill.

You are probably wondering at this point what all of this has to do with hiking the Bartram Trail. Well, if not for my love of the Chattooga first and foremost through paddling, I’m not sure the Bartram Trail ever would have shown up on my radar. I knew there were hiking trails at points along the Chattooga River, but I didn’t know how they connected or where they were exactly. A few years ago, my wife suggested we go for a day hike on the Chattooga River Trail, which is one of the trails that parallels its namesake river in both Georgia and South Carolina. When we got to the trail, we parked right at the southern terminus of the Bartram Trail because the Chattooga River Trail coincides with the Bartram Trail for a short segment before branching off. When we separated from the Bartram Trail, I remember saying “I wonder where that goes….” And so the seed was planted and my fascination with the Bartram Trail began. 

A lot of my interest in trails in the southern Appalachians has been born this way. The Georgia Cohutta Wilderness trails are a great example. Many of them intersect, share trailheads and access points. I hike one, see another, and then I want to hike that one. I’m a naturally curious person. If you show me a trail or path, I want to know where it goes. I want to know what it feels like, what I might see along the way. I love the process of the unknown becoming known, the untrodden coming underfoot. I am this way in most things in life. I like learning new things, but once I reach a certain level of mastery, I can lose interest, or simply set that activity aside to do other things. Likewise, I am a thru-hiker much more than I am a camper. I like the end-to-end journey, not the process of just arriving and setting up camp for a night. My approach to trails is very much a reflection of my path through life, for better or worse. I like the adventure of doing and learning new things and I like to keep moving. I might hike a trail that I absolutely love, but never return. There are lots of paths to see and too many to repeat each one that calls my name.

Bringing this all back to the beginning, when I hiked the Benton MacKaye Trail back in May, I originally thought I would hike the Bartram Trail north and then the Benton MacKaye Trail south in one long, combined trip. In the end, I decided to just see how the BMT hike went first. That ended up being a smart choice as it allowed me to have a few weeks’ break in between trips, which I needed to recuperate, reorganize, and make some small gear adjustments. Ultimately, I chose to hike the Bartram Trail southbound as the logistics were easier. I could park my car at the southern terminus in GA, get a shuttle to the northern terminus in North Carolina, and hike back. 

It was hard to find reliable information to plan a hike for this trip. I found a few old blogs people had written about their adventures, some with trail notes. I gathered information from several different sources, compared the trail notes, and then made my own notes on my phone so that I could bring them with me on the hike. I then had to figure out how to navigate the trail. The Bartram Trail Conservancy sells paper maps, but they are broken down into a set for Georgia and a set for North Carolina – not exactly ideal for lightweight hikers like myself. I found a free thru-hike route of the Bartram Trail on the AllTrails app, but AllTrails doesn’t have waypoints marked for campsites, water, etc. Guthook, which I used for the BMT, doesn’t have a map for the Bartram Trail, so I contacted them and asked if they would like to partner with me to make one – I do the legwork, they apply their technology and distribution channels. They weren’t interested, and fair enough. I don’t think the Bartram Trail is exactly on anyone’s radar. So, I then found some GPX files online from someone’s old thru-hike where they mapped their path. I decided I would use those and my notes and map my own waypoints along the way. It would be a new twist to the adventure – I wouldn’t really know where my next water source or camp spot would be, but the notes gave me enough of a general idea that I could wing it. If you are interested in the GPX map files, I posted them on my Trip Planners page and you can download them and use them for free on any GPS reader app. I generally use Gaia – it’s free and works well.

While hiking without waypoint info might not sound like a big deal, keep in mind that on the long trails I’ve hiked to date – the AT, the BMT, the CDT – most of the time I’ve had reliable, up-to-date information about all kinds of waypoints. Having this information is a huge advantage offered by modern technology, making planning a long hike like this much easier. The Bartram Trail was going to be different. Not only would I not see a lot of other hikers, I would also have to adapt my daily mileage as the trail provided resources (or not). I wouldn’t know where water sources were or have up-to-date notes on them. I wouldn’t know where all of the campsites were, and whether or not stealth camping was possible. It would be a small step towards building my skill set and mental fortitude. I also had no idea whether the trail would really be a “trail” the entire way, or if it would disappear at points due to a lower volume of foot traffic. Of course, while these factors made me a little nervous, they also drew me to the trail.

I started my hike in early June and had planned for six days. It was already getting hot, and in the days leading up to my departure I wondered if my timing was going to come back to haunt me. What if the trail was too overgrown? What if the water sources had dried up? What if I spent every day picking hundreds of ticks off of my body and tripping over snakes as I pushed through neck-high grasses and thickets of briers? But, of course, I was going to do it because I had already decided I was going to do it. I wanted to know where that trail went, what sights and sounds lay in wait.

I am not sure if the Bartram Trail hike is a story about a hike or more a reflection on life’s unforeseen events. This story will probably be a little bit of both. The adventure had its fair share of surprises from day one, and in the months since the hike, a lot of other things in life have changed. Our cat Lucy, who was probably the sweetest cat I have ever known, became ill and we made the tough decision to put her to sleep. We miss her dearly. The day after she was gone, the house felt so quiet and empty. As time has passed, we have adjusted, but sometimes I catch myself looking for her to trot down the stairs or jump up onto the bed. She used to come to be with me every night and sleep against me with her head on top of my arm, big spoon little spoon style.

On a more positive note, my wife finished up a graduate program and got a job offer that requires relocation, so we are currently preparing for a move to Wilmington, North Carolina. This will be our first time living in a coastal town. We were both ready for a new adventure in terms of living locations – the area of Atlanta that we live in has gotten quite busy over the last 12 years.  At the moment, life is full of purging, packing, cleaning and prepping. I apologize if any of my friends are reading this post and finding out about the move for the first time – I haven’t even had time to tell everyone yet! My Uncle Ray once said to me, “Life happens fast.” I can appreciate that statement more now. Life also loves to throw curve balls, sometimes in the sweet spot and sometimes high and outside the plate. The Bartram Trail hike definitely had a few curve balls in it, which I will tell you about in due time. My plan is to tell the story of the hike and then work into these other events. Believe it or not, I actually squeezed a third hike in before all of these other events occurred, so I still have that one to mention as well. While I have published a new chapter of something almost every week for a while now, I may slip behind with all of the chaos of moving, and I am trying to fit in one more hiking trip during November between the time we sell the house and when we actually move…. But hang with me and I will do the best I can with publication timing.

Lastly, I hope you all also watched and enjoyed my Benton MacKaye Trail YouTube series. I produced a similar short video series on the Bartram Trail. It is 5 episodes in total: an Intro to the hike, 3 episodes covering the sights and sounds of the journey with some behind the scenes commentary, and then a logistics and planning episode to cap off the series and help you with your own exploration of the Bartram Trail. If you’re reading this blog, I definitely recommend watching the videos as they will bring the journey to life in a very different, visual way. You can watch the first episode by clicking HERE. I hope you find it relaxing and let it whisk you away on the trail with me. If you enjoy it and haven’t already, please do consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel and clicking the little “bell” icon to receive notifications so that you always know when I upload new content. Most of the content on my channel in the near future will be storytelling videos, like my BMT and Bartram Trail series. It’s what I like to do, along with writing, of course.

I’m not much of a “tips and tricks” guy, but I do also occasionally create experience-based content with knowledge that I want to share with others. I only do this if I am particularly passionate about the topic or have not seen it adequately covered by any of the usual suspects who produce hiking-related content on YouTube. For example, I recently made a video about how to thoroughly clean a Sawyer water filter, because I realized after my Benton MacKaye Trail hike that I hadn’t been getting mine thoroughly clean just by back flushing it. If you subscribe you will, of course, get notifications about this content as well. 

I’ll be back soon with the rest of the Bartram Trail tale in whatever form it materializes. In the meantime, may the wind be at your back, may the sun shine upon your face, and may your feet find their way to the trail of your dreams soon.