The Foothills Trail-Day 2 – The Hike

Burrell’s Ford to Camp Whitewater

The Appalachian Edge

I’m not a big geology buff, and although I’d heard the term «escarpment» before, I didn’t really understand what it was. It turns out that an escarpment is essentially a steep slope or perhaps a cliff between two different levels of land formed by a geographic fault or erosion. The Blue Ridge Escarpment separates the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Piedmont Plateau from northern Georgia to southern Maryland. While the Appalachian Trail passes through the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Foothills Trail runs along the Blue Ridge Escarpment, where the spectacular elevation of the mountains forms what the Cherokee supposedly called «The Blue Wall.» In this spectacular landscape, streams quickly become rivers and fall down the escarpment in the form of waterfalls and flow into rivers and reservoirs. The Southern Appalachians are some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and are home to rare flora and fauna such as the Oconee Bell, a small wildflower found only in specific microclimates of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia from March to mid-April. (Sources for this information are listed at the end of this post.)

What all this information means is that as we left Burrell’s Ford Campground along the banks of the Chattooga River, the terrain was about to change. Our planned route for the day was only a mile longer than the day before, but we started with a 7.3% grade climb right out of camp and the up and down undulations would continue the rest of the trail, culminating with a hike up Sassafras Mountain on the final day. As the miles began to pile up and my energy began to wane, I put on my headphones and decided to revisit an old friend: Bilbo Baggins. If you need comforting motivation during a long walk, I highly recommend the BBC radio dramatization of the hobbit. I tried to channel my inner hobbit and keep walking towards what I hoped would be a hot dinner and a cozy sleeping bag at the end of the day.

Our food drops and worries arise

I had planned a relatively conservative six-day itinerary for our trip. I know our capabilities for long day hikes and short weekend trips, but I wasn’t sure what pace we could maintain on a longer trip. We gladly took advantage of our shuttle driver’s offer of a food depot at the end of our second day’s route near Upper Whitewater Falls, where we arrived in the late afternoon. A food cache a day or two later on the trail would have been more ideal, but I was grateful to be able to complete our first few days with a light backpack. From there, it was a short hike to the waterfall viewing platform and a steep climb to the Whitewater River.

We arrived at the Whitewater campground shortly after dark and found it full. We squeezed into a tent spot on the shore, above the lone bear cable. The cable was overloaded with bags of food and I was worried it would fail overnight. (It didn’t.) I was also starting to worry about my feet. My silk socks and trail running shoes weren’t making the difference I’d hoped, and I spent a few minutes trying to soothe the growing hot spots and treat the emerging blisters. We spent a few minutes discussing the next day’s plan. I had planned a much shorter day, anticipating needing a break, but my husband wanted to push himself a little harder. Finally, we committed to a plan to go a little further than my original itinerary, but not quite to a third consecutive 15-mile day. I was hoping I could get back into the rhythm after a shorter day.

Information sources mentioned above:

DeWitt, D. (October 2017). Walking the Blue Wall of South Carolina. blue song outdoors, https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/go-outside/hiking-blue-wall-along-foothills-trail-upstate-south-carolina/

DiPietro, J. A. (2018). Chapter 16 – Interior deformation belts. In J. A. DiPietro (Ed.), Geology and landscape evolution (Second edition) (pp. 341–387). Elsevier. 10.1016/B978-0-12-811191-8.00016-6

Foothills Trail Guide (2022). (8th ed.). The Foothills Trail Conservancy, Inc.

Oconee Bell Blooms Here! Visit Oconee, South Carolina. https://visitoconeesc.com/oconee-bell-bloom-season/

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.