Foothills trail and food
Can someone inform me on whether or not you have to carry all your food on a thru? I'm considering starting Oct 29.
Thanks.
A good place to put a food cache is near the Whitewater Falls area. You can drive there and plant your cache before you begin the hike.
Thanks pick. I'll plan for that.
The FHT between Table Rock SP and Oconee SP is only 76 miles. If you can avg 12 miles per day you only need 6 - 6 1/2 days food. Water is plentiful enough with all the rivers, waterfalls, streams, reservoir nearby, etc. So hauling large amounts of water/water wt for long distances isn't usually necessary under that scenario. You're hiking in cooler weather too. Just carry enough from Table Rock to get your to your next water source if you're going westbound. That's a great time to be on the FHT.
If you're on an extended thru-hike of the FHT and don't want to cache food at Whitewater Falls/Hwy 130 you can hitch south to the Hwy 11 junction where there is a small general store/convenience store/gas station where I've never found it difficult to grab 2 maybe 3 or 4 days days food if you're not picky. I've used it to supplement a few times getting down to the store and back to the trail in a sub 2 hr time frame. For more services including large grocery stores you can hitch north into NC into Cashiers, Sapphire, Lake Toxaway, or if you must, Rosman(?). Its's Hwy 130 in SC and Hwy 281 in NC. Same road different numbers. There are also some limited snacks, safe parking, and showers at the Oconee SP HDQTRS. There may be some limited food at Table Rock SO but I don't know for sure.
There is a Foothills Trail Conference that has a list of possible shuttles. Maybe someone would be willing to help you. http://foothillstrail.org/
I'm planning on starting at Bad Creek on Oct 31 and hiking back to Oconee SP. I've seen a couple of different videos of people caching food on the FHT. One guy (Shug Emery) buried his in a metal box. The other person hung their bag from a limb (like a bear-bag hang) off the trail a bit. I'm only going to be out 3 days, so I'll carry all my food. If I were going longer, I'd cache my food somewhere along the trail.
Maybe our paths will cross. I'll be the 56 year old guy carrying a green and black Exos 48.
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." - S. Sontag
I don't have my map handy but there are a couple of road crossings. 107 is the first one, about 2 days walk from Oconee. Bad Creek Access (a parking lot at a water reservoir) is pretty close to being in the middle. Another good one is the area near 178, which is about 2 or 2.5 days from 107. After that there is the top of Sassafrass Mountain, which you can drive to. From Sassafrass it's only an overnight to the end. My times may be slightly off, we did the trail in long weekends over three months (3 days from Oconee to Bad Creek Access, Three days from Bad Creek to 178, and Overnight from 178 to Table Rock).Originally Posted by stilllife
Like other's said, there is a LOT of water along the foothills trail. The only iffy spot is between Table Rock and 178. If You're going west, once you get away from the waterfalls at table rock SP that's pretty much it until you get down the other side to the road. If you camp at Old Homestead there is often a small creek there, but last time I did that section it was almost dried up. The recent hurricane may help you out. So, worst case you only have to dry camp one night. After that you won't be able to get away from the water if you try. There are sections where you will walk through the water...
Its a beautiful trail, enjoy it! And when you finish make sure you get your bird patch.
Laurel Valley to Bad Creek:
Bad Creek to Oconoee
Sassafras to Table Rock
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"I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Thank God for Search and Rescue" - Robert Frost (first edit).
Great Shuttler who was very knowledgeable...
Jim Simpson
+1 (864) 431-0447
I wouldn't bother with a cache after my CT issue.. I did FHT in April...3.5 days wasn't bad if you like walking 10-12 hour days...I prefer to hike not camp...great trail....
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Hopefully, it was understood that when I said unnecessarily carrying excess water wt could be decreased on a FHT thru between Oconee SP and Table Rock SP is that the food wt haul of 6 days is offset by the needs to haul large amounts of water.
For someone who can avg 12 mpd that may mean a cache on a 76 mile thru MAY be more hassle than it's worth if the goal is to save on consumable wt. HYOH
Thanks guys. Great info. I think I would prefer carrying my food rather than caching it. 6 days of food is really not that much. Especially if you eat!
We are doing Bad Creek to Laurel Valley this weekend. Can anyone chime in on parking at the Whitewater Falls? We are driving in from Huntsville(leaving at noon) and the Bad Creek parking closes at 6 pm so we don't know if we will make it in time. Whitewater Falls was suggested as it is only a couple miles up the road.
Plenty of parking, won't be a problem to leave your car there.
-tagg
Hey Tagg........it was a great hike. We made great time and exited late Saturday evening. We called Taz to pick us up Sat night and completely forgot about Bad Creek closing at 6 pm. Taz was able to get us in to our car so we could sleep all warm and cuddly in our beds a night early. Thanks Taz!!
Use this link from the previous post and contact some shuttles. There are shuttlers that will bring you a food resupply at a predetermined point.
I completed it last Weds. Did it in 6 days. Had car at Bad Creek for resupply. Trail very dry in some places. My second time doing it. Going to Bad Creek adds about a mile or so. I avg. about 13 miles a day. Pack avg. weight 25lbs. Had to carry water couple of times. I'm 62 so you might be a little faster. Ron
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