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  1. #1
    Registered User Slugg's Avatar
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    Default Trip Report: Bartram Trail Thru-Hike

    Earlier this month a longtime friend of mine (trail name: Trashalope), a hiking buddy of his (trail name: Buddy), and I thru-hiked the Bartram Trail, starting at Russell Bridge over the Chattooga River on the NC/SC Border and ending at Cheoah Bald, NC. According to my guide (Bartram Trail by Thomas Reese (WB User)), the trail is 105.3 miles, but recent re-routes have definitely made it longer.

    Days 1 - 4.5, Russell Bridge to Franklin, NC
    After spending the morning setting shuttle, we all headed out on foot from Russell Bridge shortly after noon. The beginning of the trail is easy-going and pleasant, walking along, but never fording, the National Wild & Scenic Chattooga River. We began to ascend into the Blue Ridge and set up camp in a place called Speed Gap, which looked to be a heavily-used junction of ATV routes but a fine campsite. Day 2 was a challenging day of ascending and descending (more ascent than descent) in perfect spring weather until the final climb of Rabun Bald, second-tallest peak in GA, which I had never climbed before. We enjoyed the view at the top and then camped at our first opportunity off the summit. We saw a ton of day-hikers around the Warwomen Dell area. The next morning we continued descending before bottoming out and tackling the second big climb of the trip - Scaly Mountain. On top of Scaly, we could see a controlled burn taking place in the direction we were headed. We pressed on, wanting to set ourselves up camping as close as possible to the road-walk in to Franklin. We saw several hunting dogs barrel across the trail in front of us, in two separate instances, these past two days. We set out at first light into Franklin. I had gotten sick the night before and felt sick all night and early morning, unable to keep anything down, so needless to say I was struggling. I will say though, definitely not the worst road-walk I’ve ever done. If I had stayed sick I would have gotten a room in Franklin, but thankfully I turned a corner and felt better. First stop in town was a re-supply at Ingles followed by some McDonalds. Then, we paid $1 each to ride the public bus to the Lazy Hiker Brewery. We sat out some bad weather by drinking beer, eating from the food truck, and talking to AT thru-hopefuls. We probably saw 50-75 AT thru-hopefuls in town.
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    Days 4.5-7, Franklin, NC to Cheoah Bald (and then some)
    When we got a break in the rain we headed out, finishing the roadwalk and camping shortly after getting back on trail. I found a $5 bill in the creek at camp. The next morning, the only other Bartram thruhiker we “saw” passed our camp shining his headlamp on our tents. Day 5 was definitely our toughest day, climbing up and over Wayah Bald and both gaining and losing over 6000 feet of elevation on the day. I ran into my first hiker feed ever on Wayah Bald and enjoyed a pimento cheese sandwich, a hardboiled egg, donuts, and orange juice. The next day, we began with some roadwalking along the Nantahala River. When we got back onto trail, a lot of it was some really moderately graded old road-bed that was just a treat to hike on. Unfortunately on this stretch I had a good 5-minute standoff with an off-leash dog on a narrow part of trail before the dog’s owner finally caught up. In the afternoon, we passed by our vehicle we had stationed at the bottom of Cheoah where we grabbed summit beers for the next day and stashed excess food and clothing. We hiked 2 miles up and set up camp along Lambert Creek, setting us up with an easy summit the next day. We awoke at dark and set out at first light to hike the final 3 miles to the summit of Cheoah Bald (on the AT) where we were treated to great views to the south, and of the Smokies to the northeast on the other side of the summit. There was no sign noting the northern terminus of the trail which was a bit disappointing. The terminus is only 2 miles north of an AT shelter so the spot quickly started to become flooded with ATers, so we hiked on down back to our car. Once we got back to Russell Bridge, my friend helped me set shuttle and I hiked the 5 miles along the Chatooga River needed to connect the Bartram Trail to the Foothills Trail.
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    Etc.
    I knew this trail would offer solitude, but I was pretty surprised to only see ONE other thruhiker during peak hiking season around here. We got pretty fantastic weather the whole time with highs in the high 60s, and lows in the low 30s. We never hiked in the rain, just got some overnight storms and rain while in town.
    The difference in the trail on the AT versus the Bartram was stark, and to be honest I did not enjoy the brief stints the trail overlapped the AT (I love the AT, just not in the bubble). The Bartram was soft and grassy whereas the AT was muddy, rooty, and rocky. I probably passed 30 people in 2-3 miles on the AT.
    Two personal notes: This was my “retirement” trip of my silnylon Lunar Solo I’ve used since 2017, she served me well. Also, after this hike my footsteps from all of the long trails I have hiked are completely connected (Pinhoti, BMT, AT section, Foothills, and now Bartram). I think that’s pretty cool.
    The trail was well-maintained throughout. Mile for mile, pound for pound, I was quite impressed with this trail and more people looking to do a long section of the AT in the spring should consider it.

  2. #2
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    I too saw absolutely no one on this trail except when on the road walk. It’s a great alternative to the more popular trails.
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

    amongnature.blogspot.com

  3. #3

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    I did a thru hike of the Batram Trail in June 2021. Never saw another overnight hiker until after I completed it, and stayed as Sassafras shelter of AT on way back to NOC. I personally actually enjoyed the AT parts since much better maintained from summer growth.

  4. #4
    Registered User Slugg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    I did a thru hike of the Batram Trail in June 2021. Never saw another overnight hiker until after I completed it, and stayed as Sassafras shelter of AT on way back to NOC. I personally actually enjoyed the AT parts since much better maintained from summer growth.
    This is why I like hiking the AT in the summer and fall - but for Spring? Perfect time to take advantage of those trails that get badly overgrown.

  5. #5
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    Nice photos. The school bus was a surprise. Not what you expect out in the woods.

  6. #6

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    It was getting dark and I thought about spending the night there, but then decided better not considering other critters might have the same idea.

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