- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
- Messages
- 4,172
Well, the opportunity popped up where my wife and son were departing to Boston and my step-daughter off to stay with her father and me and the mutt left all alone. Well, we haven’t been up to one of our favorite backpacking spots in Northwest GA, Panther Creek in the Chattahoochee National Forest (you can blame the misspelled sign on the GA public school system!). My wife was pretty ticked I was heading out alone…I thought it was because she was concerned for my well-being, but it ended up she was ticked that I was going to Panther Creek without her! It’s one of her favorite hikes as well.
We packed up for three days and took off early. This is a very popular hiking trail as the falls are quite nice…a lot of day-hikers and college students visit. The trail has some rough spots, but still quite navigable. We were the second vehicle in the small lot and on the trail quickly. I thought about hiking closer to the falls, but figured I’d camp at a familiar spot and just do day hikes to the falls and fish some remote holes. I was skunked on any trout large enough for a meal; I caught a few smaller ones, but really needed some weighted nymphs to entice the larger ones sitting in the deeper holes. I still had fun and didn’t rely on trout for my meals thank goodness!
I thought I had a photo of my tools…I did a little overkill but still enjoyed toying when I wasn’t hiking, exploring or fishing. I packed along the TOPS version of Ron Hood’s Hoodlum…a very effective blade on smaller green wood (vines, branches, etc). I also packed along a Corona 14” saw which is an absolute beast. I used it some, but to be honest, there has been so many downed trees from storms this past year that there was plenty of fallen limbs and trees all over and plenty of dead wood as well. My main fixed blade was the venerable Martin Knives Bushcraft-Tactical; it may get replaced by a blade I was hoping would have arrived on time…the Halibis Bush Tool...maybe next time. Lastly, I carried a Spyderco Para-Military and a mini-Leatherman (can’t remember the name) multi-tool…about the size of a Micra but with pliers to remove the flies if needed.
Anyways, here are a few pictures of the trip:
ROCK6...
We packed up for three days and took off early. This is a very popular hiking trail as the falls are quite nice…a lot of day-hikers and college students visit. The trail has some rough spots, but still quite navigable. We were the second vehicle in the small lot and on the trail quickly. I thought about hiking closer to the falls, but figured I’d camp at a familiar spot and just do day hikes to the falls and fish some remote holes. I was skunked on any trout large enough for a meal; I caught a few smaller ones, but really needed some weighted nymphs to entice the larger ones sitting in the deeper holes. I still had fun and didn’t rely on trout for my meals thank goodness!
I thought I had a photo of my tools…I did a little overkill but still enjoyed toying when I wasn’t hiking, exploring or fishing. I packed along the TOPS version of Ron Hood’s Hoodlum…a very effective blade on smaller green wood (vines, branches, etc). I also packed along a Corona 14” saw which is an absolute beast. I used it some, but to be honest, there has been so many downed trees from storms this past year that there was plenty of fallen limbs and trees all over and plenty of dead wood as well. My main fixed blade was the venerable Martin Knives Bushcraft-Tactical; it may get replaced by a blade I was hoping would have arrived on time…the Halibis Bush Tool...maybe next time. Lastly, I carried a Spyderco Para-Military and a mini-Leatherman (can’t remember the name) multi-tool…about the size of a Micra but with pliers to remove the flies if needed.
Anyways, here are a few pictures of the trip:
ROCK6...
Your two legs make the four-legged chair. You can recline and even squat enough to cook by the fire. I thought they were overpriced, but their construction is very robust. I didn't pack too much, so the chair actually packed inside my pack...horizontally
