So yesterday Derek and I were deciding where we wanted to spend our Memorial day off at. I posted saying that I would be going to an island on Lake Hartwell, well being that we are both so spontaneous we ended up going to Brasstown Falls in Oconee County, SC. That was our first mistake. We loaded up the car, filled up the tank, and headed down highway 24 West, and after an hour of passing huge farms, and scenic country roads we made it to highway 76. We followed that mountain road for almost 12 miles before we reached Brasstown Road. This is where the "adventure" would begin. The only directions my GPS offered was two miles down a gravel road that appeared to end. Other than that we were following the directions of another travel website that had pretty clear instructions. We start down the gravel road and pass a small road on our right, after all the GPS was still telling us to go, and our directions seemed to be aligned with that. We drove about three miles up the mountains of Sumter National Forest on a gravel road before we stopped and reread our directions and realized we passed the old logging road miles back and should have turned on the first road we saw.
As we are driving down the short access road, we soon realize the place is crawling with people. Two families were unloading their vans just as we were parking. We jumped out of the car, through on our backpacks and grabbed the cooler. The campsites are free, and on a first come first serve basis. "Free" really means people everywhere. We passed up on the first open campsite because it was in the middle of the trail, and there were two other campers on either side of us. We like our privacy when camping. We decided to keep moving down the trail and see what we had to work with. After seeing some VERY rude women relieving themselves only a few feet from the trail, we quickly started moving down towards the falls to find somewhere away from them. The trail went from easy, to strenuous in a few steps. Walking along a path that was less than 2 feet wide, on the side of the mountain was difficult by itself, even more so with camping gear on.
Now things are getting worse. At first, I did not want to keep moving down the river side (1) because the "trail" was getting worse every few feet, and (2) I didn't think there would be anywhere to camp along the river since all the visible spots were already taken. A hammock would have been perfect here. After arguing with Derek and fighting with the heavy cooler we started moving up the mountain, on would looked liked a trail. After less than five minutes I sat down, out of breath, legs shaking, and broke down. I started crying, and I don't do that very often, especially when in the woods. Normally I am very relaxed and calm when hiking. Derek gave me a bottle of ice water, I drank half of it in one breath. We decided to turn back and try moving down the trail more. After an hour of going back and forth, looking at our options, the trail basically ended, discouraged and angry that we had no options here, we took a few pictures and got the hell out of there.
We arrived back at the flat wide trail we were welcomed with, saw two open campsites that were not open when we arrived. We sat down on a log, (I was basically seeing stars at this point) Derek asked did I want to stay or go home and find something else to do. I surveyed the area, it was ok, there were some more waterfalls behind us, but also two other tents that I didn't like, and to top it all off, it was beginning to thunder and I knew it would be raining very soon. Not willing to be stuck in a tent getting rained out all night readily decided to go home.
The parking lot was a nightmare to get out of, trucks and SUV's trying to come in and out at the same time, us in a small Chrysler, armed with Derek's impeccable driving skills, maneuvered our way out of that nightmare and preceded down the main road. Less than ten minutes down the road, the sky was dark grey, lightening bolts were in the distance, and rain was pounding on our windshield. It was then that we knew we made the right decision, and within the hour were back at home, covered in sweat, dirt, and tears I knew nature got the best of me.
The trails at Brasstown falls are not maintained very well, and for inexperienced hikers, or someone who isn't in the best physical shape, half of the park isn't for you (or me). I plan on going back in the future, on a less busy day, like a Tuesday or Wednesday, arrive early in the morning and claim the best spot. Impromptu adventures can be great, and most of mine are just that, you have to keep in mind that things might not go as you have envisioned, and sometimes you just have to know your limits and go home.
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