A few days of dirt time...

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...

It was really disappointing when I arrived at our old campsite. Some ignorant bastards had trash all over the campsite. I wish I took some pictures, but instead, I policed it up and burned what could be burned. There were too many plastic containers to pack out (I just hauled out the aluminum and a couple of glass bottle), so I burned them which probably isn’t much better. Needless to say, it took me about 45 minutes as there were food/candy wrappers spread all over! Once that was cleaned up, I set up camp, cleaned up the fire pit and collected water and firewood.

























ROCK6...

I did have an encounter with a 6 foot black snake. I think we scared the crap out of each other as I had just walked past his snake hole to get water (both hands full) and when I turned around we were looking at each other. Wish I would have snapped a picture or caught him…he was quite beautiful.









Hope you all enjoy…I sure did:D

Cheers, ROCK6

Looks like a great trip and know the area.

BTW, that sure loaded really slow. I'd say you probably have one or two of the pics of pretty good memory size.

Tj

Nice pics!

Who ever said Georgia wasn't beautiful. I'm interested more in the specifics of the cheesy stuff in the pan, what is it?

Looks like you and you hiking pooch had a good trip, honestly other than the scorpion, and some of the trees, you couldn't tell it from WV

Must just be the TN network I'll check the pictures; I thought I resized them all...I may have missed one or two...

ROCK6

I didn't know there were scorpions in GA.

Thanks and I will have to check out those trails.

nct

Great pics, looks like a fun trip. The bedrock in those streams would have me sinking a gold pan.......

Edit: I'd be interested in seeing any pics of your fishing gear. Some of my best fishing has been packing in a little fly rod......

Yeah, I had heard of them, but this is the first I’ve come across one. They are often referred to as “southern devils” or Carolina Scorpions…nothing too toxic (said to be less than a bee sting). Still, I find scorpions quite interesting.



I don’t know about gold…but when my skill and tackle are up to par, there are some tasty trout to be had:



I went the alternative route instead of a collapsible pack rod. Emmrod makes some unique short rods that duplicate very similar casting to longer poles. They are very compact and can be taken down even further…they are also pretty robust rods. Their fly rod is perfect for my uses in some tight areas, scrambling down to hard-to-reach holes and being able to quickly toss it in the day pack so I can keep both hands free.

ROCK6

looks fun. Sure is a different landscape than what I'm used to here in the PNW. We run into little green scorpions on the east side of washington from time to time. Not a fan.

Many years ago, like maybe 20, I hiked the New Jacks River trail in the Chatahoochee. It was probably one of my most favorite hikes. Although the hill people around there were a little spooky. Are you familiar with it?

Very cool pics. I've been trying to get out all summer and haven't been able to leave the pavement.

That Emmrod is interesting. I just looked at their website. May have to try them out. Do you have any of their other rods?

If you don't get a response, or want more input - check out our fishing forum
http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_10/21_Fishing_Gear.html

I grew up in the PNW, so I understand some of the differences…I’ve seen my share of scorpions during plenty of Yakima field time:D Biggest difference for me has been the humidty…it just sucks the energy out of you!



Not familiar with it, but after looking it up it looks like a great area to hike! It’s nice to have several creeks along your path and Jack’s River Trail looks to have plenty! Thanks for the heads up,



Yeah, I have their original Packer and the very compact Packrod. I really like their designs and enjoy using them from kayaks and those narrow mountain creeks. Biggest advantage is their size; they are robust and can be broken down into very compact packages. Not everyone likes the design, so you have to be willing to put some time into learning casting techniques and understand the differences between a standard pole and how it handles differently.

ROCK6

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