Foothills Trail - Laurel Valley Overnight

[jb_outdoors]

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I decided to take my dad out for an overnighter this past weekend to test some new gear and chip away at my section hike of the Foothills Trail. On my last trip I had planned to hike from Table Rock to Canebrake over three days, but we ended up bailing out at Laurel Valley access due to injuries amongst the party. I had expected this section to be somewhat easy based on several videos I'd watched of other hikers. Hoooooo boy was I wrong.

Here's my gear list for this trip. I am pretty proud of having gotten my base weight minimized on a winter trip with expected lows in the 20s and 30s.

• Warbonnet Eldorado
• 20 Degree Wooki UQ
• 0 Degree Revelation TQ
• Dutchware Poly Straps
• Warbonnet Minifly
• Titanium Stakes
• DIY G4 Style Backpack
• Nitecore NU-25 Headlamp
• Cascade Mountain Trekking Poles
• Helinox Chair
• DIY Reflectix Coozie
• Evernew Titanium Pot Stand
• Trangia Spirit Burner
• Toaks 750mL Pot
• Trangia .6L Fuel Bottle
• Aquafina 1L Bottle
• Sawyer Squeeze Filter
• CNOC 2L Water Bag
• REI Wool Gloves
• REI 650 Down Jacket
• North Face Fleece Jacket
• No-Name Solar Battery Pack
• 4-Pack of Hot Handz

Total base weight around 14lbs. With food and water I ended up around 16lbs total.

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Day 1:

We hit the trail around 10:30 and right out of the parking lot you have to climb a very steep set of stairs, then a very steep hill, then some more stairs, and so on for a total of around 900' of ascent over the first 2 miles. I won't say we were absolutely thrashed at the top but there was quite a bit of huffing and some puffing too. Flatrock Campsite is here at the top and provides a pair of very nice benches to rest on and catch your breath, and there's a creek 50 yards before that. Once you reach 2400' on Flat Top Mountain the trail meanders up and down about 100' either side of that contour for the next mile before descending towards Virginia Hawkins Falls.

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If you have questionable knees like we do, the descent down into Laurel Valley can be a bit tricky. There are several very steep sets of wooden stairs, and some of the steps look like they might break away at any moment so extra caution is truly necessary in this section. We climbed down 500' to Laurel Fork Creek where the trail levels off for a while. Just after the bottom of the climb is a very small campsite that's not marked on any map or mentioned in the guide book. It's not quite bit enough for hammocks I don't think, but it was more than adequate for a nice lunch break. We ate Pizza in a Pot for lunch which is one of my favorite trail meals, and enjoyed the sunshine and the sound of the creek while a large group of day hikers passed by going the other direction.

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Another mile or so and several creek crossings over brand new wooden bridges brings you to a long but gentle series of steps down to Virginia Hawkins Falls, which is very pretty of course. Just beyond the falls is a large campground that could accommodate two or three groups of folks. I will definitely be making a trip back for this campsite alone. We called this section South America because between the rhododendron/laurel and mossy rock outcroppings it has a very jungly feel to it.

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Down in the valley is perhaps the most psychologically challenging portion of this section. I say that because the trail blazers will have you walking along a nice, wide, flat, gently graded logging road for a hundred yards or so, then for no apparent reason divert you up and over a steep hill or through a deep creek over slippery rocks and all the while you can see the beautiful logging road running gently along beside you. Just when you think you've had enough the trail rejoins the road for another 100 yards or so. The forest is very beautiful here even in winter and while the valley is deep it is oriented East to West so you get sunlight most of the day. Compared to the hike up and over Flatrock Mountain this section is pretty easy and we made good time from Virginia Hawkins Falls to the campsite at Laurel Fork Falls. All told it took us just over 5 hours to get from the Laurel Valley parking lot to Laurel Fork Falls. The guidebook says to plan for 6 hours, but we were consciously trying to go slow and careful and took quite a few breaks so I think you'd have to be darn near crawling to take 6 hours.

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The designated camping area at Laurel Fork Falls is large and there are at least three separate areas you can camp in and have some distance from other folks. The primary campsite is perched right on top of the falls and there are numerous warnings that people have died from being careless in the area. There is a ton of room for tents here but finding a spot to hang a hammock was a bit challenging and I ended up with a somewhat longer hang than I think is ideal but it worked out. There are two different firepits with proper benches so you could theoretically fit two groups in here if you wanted to. There are bear cables as well which just makes things so much easier. From a couple spots at the site you can even see all the way down to Lake Jocassee.



One important thing to note about this site is that it's at the very narrow mouth of the valley so there is a very strong wind tunnel effect. We got to camp just before sundown and the wind was strong enough to turn my hammock and tarp both into kites a few times while I was getting setup. Once the sun went down the wind died down somewhat but there was still a very steady (and very cold!) breeze all night long and into the morning. In hindsight I didn't pitch my tarp at all low enough and I was broadside to the breeze which went right under my hammock the whole night and made for a cold sleep. I believe the temps got into the high 20s and I had a few cold spots under me where I just couldn't get my underquilt adjusted right. The topquilt saved the day (or night rather) and I slept no worse than I do at home on a lumpy mattress. I would definitely recommend folks wanting to camp here in the winter time to either bring a much bigger tarp, pitch it very low, or find a more sheltered hanging spot than the one I chose. Live and learn!

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I had a Mountain House Beef Stroganoff for dinner, and my dad had the MH Lasagna with Beef and both were delicious! I'm not usually a fan of Mountain House but we both agreed these two meals were good. We had a small fire as it got dark. Times like this I really appreciate having the Helinox chair because after a day of carrying a pack my poor old back just isn't comfortable on a bench. Once it was truly dark the stars came out and wow what a show! I haven't seen that many stars since I was a kid and it left me speechless for a long time. If it hadn't been so windy I probably would have left the tarp in its sleeve all night. We turned in around 9pm and there was just enough AT&T signal to get a goodnight text message out to my family back home.

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[jb_outdoors]

Day 2:
I woke up around 8am and filtered some water for breakfast. It was cold enough still that the water in the tube between my filter and the water bottle froze up. I had on my down jacket under my fleece and was still a bit chilly at first. Pops was very comfortable and warm in my Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo and was not troubled by the wind at all, so he slept in a bit as he usually does. I started packing a few things up and got some water boiling for my coffee. I have dialed in my coffee recipe to perfection and I'll share the recipe here in case anyone else wants to try:

• 2 Tbsp Folgers Instant Coffee
• 2 Tbsp Laura Lynn French Vanilla Creamer
• 3 Tbsp Sugar

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Carry all this in a ziplock bag from home and dump it into 8oz of boiling water, then stir it up real good. Hooooo boy that'll bring you back to life! If you want an extra jolt increase the coffee crystals by another tablespoon, but don't say I didn't warn you. We had a Peak Refuel Breakfast Skillet, some pop tarts, strawberry fruit bars, and some nuts for breakfast, all of which were delicious.

One thing I really appreciate about hammock camping is how fast it is to break camp. This was my first trip with the Dutchware Flyz and tarp sleeve which alone saved me 5-10 minutes of fiddling with the tarp to get it packed up. The down quilts pack up very small of course and the hammock itself takes a matter of seconds to stuff into its bag. I've really enjoyed using the Beckett hitch from the tree straps directly to the CL on my hammock on my last few trips. It can be a bit tricky to get the hang right at first but breaking down is so fast and simple. All in all it took about 10 minutes to get everything packed back up.

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Is it just me or does going home always seem to take less time than coming out? We breezed up the trail and made it back to Virginia Hawkins Falls in just over an hour. We stopped at the campsite just below the falls for a little lunch and a break. This campsite truly is beautiful and should be a destination in and of itself. The climb up out of the valley was certainly challenging as we expected. We stopped counting at 200 stairs and that was only half way, but we took our time and chose our steps carefully and we reached Cane Creek Road where the trail more or less levels off in about 2 hours. I cannot stress this enough: camel up on water at Virginia Hawkins and take breaks frequently in this section! Once you get up to about 2300' it does get somewhat less brutal and in the winter there are some magnificent views of the mountains and Upstate SC through the trees.

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Once you get back up to 2400' you can pretty much put your head down and cruise for the next couple of miles before you start descending towards the parking lot. There are many views along the way and you'll pass several logging roads that hint at the history of this area. Once we got back to the Flatrock campsite we caught up with another backpacker who had started at Toxaway River that morning. Someone had apparently started a large fire in the firepit at Flatrock Camp and just left it behind. We stayed to help him put it out and shared his deep disappointment that some folks just don't know how to act right in the woods.

The last couple miles back to the parking lot were uneventful aside from our creaking knees. The way down is steep and includes, you guessed it, a whole bunch of stairs. All told it took us just under 5 hours to hike back out even with numerous breaks and what felt like a very "meticulous" pace.

Takeaways

The Gear

I was overall very pleased with my loadout and having such a low base weight definitely contributed significantly to my enjoyment on this trip. I never once got aching shoulders or back pain, yet I still had plenty to eat and was pretty comfortable in camp and on the trail. Other than being a little chilly overnight at no point did I feel like I truly lacked for anything. The only changes I plan to make are to get a lighter battery pack (my current battery weighs a whole entire pound!) and a bigger tarp for winter to block the wind better. I'm anxious to try this setup on a multi-day trip with more food to see if I still feel the same after a couple of nights in the woods.

The Trail

Despite the challenges, this may be my favorite part of the Foothills Trail so far. There were excellent campsites no further than every couple of miles which in large part gave us the confidence to attempt this section knowing we could call it quits and pitch camp at almost any point we felt like it. The winter views of the mountains and the piedmont were great. We saw very few people in general and only a couple other backpackers the whole trip. The trail itself offered just enough challenge to remain interesting but not so much that we felt beat down and miserable. There is water just about everywhere so at no point did I need to carry more than a liter and I'm a very thirsty guy in general. I honestly can't wait to go back and do this section again.

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[Salt]

What a great trip report, really a model to strive for. Thanks!

[Hang Williams]

I'm jealous of the pack weight. Going to have to do a compare/contrast on mine.

[xMagnolia]

I'm intrigued by the "Pizza in a Pot"- How do you make that?
thanks for the trip report. Those stairs look brutal.

Charlotte

[jb_outdoors]

I'm jealous of the pack weight. Going to have to do a compare/contrast on mine.

The biggest weight savings was in the pack itself. I made it myself using the G4 kit from Quest Outfitters. It's not the most stylish pack out on the trial, but it's ridiculous light and has worked great for the past year or so.

[jb_outdoors]

I'm intrigued by the "Pizza in a Pot"- How do you make that?
thanks for the trip report. Those stairs look brutal.

Charlotte

The recipe is very easy and can be found here: https://trailcooking.com/fbc/pizza-in-a-pot/

[gunner76]

Great report

[Layne]

Sounds like a great time section hiking along the FHT! That laurel valley area is very pretty. For whatever reason it usually takes me longer to break down my hammock setup than it does when I am t*nt camping.

[jb_outdoors]

Sounds like a great time section hiking along the FHT! That laurel valley area is very pretty. For whatever reason it usually takes me longer to break down my hammock setup than it does when I am t*nt camping.

I've been slowly eating away at either end of the FHT whenever I can talk folks into going with me. The next section between Laurel Fork Falls and Upper Whitewater falls is by all accounts the most challenging, so I suspect I'll be on my own in tackling it. Once I've done the whole thing in sections I'd like to go back and thru-hike it in one go.

I've gotten into a standard routine when breaking camp in the hammock that usually goes quilts, tarp, hammock unless it's raining. I find that with a tent I have a lot more stuff to fetch out of it before I can take it down, and crawling in and out of there on my old knees is never going to be fast