We have been wanting to do this longer hike on a day we don't have kids in tow. We went to "Three Forks" where Overflow Creek, Big Creek ,and Holcomb creek tumble together to make the West Fork of the river we love so much. I told J I just could not reconcile our hikng book, with the internet directions, and with the map. He found a route...and then once we were out there we were trying to reconcile the book's description of a shorter "rugged route" that we had decided to try, a small not very good map, and what was described as a creek to cross that actually looked more like a raging river during this spring and just after a day of major rainfall. We DID hike to a beautiful spot on the West Fork of the Chattooga river that involved hanging on for dear life down the side of a bank (as told in the "rugged route's" brief description. Still, we climbed down the wrong mountain, but the fishing was grand and it was beautiful! I still could not get past the feeling that we were not at Three Forks on the way back out. Sure enough, on the way out God sent us a guide. I have always said that bald men are usually great folks and that I have met very few I did not like. This guy was bald as can be and had a chocolate lab (like us), and even was packing heat (which I did not notice until J told me?!). So, we followed him to what amounted to a secret passage across a "creek," which was more like a river I'd say. He lifted a heavy branch of rhododendron at place we had already fished and then BOOM--a secret trail did appear! So, we follow baldie through and under some rock overhangs, waded across said "creek/river" and found our faint trail that we could scramble down the correct mountain and to Three Forks. It was really cool place where indeed THREE river/creeks come together to form the Chattooga and a nice island/camp site area was right in the middle.
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| "the creek" |
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| Brown Trout--not many other folks had climbed down this embankment so the fishing was good! Getting out caused the lungs to do some burning. |
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| Jonas fishing/me on GIANT boulder above. I did finish Ron Rash's Serena novel! A Great book! |
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| Looking up Holcomb Creek From 3 Forks Island |
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| I love the river! |
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| Rainbow Trout down the Wes Fork of the Chattooga...getting lost for a while is not so bad when you find good fishing! |
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| Souvenirs from "the rugged route." |
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| Now that I am home safely I find this note on the internet: (Jonas in the hole in the picture)--A few yards to the right of the creek crossing, look for another path
entering the woods through a
duck-your-head hole in the rhododendron.
This trail
will lead you downstream, above the long, tilted chutes on
Holcomb Creek to Three Forks (1,840 feet). The path becomes
progressively steeper (two short, very sharp pitches) toward its bottom
end beside Overflow Creek. |
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| My love...oh the states we have been together in the woods! |
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