MY MOUNTAINTOWN CREEK BACKPACKING TRIP

By Julianne Glaze

On November the 14th - 15th I went backpacking with Boy Scout Troop 477. We went up into the mountains of the Cohutta Wilderness on a winding dirt road with my ears popping like bubbles. We backpacked a 7.2 mile round trip on the Mountaintown Creek Trail. After we arrived at the trailhead, we put on our packs and started down the trail. The trail started steep, and continued downwards. We stopped a few times to adjust our packs. After getting the packs adjusted we headed on down the trail, beside the steam, towards our camp. The trail became an easy slope, and suddenly broke out with many creeks and slippery areas. We tried to make it across creeks without getting our feet wet, but they started getting too wide so we just walked through. With a few intervals of crossing fast flowing or peaceful creeks, and adjusting packs when ever someone was getting uncomfortable, or even got a blister, we made it to camp with wet boots and soggy socks. We looked around the camp and saw a nice, slow moving stream surrounded by wooded area. Me and my dad pitched a tent in a flat area, and immediately lay down to rest, even though I mostly just read a book. When we got out of the tent we started to cook dinner over a gas backpacking stove: each of us had a portion of chicken from a foil pouch and some spiced mashed potatoes. After this we lounged around a fire until it was about 9 o'clock at night, and then went to bed in our tent. When we woke, the boy scouts had started making their breakfasts. We put boiled water in a bowl of oatmeal to make breakfast. When breakfast was finished, we all got our tents, which were wet from the dew, packed up, put our backpacks on, and headed out. We crossed the creeks with only a few problems, such as my dad falling into a fast flowing creek and spraining his ankle. We all began to tire, and as soon as we saw the road we would have made a run for it if we weren't so tired. As soon as we stepped foot on to the gravel of the parking lot, we sat down and enjoyed lunch. We all had a good time, and enjoyed this backpacking trip.