Benton MacKaye Trail - Georgia
Three Forks to Skeenah Gap
The Benton Mackaye Trail is not as familiar as the Appalachian Trail, but that may be its biggest blessing. Sometimes while hiking on the A.T. the trails are carved out so nicely that it almost feels as if you are walking on a sidewalk. The Benton Mackaye, over 300 miles crossing several states in the South East, offers a more rustic hike and makes you feel at times like you are off in the backcountry. The trails are well marked with white diamond blazes and offer groomed campsites for you to utilize. I also felt that the water sources were more reliable on this stretch of trail than others I had hike before allowing me to carry less water than I have on other hikes.
Three Forks should be familiar to those who hike the A.T. as it is just a few miles in from Springer Mountain. Three Forks is just as it's name describes it is a fork in the trail and breaks off to allow for hiking on the Benton MacKaye. The Toccoa River provides a great water source for much of this hike and great scenery. Which was important for me because my water bladder leaked before setting off and I was forced to used my Sawyer Water Filter and Fill Bag.
This was an exciting hike for me, because I was going to be traveling with a couple guys who share the same love for hiking. More times than not I find myself making these hikes alone, which causes visions of Grizzly Bear attacks in my wife's mind. Our age group and hiking experience varied and felt like a perfect combination. We all had different ideas of backpacking and camping which was cool to see because our camp looked like an item off the shelf at REI for shoppers who were choosing between, Hammocking, Ultralight, and Single Tent camping. We shared our tips and DIY's with each other and discussed our favorite items of gear over a camp fire.
The trail started off dusted in snow and cold but boot prints were in view. We passed 2 groups of scouts who met us with a spot on harmonica version of Rocky which helped motivate us for the ascend just ahead. After 9 miles or so we came to a hanging bridge and campsite that gave us a chance to rest and resupply water. I would recommend setting up camp here as it was beautiful and wonderfully peaceful. We decided to press on because our total hike mileage was just over 16 miles which had 3 large strenuous peaks at the end.
The night was cold dropping into the low 20's and caused my feet to go numb, but I was able to sleep for 6-7 hours uninterrupted. I am grateful for that nights sleep because our final 3.5 hike out was strenuous and tested my endurance. A combination of the cold, 12.5 miles previous hike and minimal water intake caused me to start off sluggishly. After our final ascend we had just over a mile of descend where I was able to make up some time from falling behind on the climb. While this stretch was long and strenuous it was worth it because of the beauty and quiet that the trail provided.