DAY ONE: THE JOURNEY
We went camping this Memorial Day Weekend and it was an adventure…let me tell you.
DAY ONE: THE JOURNEY
The plan was to leave around 1 Friday (after we got out of class). However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we weren’t able to get on the road until 4. You can imagine how treacherous 4 PM on 75 North can be….a 30 minute ride turned into a 90 minute one…
Eventually when we got past Kennesaw, it was smooth sailing. We were really able to open up the Traker and got her up to 70 miles an hour! We were flying! (Leave my po car alone).
We made a stop for provisions (food) in a small shopping center with a Publix attached. We thought to ourselves, “man, we don’t feel like stopping for long. We JUST got to a cruising speed. There will probably be another grocery store later down the street…” MISTAKE #1.
SO we drove a bit further up 75 and took Highway 411 north toward the Forest area. As we got closer to the mountains, we became excited as roads became hillier and beautiful scenery presented itself. “We’re going to be all up in that tonite,” we thought as we jollily made our way…
Eventually we came upon the following sign:
Great! We thought. According to the map we had, all we had to do is drive about halfway through and we would find a road or something that would lead to Big Frog Wilderness, our destination.
We drove and drove…past a beautiful lake with a mountainous background…
Past an empty rock bed that looked like it should have water in it…
Past a sign that said “Thank You for Visiting Cherokee National Forest”
Da hail?!
…
We decided to ride on. Perhaps there was another way to access the area…we decided to drive to a nearby city to purchase a map and ask the locals.
Bagger Boy at IGN:
“Uh…Big Frog? I ain’t never heard of it *tush –(him spitting out tobacco)
Gas station attendant:
“Big Frog? I ain’t from round here….”
Random guy who happened to overhear us:
“Big Frog? Oh yay-yuh! Go back inta da forest n stop by da rafting area. There be ranger station dey-ya, ya kin fine all kinds uh free maps, n da Big Frog trail be nearby. Ya kay-unt get dey-ya by car-a, dat’s a 3 hour hike tuh da top of the mountin der.”
Success!
We followed the good ole boy’s directions. By now it was pitch black outside and we were weary of not finding where we were supposed to go. We only had camping gear and nobody was trying to pay for a hotel. We parked in the previously mentioned rafting area and pondered our next step when a ranger pulled up and asked if we needed help. (after informing us that we couldn’t park where we were at nighttime). We asked for directions to Big Frog again which he did give…in detail. It was about a 15 mile drive up the mountain and we could stay at some campgrounds up there.
Progress! We headed out…passing the road to the trail the first time. Due to the darkness and curviness of the highway, we drove about 10 miles down before we could find a turnaround area.
Finally, we found the road.
(Let me REALLY paint a picture for you. This area is a bear sanctuary. They tell you how to do things from stringing up your food at night to how to react when you actually see a bear. Also, the area is designed to be as natural as possible…meaning no street lights, no paved roads, no guard rails on steep paths….nothing.)
Alright so we’re climbing up this gravel road. We can’t go more than 5 MPH because the road is really rough, you can’t see more than 20 feet in front of you, AND there’s a steep drop off…if you spin out, you can cancel Christmas. We drove up this mountain for AT LEAST 45 minutes at this pace…also fearing that we’d run into a bear and it would knock us off the road (the Tracker ain’t but so big…)
Eventually, after about an hour, we made it to the campground. We were never so glad to see Caucasian Persuasions in our lives…
We pulled up to a campsite (which was actually just a place with a fire pit), gathered kindling, started up a fire, and set up the tent.
Let me tell you guys…
If you live outside the city, at night time you hear various sounds of crickets or maybe an owl or two. Up here? Nothing. NOTHING!!! DEAD SILIENCE!!!!!
I was like…da hail? Can I get some breeze? An owl? Something?! I don’t want to HEAR anything about to eat me…let me be SURPRISED!
We turned in a bit anxious, but glad of the company of Whitey nearby….
Stay tuned for DAY TWO: THE BAMBOOZLMENT, BIG FROG, & THE BIRD FROM HECK
