Unexpected Adventures

Andrew Pierce - Jason Williams - Jarred Mann - Abram Rampey - Lyle Denton

Camping this past weekend was great! We arrived at the campsite after 6:00 pm, so it was already dark. It took about an hour and a half to set up the campsite, but when it was finished, it was a sight to see. Three tents, a firepit, a rain shed and six men.



For supper we had hot dogs and sat around for a long while talking. We decided to walk out to the narrows at night to experience the difference between night and day. The class VI falls and rapids were definitely higher than normal. The awesome power of the moving water was evident from the near-deafening roar. It was an awesome sight as our flashlights flitted around the rocks. We sat in a row and just listened for several minutes. We "Band of Brothers" looked into darkness and felt a comradery like no other event had given us.

We went back to the campsite and went to bed. About 1 A.M., it started to rain. A couple hours later, I felt a coldness all around my body...my bag was wet! Needless to say, my night was pretty miserable. I was cold and wet and didn't sleep much at all - maybe an hour. When I got up, Lyle was already awake, so we decided to get the fire going. Lyle finally succeeded and everyone else started to wake up. Abram and Lyle cooked breakfast for us on their camp stoves. We had bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and sausage.



After breakfast, we packed everything up and took all our stuff back to the vehicles. Lyle, Abram and Jason left about 11 A.M. Jarred, Andrew and I stayed around to go hiking. We went back and got ready to set out. We made 12 sandwiches and stuffed our packs with only the essentials. About 12:15, we set out. We stopped at the narrows again and then continued on.







The view from the narrows is pretty impressive. A large rock structure stands tall out of the river. A rock face frames the left side of the view and the forest takes up the right stance and curves left with the water.



As we walked down, we took one last look at the rapids from below. The sound was quickly fading, but the incredible power still permeated our eyes.



We hiked for an hour and a half down the river. About halfway in, the river split around a large island. We took the smaller split and followed the narrow, overgrown trail onward.



At one point Jarred found a rock that he wanted to climb, so up he went. The rock stood near fifteen feet high, covered in furry moss.



I explained to Jarred that moss grows on the north faces of things in the woods, so we must be facing north. My compass showed that I was pretty close. He quickly objected to the statement, saying that moss grows everywhere. I proved him wrong farther down the trail, when we saw that all the trees were green on one side with moss and only bark showed on the other side. I triumph once again!

We stopped for lunch on an outcropping of rock at 1:30. After luch, we continued on for another twenty minutes, when a splitting headache told me that turning around was our only option. I was a little disoriented most of the way back, and had trouble when things got tough.



We crossed some rocks in the river at one point and I fell and bruised my hip, hand and arm. If I had been hurt badly, a helicopter would have to had been brought in, because no one could get us out by hiking through. We continued on, and finally made it back after 3:00. The cold was worth it. The lack of sleep was worth it. The pain was worth it. Man...it was awesome. Chauga Narrows...Just go.