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dinkhound 
Group: Members
Posts: 5
Joined: Oct. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 06 2013, 11:43 am |
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Hey all, Headed to Cohutta for my first time this weekend. I have heard great things but cant find as much info as I would have thought.
Looking to do a fairly laid back trip as I will be solo, its my first time there, and I will have fishing gear and wadders to carry. Was thinking about dropping down to the Consauga river trial fairly far upstream, maybe using the Chestnut Lead trail as my access point, and setting up a base camp from which to do some fly fishing / exploring. I know river crossings are a big factor on this trail, but its not clear to me how wide and deep the river is in the upper sections near where chestnut leads joins the Consauga river trail.
Any advice? any one fished the area?
Thanks in advance
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Tipi Walter
Group: Members
Posts: 294
Joined: Jan. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 06 2013, 1:29 pm |
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Neato. The Conasauga is smaller than the Jacks but of course we've had a lot of rain lately and I was on Big Frog Mt during January and it rained for 8 days straight. I was 3,000 feet above Jacks River Falls and could hear the roar clearly and it was terrifying.
If you come in on the Chestnut trail you'll have several crossings going down stream to Bray Fields but if you do the Tearbritches trail it will put you in Bray Field without a major crossing.
You could go down Chestnut Lead and turn right and go up the Conasauga trail which I believe only has one major crossing.
Here's the Conasauga crossing at Bray Field.
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http://trailjournals.com/TipiWalter11
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3637
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 06 2013, 3:55 pm |
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hey tipi.......
(and sorry to go off the original topic).......
but i read on yer trail journal that Hooty had his car broken into down in the citico area........
do you (and i figure some other people may be interested in this information) have any more details on the break in?
i'm looking to spend a bunch of weekends down in that area in the next couple of months and just want to make sure my stuff is safe.....
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| Post Number: 5
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13153
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 06 2013, 5:42 pm |
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Fishing will be better on the other end. Never caught a fish upstream of Bray Field. I would go to the downstream end of the River Trail. When you hit the river go left following the old roadbed, not right following the trail. Within 100 yards you'll hit one of the sweetest campsites on earth.
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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HikerDude73
Group: Members
Posts: 63
Joined: Nov. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 07 2013, 9:24 am |
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dinkhound: Here is the best description of the entire Conasauga River trail. For fishing I would park at the northwestern trailhead at FS 17-B as described at the end of the hyperlinked article.
Tipi Walker: I'm doing the Hickory Creek Trail in a couple weeks from north to south. Once you get to the Conasauga River at Bray Field and head north up to Panther Creek Trail (I believe you have ford the Conasauga about 9 times to reach the trail)...have you been up to Panther Falls and the bluff? If so, is it worth the views to hike up there? Approx. how long of a hike is it from Bray Field to Panther Creek Falls?
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OutdoorCanvas Blog
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 07 2013, 10:27 am |
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while we're on the subject, i wonder if one of you guys would comment on this route idea as an one-nighter:
Upper Conasauga to Panther Creek to East Cowpen to Three Forks Mtn to road walk to Betty Gap (or the other way around depending on which trailhead's easier to get to).
i have some info saying there'd be 8-9 river fords on the Connie, so i know about that. from what i've been able to piece together, this is only 10-11 miles -- does that sound right? what about these trailheads? is Betty Gap or Three Forks easier to get to? (...coming from the Chattanooga direction) will i need a 4WD?
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 07 2013, 3:45 pm |
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thanks for your help -- i appreciate it. do you know anything about these access roads? do you know what the best route to Betty Gap would be? i'd becoming from the west on Hwy52 from Chatsworth and it looks like there are a few different options to get to the trailhead. do you know which would route be best... as in which way would involve the least amount of rough road?
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Tipi Walter
Group: Members
Posts: 294
Joined: Jan. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 07 2013, 5:44 pm |
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HikerDude73---
Hickory Creek has two sections, the short one from FS road 17, and the long one from the Rice Camp parking area. I did the long one last year and there's one crossing of the Conasauga to get to Bray Fields. Once in the Fields you have 1 crossing to get to Panther Branch. There are around 5 crossings on Panther before the nutbuster climb begins.
And it is a nutbuster.
Here's the makeshift Panther Creek trailsign in Bray Fields.
Here's the real start of the Panther Creek nutbuster section as you cross the creek one last time before pulling a tough rocky hump to the top of the falls. The second hump comes after reaching the falls and beyond all the campsites near the creek. The trail goes up past my pack.
This pic makes the rocky climb look easy but it ain't.
Ya gotta take breaks on the Panther and here I am in the rocks at the base of the falls. It's a rough trail.
The struggle ends, at least Part 1 of the struggle ends, when you reach this little level shelf on top of the falls and a good place to camp but there are better ones further on.
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http://trailjournals.com/TipiWalter11
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13153
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 07 2013, 5:54 pm |
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Guys, check with the ranger station about road closings.
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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HikerDude73
Group: Members
Posts: 63
Joined: Nov. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 08 2013, 8:24 am |
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Good Info Tipi!!!
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OutdoorCanvas Blog
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| Post Number: 16
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 08 2013, 9:40 am |
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good to know! thanks for the tips, guys.
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 08 2013, 10:02 am |
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did you guys know that bear cannisters are now required on the AT from Jarrard Gap to Neels Gap during thru-hiker season (march to june)? i feel like this is news to me.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5351875.pdf
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 08 2013, 3:22 pm |
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man, i hope that new trick doesn't spread to other southern bears. i hate carrying those cannisters... they're so heavy and obtrusive. the ones we rented in Yosemite wouldn't even fit in my go-to pack.
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gunslinger
Group: Members
Posts: 6031
Joined: Mar. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 09 2013, 7:23 am |
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My last trip to the Cohutta's was in December and the roads were in pretty good shape. We've had almost 10 inches of rain in January so I suspect the roads might have some pot holes.
I checked my GPS logs.....it's about two miles from Bray Field to Panther Creek falls. The last half mile or so is pretty steep and rocky....several good camp sites at the top of the falls.
As far as bear and cannisters in the Cohutta's.....the bears are hunted although the season is short. Polk county TN had 44 bears "harvested". Regardless of what we all think about the situation, bears in the region usually don't want to be anywhere near humans and exit the area pretty quick. It's still a thrill for us to see them.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013....rs.aspx
We see bear scat from time to time but only saw one bear in Georgia last year....near Sumac Creek trail head. A couple of years ago I did see a huge bear just north of Dally Gap.....we see more bears just north in Tennessee, but of course, that's a bear preserve.
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For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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