50 Miler, Fires Creek & Hiwasee River

The Fires Creek Rim Trail is 26 miles of up and down. This trail was one of the hardest trails most of us had done. We summited countless peaks with no switchbacks. There were multiple times we went in search of a reasonable water source to pump drinking water from. Also we found plenty of opportunities for disaster, none of which were exploited. On our second night we got pounded with rain in tents that were incapable of repelling the water that was hitting them. Soon after we woke up, we began drying out gear and sleeping bags. Many of us wanted to quit. When we pulled into camp in the evening we were praying that no more rain would come. Thankfully it didn’t. The final day on the trail finished with pizza, coke, and a much wanted campfire.

The canoeing on the Hiwassee River was not easy for some of us. Near the afternoon the wind would come in and blow us every which way. We ended up doing ~24 miles on the water, our final destination was a boat ramp that never seemed to get any closer no matter how hard we pulled with the paddle.

Over all, it is a good trail and river, and definitely on my “been there done that, (and don’t want to do it again)” list.

-- Timothy, SPL