Hiking Panther Creek Falls

Saturday afternoon we drove to Clarksville, Georgia to hike Panther Creek Trail. You can choose to park in the small parking lot provided by the Chattahoochee Forest Service for $4/day, or you can park along the road for free. We were surprised by how many cars were there parked on the shoulder, about 30 cars or so. Since we were staying the night, we decided to pay to park in the designated parking area. Like most national parks, you put the money in a designated envelope and slip it in the dropbox. Next, we grabbed our gear and hit the trail! 

The sign reads the trail is about 7.5 miles long. Our fit bit watches averaged 8 miles and 15,000 steps. The trail crosses the creek several times throughout the hike and gives you multiple picture-worthy views. Along your hike, you'll come across several areas where you can pitch a tent or Eno. You don't have to camp beside the falls, although it does make for a beautiful view to wake up to. Really, you can set up camp wherever you desire. If you want to be close to the entrance, you can camp there, or if you want to camp in the middle or back of the trail, you can do that too. 

The trail was made up of three grades. The first mile mostly declined, the second mile was mostly flat, and the third mile was a mixture of inclines and declines. The final half of the trail was steep and downhill. It was probably the hardest 5-minute decline I’ve ever hiked down. There wasn’t much to hold on to and it was wet, so I kept having to sit on my butt, and then stretch my toes down to the next rock and continue on down. There was a chain-link pole fencing to hold onto in some areas. In other areas, it had fallen over and wasn't reliable so we were being very careful. 

I think it would have been easier without the gear on our backs, but anytime I had to lean forward, I could feel the weight on my back leaning forward as well, throwing me off balance. It was challenging, but we successfully made it to the bottom of the falls. I went to take a picture only to realize I'd lost my phone on the trail. I'd taken a picture pretty recently so I knew it wasn't too far behind. Yay me, I got to backtrack and repeat the steep decline all over again. I ended up finding my phone on one of the hills where I took a big step up. Thankfully I found it before the next group of hikers behind along behind us.

Miranda and I set up the tent, while Zac went searching for wood to build the fire. It was cute how determined he was on building a fire. Everything was saturated with water so I wasn't sure how well this work. The guy next to us offered his fire to us, but no, "Mr. Independent" was going to build his own fire with his handy dandy fire tool. 

Our camping neighbor gave us some dryer lint to help us keep our spark alive and finally, we had ourselves a fire. Thanks, fellow camper! We enjoyed the fire for a bit, before putting it out and calling it a night. We huddled in the tent together and played a round of Skip-bo before going to bed. We knew it was going to be a chilly night as temperatures dropped into the low 30's. 

The sound of the waterfall outside our tent was like white noise. We were a little paranoid of what lurked in the woods outside of our tent, such as a black bear, so I think everyone slept a little lighter with that in mind. At one point in the night, I heard something crunching leaves as it walked by. It could have been our neighbor or it could have been animals. Who knows, but to be honest, I panicked on the inside just a little. Overall, our stay wasn't too bad. It was colder than we had hoped for. Ok, a lot colder than we had hoped for! At one point in the night, all three of us squeezed into a double sleeping bag together, using our body heat so stay as warm as possible because it was freezing. Those $200 REI sleeping bags flashed in the back of my mind as I counted down the hours until daylight. 

Unzipping the tent to this gorgeous view made the cold night somewhat worth it all! Since it had rained overnight, we weren't able to start a fire and make breakfast or coffee. Granola and water it was! We packed up our gear, took a few pictures, and began our hike back out of the trail. The trail was wet from the recent rain, so were cautious and careful with every step, trying not to bust it on the rocks. Oops. I spoke too soon. Zac managed to find a slippery spot and busted his a**. Haha. His sleeping bag was strapped to his back so it cushioned his fall. We've all had our fair share of slips and falls over the years, so we welcomed him to the club with laughter and a round of high fives.

One good thing about all the rain is it gives the waterfalls a surge and makes for better pictures! We've had dry seasons where well known "strong waterfalls" resembled leaky dripping faucets with little to no water. It feels more rewarding to see a beautiful waterfall at the end of your hike! 

After 3.5 miles of huffing and puffing our way back to the car, we successfully completed Panther Creek Trail. 

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