For my very first real backpacking adventure, Smalls and Talls took me to the Cohutta Wilderness to Jacks River. I absolutely fell in love with the Cohutta Wilderness here. In order to reach the trailhead, we drove several miles of dirt roads that were a bit rough and mostly surrounded by private property. There were some really pretty land and waterfalls. The trail is 8 miles out and back. The trails was rolling with no real steep inclines. There were several trees down but we were still able to pass fairly easily.
The last mile or so had recently been flooded and was rocky like a riverbed. Once we arrived to the camping area, the designated spots were taken and we ended up hiking another mile to find a good spot. It was quite a lucky occurence as it led us to lower Jacks River Falls.
We set-up next to the river in our hammocks and got in to refresh. The water was really cold. We had rescue ramen for dinner complete with a little campfire. It was so relaxing and by the time darkness fell, I could not keep my eyes open. Camping next to the river brought a lot of mosquitos though.
It was foggy and cool when we woke up the next morning. The mosquitos were so bad that we packed up as quickly as possible and got back on trail. We completed the 4 miles back to the car and enjoyed some more dirt road riding exploring before heading home.
Smalls and Talls Outdoors 