Chattanooga’s snow last week allowed many activities different from the usual for area residents – including sledding, throwing snowballs, building snowmen and making snow cream.
One group even took the opportunity to camp in snow.
Saturday morning, brothers Josh and Greg Garrett and Sami Evanson set out for the Rock Creek trail near Sale Creek for their adventure. They had two dogs with them.
The Rock Creek stretch is part of the Cumberland Trail that, when completed, will connect 11 Tennessee counties over its planned 282-mile path over the Cumberland Plateau.
Starting out from the Retro Hughes trailhead off Retro Hughes Road, the three hiked close to three miles before overnighting at the Rock Creek campsite. Even finding the established site was difficult.
“We almost passed it,” said Evanson, a 25-year-old ADT employee who is from Walnut Creek, Calif., and was backcountry camping in snow for the first time.
“How often do you get to go camping in the snow in Chattanooga?” she said.
Whatever challenges come with backpacking in general become even greater when walking over snow-covered rocks and roots.
“We thought we would be in a little bit of snow, but there was definitely more snow than what we thought,” Evanson said.
Greg Garrett, 23 and an armed guard for Loomis Armored Services, also made his snow-camping debut.
“It was really fun. I was a little cold, but it was a good experience camping in the snow like that,” he said. “Actually, it was very bright. The moon was super bright that night, and we had the river right next to us.”
The Springfield, Ill., transplant of 10 months described the next morning as another shining moment.
“It was just great seeing the change in landscape as the sun was hitting the top of the ridge and kind of lighting everything up,” Garrett said.
His 26-year-old brother echoed much the same about the experience.
“I would do it again, no doubt,” said Josh, a BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee computer programmer.
His 40-pound backpack was heftier than those of his companions, he acknowledged.
“I had all my camera gear in it, so it weighed a little more,” the older brother said. “Taking pictures is a hobby of mine, and both activities go hand in hand.”
Besides carrying packs over the slick terrain and trying to find the campsite, the trio had to conquer an even more serious challenge – finding dry firewood. They had to climb a nearby ridge to get what they needed to help stave off the below-30 temperatures, Josh Garrett said.
The Garretts and Evanson were not the only ones affected.
“The dogs got cold so we had to put them in our sleeping bags,” Josh said. “Actually we didn’t put them in. They kind of forced their way in.”
All in all, though, the experience “was pretty fun,” he added. “It got a little cold that night, but we had a good time and had a good fire.”
Contact Gary Petty at sports@timesfreepress.com