Happy Campers: Panthertown Valley

Last weekend six of us went camping in Panthertown Valley, aka Yosemite of the East. Located just northeast of Cashiers and northwest of Lake Toxaway, this location is walled and surrounded by mountains which create a bowled valley. It was absolutely gorgeous.

 Saturday morning we met bright and early, packed the truck, grabbed some coffee and hit the road.

Once we arrived we loaded up our gear and hiked about 1.5 miles in the pouring down rain.

Our first stop was Schoolhouse Falls.

After taking in the scenery and snapping a few pictures we continued our hike to a nice flat campsite near a beautiful stream.

 Once the rain stopped we set up camp and hung our clothes out to dry. Thankfully we had great weather for the rest of the trip.

Home sweet home for the weekend.

 While the boys searched for firewood the girls stayed behind, kept the fire going and drank cocktails.

 For dinner we cooked hotdogs and pita pizzas {my favorite}!

And I can’t forget some of our snacks – s’more granola and dried fruit!

 After dinner we sat around the campfire, roasted marshmallows and made s’mores.  One family picture before we went to sleep!

 Since Panthertown is a bear sanctuary we made sure to put all our extra food in a bear bag overnight. The next morning I snapped a picture before we broke up camp. We backpacked out the way we came in, about 1.5 miles, but since the hike goes back up and out of the valley, the trek back was definitely more strenuous.

I’d say we were all very happy campers!