Meet Up With Son Failed 2/17-19/23

My son, who was doing a 12 day loop in Cherokee National Forest, South District, sent me a text on 2/16/23 to meet him at a campsite along Citico Creek on 2/17/23. When I arrived at the campsite and saw how high the water was from 1.5 inches of rain the night before I was certain he would not be able to make the second crossing of South Fork Citico Creek as he hiked down Trail #105 from Cold Springs Gap, and as thought he did not arrive at camp. On the second day I hiked up Trail #105 to another campsite before the crossing thinking he might try again as the water levels had dropped about 1.5 to 2 feet during the night, but he didn't show up on the second day either.

The video clip of the second crossing was from my son's phone taken on 2/17/23, when he realized he would not be able to cross the creek.

As an alternative that I also considered, he hiked back up to Trail #196, crossed SF Citico Creek there and then hiked up to Cherohala Skyway. Then he took Trail #94 down to North River Road, which he walked to Sycamore Creek Trail (AKA Benton MacKaye Trail) and hiked it down to the fish hatchery on Tellico River Road where his car was parked.

https://youtube.com/shorts/E5H5HzDFulE