Rocky Flats

Today, in the Cherokee National Forest of North Carolina, is a region of land known as the Citico Creek Wilderness Area. In this area lies a 4.5 mile trail - Trail 100, also known as the Rocky FlatsTrail. At its southern end, Trail 100 terminates near Double-Camp and in the Warden Fields at its opposite end. The well-treed trail is rugged in places, difficult to follow in others, and beautiful along its entire stretch. Three cool stream crossings flow through leaf littered valleys, the lower areas supporting a variety of flower and fauna. One mile from its northern terminous is a man-made structure. Split by the soft, eighteen inch wide trail are two facing stone chimneys - once the bookends of a homesteaders house.

In 1895, Josiah and Ester Flats secured a parcel of land that was to become their attempt at farming a rocky patch of land. Helping to smooth the financial unevensness of cash crop farming was Josiah's meager pay he received as a minister of the Methodist Church located near the Adam's Camp and Double-Camp river intersection.

Josiah had great faith that the Lord would favor those who well served the Lord. By respecting the land, and praising the bounty of his fields in the Lord's name, Josiah and Ester farmed their land with moderate success. The land was not the only fertile ground. It was also during this time that Ester bore Josiah five children.

Life in an especially small community such as that in which Josiah and Ester worked, and raised a family was, to say the least, difficult.