Foothills Trail

I haven't posted in a few weeks do to our crazy schedule.  After our trip to the Smoky Mountains we had a few days to recover before heading out on a week long backpacking trip.  When we got back we spent several days packing...then loaded up our moving truck and started our trek back to Utah.  We made stops in New Orleans, Lake Jackson, Houston, San Antonio, Albuquerque and Cortez.  We arrived in Salt Lake on Friday evening and are now busy searching for a place to live. 

So...here is a little post on our Backpacking trip.  We had been meaning to go backpacking in South Carolina and just hadn't found the time.  This opportunity presented itself and we just couldn't turn it down.  We hiked along the Foothills trail, which is on the border of North and South Carolina for five days. 

DAY 1:

We were picked up at our apartment around 6:00 am and hit the trail a around 7:20 am.  We started at Oconee State Park.  Here is our before picture...

We hiked with Ken, Maren, Shayli and Becca.

Our goal was to make it all the way to Table Rock State Park which was 76.2 miles away from Oconee State Park in a five day period.

 Along the trail we had to dodge some obstacles.

We also crossed a lot of footbridges.

We brought sunscreen but quickly learned that with all the trees we were well shaded.  It was extremely humid the first day due to the rainfall from the day before.

The mountain laurel was beautiful.

We also found quite a bit of wildlife.  Can you spot the frog in the picture below.

Here is a picture 4.6 miles in...still looking quite fresh.

We took pictures at each sign post.  They will indicate how far along the trail we were.

We crossed highways several times.

10.4 miles until we would break for camp.

We stopped for lunch at Pig Pen Falls.  The water was just the right temperature for soaking our feet.

We were exhausted by the time we made it to camp.  We hiked about 16 miles...maybe a little more.  For some reason the last few miles seemed very long.  We set up our tents, ate dinner and then headed to bed.  Black bears are common along this trail so we had to hoist all of our food up about 10 feet. 


DAY 2: After breaking camp we set out on the trail...we got a late start and didn't make it out until around 9:30 am.

We crossed over the North and South Carolina border during the day.

It was still a little foggy from the rain but there is a huge lake in the picture behind us.

We got a little ahead of our group and had a chance to stretch out and wait for them. My hips were super sore from my backpack.  I actually had bruises from the first day.

This area was probably my favorite.  We literally had to climb up on a huge rock just to cross the bridge.  After a long day of backpacking...I just laughed when I saw the rock we had to climb. 

Here we are just about a half mile from our campsite.  We hiked about 16 miles again....Day 2 was no easier than Day 1.   Seth and I ended up hiking about 3 miles more, without our packs to get cell phone reception.  One of the hikers had decided she had had enough...she was wise, we were not.

Day 3:

We had a ton of stairs on Day 3.  It seemed like it was up and down all day.  We hiked down to this suspension bridge.  Shayli, Maren and Ken headed across and stopped part way to take some pictures. I stayed back and Seth started across so that I could get some pictures.  Well...when the first three headed across they apparently jostled a beehive under the bridge.  Seth got about a third of the way across and then I saw him starting to flap his arms around.  He dropped his walking stick and started running.  He was yelling "I'm being attacked, RUN, RUN."  Well they all made it across and I was still on the other side of the bridge.  I started across and decided that I needed to save Seth's walking stick.  Just before I reach down I get stung on my cheek.  I grabbed his stick and started running across with both sticks in hand.  I was quite relieved to make it across with just one sting.  I found out Seth was stung twice...once on his eyelid and once on his leg.  In all the commotion Shayli had dropped her camera into the river.  We were lucky to find it later and she was able to save the memory card. 

Our campsite was just beyond the bridge and we were delighted to have the day end.  We had hiked 15-16 miles again....and decided we couldn't continue happily at our same pace.

DAY 3:  We headed back to the infamous bridge for a few pictures.  We were sure to not go close to the bees.

We only hiked 5-6 miles on DAY 4.  It was perfect because we got to camp early in the afternoon and had time to play in the lake. 

The water was amazing...it also helped us wash some of the stench off of ourselves.  Imagine running a half marathon and then staying in those clothes for four days...while you continue to sweat.  We had brought a change of clothes...but just put them on in the evenings while we slept.  Every morning as we changed back into our stinky clothes we literally gagged at our own stench.    

Shayli took some time to build a sandcastle.

We enjoyed some time back at camp and hung all of our wet clothes up to dry.

DAY 5:

I loved the bridge pictured below...it was so whimsical.

Here we are finished!  It felt so good to be done.  We hiked a little over 8 miles on our last day.  Although we didn't make it all 72 miles...we did make it over 60 and I think that is quite a lot to be proud of.

We rewarded ourselves with a yummy BBQ dinner at the Smoking Pig.  The food tasted so good after a week of sweat.  We had been dreaming about the Smoking Pig all week.   

I learned a lot on the backpacking trip.  I had a lot of time while we were hiking to reflect on our two years in South Carolina and on all of the changes that lie before us.  I am incredibly grateful have hiked the Foothills Trail with Seth and am even more grateful that we get to "hike" through life together.