Foothills Trail (Day 1-3)

DAY 1 Saturday moring, I was on the road by 6am and on the way to Table Rock State Park in SC, where I was meeting a Mr. Bob Hesser at 8:30am, to shuttle me over to Oconee State Park. I arrived at 8:05 and checked into the visitors center, logged in my intentions to thru hike the Foothills trail with the ranger, paid for overnight parking for my car, and headed over to the nature center to meet up with Mr. Hesser. I spotted him right away (since he was the only car in the parking lot), I pulled up, got out, exchanged hello's and started loading up my pack, my dog, and his pack into Mr. Hessers green Cherokee. I offered to pay him $40, but he said that $20 was plenty and we were off to Oconee State Park. My nerves were a bit restless and I arrived with excitement at what I was about to embark on. I was about to attempt to thru hike, eastbound, the 77 miles from Oconee State Park to Table Rock State Park SOLO. My first time hiking solo.... so yep... I was a bit nervous.

I arrived at Oconee State Park around 9:40am. I forced myself to eat a sandwhich I brought, so I would have some sort of energy. I took the obligatory photos of the big Foot Hills Sign, making my dog Charlie the model, then I sat down to wait. I was waiting for Kellye and Hemlock!!! YAY! They were going to walk with me the first 2 days. It put me at ease knowing that my first night out, I wouldn't be alone. That I would have friends hiking with me. They arrived around 10:15am and as soon as they parked, we hopped on the trail and started our hike. My pack was considerably heavier than most trips I've taken. But then again, I normally don't carry 7 days worth of food with me either! I realized that I still had butterflies in my stomach, even though I knew I wouldn't be alone my first night. Well after hiking for a couple of hours, I worked out that I was actually nervous at about completing the trail. I didn't want to think of finishing at Table Rock. I decided that I was going to

walk this trail day by day. So my only destination for each day, would be where to camp for that night. That was the only way for me to handle my fear hiking and completing a long distance by myself.

A couple of hours into our hike we ran into Leah and her dog Zuzu who were out hiking with her church group. After the first 8

miles, we stopped at Lick Log campsite to rest a bit. It was a beautiful site with a nice plunging waterfall. My dog Charlie and Kellye's dog Sammy played in the water, while Kellye and I rested and Hemlock scouted around a bit for some lady slippers that were the blooming around the main campsite. After a nice 30 minute break and me filtering some water, we put our packs back on and headed another 5 miles t

o camp. The trail was graded really well and was rolling. I got to camp first and heard a bunch of voices near by so I decided to stop. It was a beautiful site right on the river. I found a couple of trees and strung up my hammock, while my dog played in the river.

Kellye and Hemlock rolled in soon enough and set up camp. We enjoyed the rest of the evening talking, eating dinner, and snapping photos. Later that night, Hemlock ran into JERMM and she walk over to say hello. Seems as if she and (a hammocker) named Don started the trail today and were going to attempt to thru hike as well. YAY! I would have some company and familiar faces along the trail.

Day 2 I slept soundly in my hammock that night. The next morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and

hit the trail. We only had 5.5 miles to Burrells Ford (where Kellye and Hemlock parked there car), but I still had 6 more miles til camp and 4 of those miles were all up hill. The next few miles were ups and downs along the river then away from the river. As we neared Burrells Ford, Hemlock decided to take a dip in the river and check out a spur trail to a waterfall. Kellye decided to sit along the shore of the river and I decided to hike on to take a break for lunch and rest when I got to Burrells Ford. When I got to Burrells Ford, all I saw was a dirt lot and a privy. I decided to sit in the grass next to the privy and take off my new hiking shoes (I wore trail runner like shoes by Keen and they were awesome throughout my hike) rest, and have lunch.

Kellye and Hemlock finally came out the woods and said their goodbyes and wished me luck on the rest of my hike. Now I felt nauseas. I was all alone and the reality of it hit me. I am now solo hiking... I stayed in that parking lot alot longer than I meant to. Almost deciding that I didn't need to do hike any longer, that I could just call my shuttle guy and be taking back to my car, I really felt a sick nagging feeling in my stomach. It was telling me to quit, after all, I had a nice weekend hike with Hemlock and Kellye. But I talked myself out of it. I looked at my dog and said, "OK, let's get to camp, then we'll decide." So I put my shoes on, got up, put Charlies pack on him, slung my heavy ass pack back on, and I swear my knees felt like jello, even though I hadn't climbed much and was well rested from my 2 hour lunch, my knees were wobbly. We crossed the gravel road and with my stomach doing somersaults, we climbed and climbed, and climbed some more for the next 4 miles. The last mile had some steep switchbacks!

Around 4:15pm, we crossed SC Highway 107 (Fish Hatchery Road) and started to descend. I wanted to get to a nice flat, stealth campsite before 5pm. We passed several small streams and I finally decided to stop and filter 6 liters of water for camp for me and Charlie. Yes, 6 liters is ALOT and extremely heavy, but I wanted enough for the night and for the next morning. So with 6 liters of water, I continued down the trail. I finally found a nice stealthy campsite. It was away from the trail and covered by trees, so no one could really see us. Since it was a long 12 mile day, I pulled out Charlies poncho liner/bed, laid it out and we both plopped down to rest. The next thing I knew, it was 5:26pm, I had dosed off for a 1/2 hour. I grudgingly got up to set up camp while Charlie continued to nap away. I strung up my tarp, hammock, and found a great bear bag tree. In one try, I got my bear bag rope strung up (YAY!!). I then, changed into comfy camp/sleeping clothes and shoes, and plopped down next to Charlie again to review the Foothills trail book for the next days hike. An hour later, I decided to give Charlie a good back rub (that dog has the life! haha!) then it was time to make dinner. Around 7pm, I boiled some water for my 1 serving Enertia San Juan Strognoff, when JERMM walks by. We chit chat for a bit and she tells me she's aiming for a campsite a mile or two up the trail. We wave goodbyes and she tells me to keep an eye out for Don. I finished up my yummy dinner and cause it's Easter Sunday, I have a Dove chocolate bar for dessert. You see, I had given up chocolate for lent, so that first bite was pure heaven. So good... Don finally rolls by and I tell him where JERMM says she's camping out.

By now, I've bear bagged my food bags and am relaxing next to Charlie (who hasn't moved by the way). Around 8:30pm, I climb into my hammock and easily fall to sleep. This whole time I was so worried about spending my first night out in the woods all alone, and here I am, sleeping soundly. I guess I just scared myself silly with all the "what if" scenarios or maybe I was just too tired to be scared. haha!

Day 3 The next morning, I woke up around 6:30am. I wanted to get an early start, so I packed up camp, ate my oatmeal, fed Charlie, and we were stepping on the trail

by 8am. We continued to hike gently rolling trail, til I got to JERMM and Don's campsite at 8:30am. JERMM was up and enjoying a beverage, but I think Don was still sleeping in his hammock. We chit chatted a bit and then Charlie and I continued on. Around 9am, I stopped and filtered some water for our up coming 4 mile climb today. As soon as we crossed Highway 107 at Sloan Bridge, we started our well graded climb.

I finally got to the SC/NC state line sign and not only was it a mile marker for me, it was also like a big welcoming hug. I was hiking back into my home state. We were leaving Sumter Forest in SC and entering the Nantahala in NC. I've hiked this area several times, so the familiarity put me a little at ease. I finally reach the top of the escarpment, and I know it was the top b/c of the nice wooden bench the park provides for some rest and views. Well guess what? No views, none at all. It was socked in with fog. I still took advantage of the bench and rested while I had a granola bar. 20 minutes later, I got up and we walked down hill for a mile, crossing NC 281. We stopped by a nice rolling stream and took a good 10 minute break. I filtered more water and Charlie splashed around. I decided to skip the .5 mile spur trail up to the falls and continued descending. This section of the trail was really rocky and full of big boulder steps. I finally met some day hikers on this section and chatted them up a bit. I didn't realize how awesome it would feel saying I was a thru hiker, until I actually said it. The group of day hikers asked me where I was going and where did I come from and when I said I was thru hiking and came from Oconee, going to Table Rock, it hit me. I actually said I was hiking 77 miles, I was thru hiking 77 miles. I suddenly felt strong, confident, and happy. But I tried not to think of Table Rock during my entire trip. I wanted to take it day by day, mile by mile. Today's goal was to get me to camp. They wished me luck and one of them said, I hope your dog likes to rock climb. I thanked them and had no clue what he meant by that, but I continued descending down to the base of the falls.

Once I got down to the suspended 28 foot bridge, I realized what he meant by rock climbing. There was a giant smooth boulder, that we were supposed to scramble up to to cross the bridge. I mean this was a HUGE rock! It was taller than me! So I took off my pack and flung it up on to the top of the rock and tossed both of my trek poles up. When I turned around, Charlie had plunged into the deep, rushing river and was trying to swim back to the boulder shore. He finally came close enough for me to pull him out by his back pack. Hey just wagged his tail like nothing happened. Silly dog, he almost floated down stream! I took his pack off and threw it up onto the boulder. Then I pick up my 105lb chocolate lab and push him up the boulder until he could catch his balance and scramble the rest of the way up. Exhausted, I look up and see my silly puppy just wagging his tail, grinning down at me. I finally scramble up to the top., get all our packs back on, and cross the bridge.

We begin hiking through a series of steps and small wooden bridges that traverse steeply through a rocky section, then begins a nice flat area along the river. Charlie and I decide to take a nice lunch break near the river and while he splashes around and naps, I eat a rehydrated black bean salad burrito. YUM. After a nice hour break, we haul our packs back on and continue the flat section of trail that is maintained by Duke Energy. All of the sudden, I hear my name, I turn around and it's JERMM! We hike a little ways together, catching up on each others hike so far. We pass by a group of Duke Energy engineer types that are surveying the river and we chat with them for a bit. Don shows up, then we all hike together to Bad Creek Access. It's around 4pm and I have maybe 2 more miles left in me. JERMM tells me they are headed to Hilliard falls, about 5 miles away, I tell her in two miles I would of made a respectable 12 mile day and wish her and Don luck. We all begin the climb up and slowly we all begin to spread out. Charlie and I climb steeply down into Thompson River and I filter our 6 liters of water for camp as JERMM and Don pass by. I check out the designated campsite and it looks bad, so I decide to continue on to the next flat spot. So loaded up with water, we climb steeply out of Thompson river and trek on. At the top of the climb, there is a bend in the road and a sign pointing to a campsite .4 miles down a trail. I look over at the bend and see a nice flat area that looks perfect for a campsite. I drop everything, pull out Charlies poncho liner and we both lay down and rest for 1/2 an hour. It's right around 5:30pm by the time I start to feel rain drops. I quickly get up and start putting up my tarp and hammock. I throw a quick bear bag and duck under the tarp just in time. It rains for the rest of the night. I change clothes, cook/eat dinner, give Charlie a back rub, and read my next days hike all under the tarp. Finally, around 8pm, I climb into my hammock and drift off into sleep as the rain plunks down on my tarp.