#sctrails

Day 4 Recap: Bears, Camps, Creeks

I went on a 4 night backpacking trip a couple of weeks ago with a friend. She’s a rockstar - completed the whole AT last year solo. This was my first trip out since the AT last year. Man, I missed it. We hiked 45 miles of the Foothills Trail, and compared to the southernmost sections of the AT, this was so much prettier. The water was ample, the trail was in good condition (so many stairs!!) and even in early May, it wasn’t very crowded. On a side note: I probably wouldn’t take my kids on this trail. 1. There are quite a few strenuous sections that they’d struggle carrying a pack through. 2. The western side of Heartbreak Ridge stairs are VERY steep. I didn’t have too much difficulty with my longer stride, but my shorter hiking mate struggled and my even shorter kids would be terrified. 3. There are a couple sketchy bridges and washout sections where one bad step could send you sliding 100+ feet down a mountainside. One in particular, the trail tread was completely washed out for a 4 foot section. Someone had laid a now pretty rotten limb next to a steeply slanting rock. That was your new path. You had to skillfully place one foot on the rotting wood, say a prayer that it would hold the weight of you and your pack, and quickly boost yourself across the gap. As a mom, my heart would not have made it through the moments helping my kids cross that. All in all, it was a great getaway. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of work. We hiked an average of 10-11 miles per day. And we stank to high heaven. But I’ll alway remember the good conversation, the ice cold streams we soaked our sore feet in, and the huge sense of accomplishment that we finished with.