Good friend of the podcast, Liz, is guest-writing blog posts for us this week, about her experience on the Foothills Trail. Check back tomorrow for more stories from Liz!
Day 2 was the first time I’ve ever packed my bag in the rain. It was not the last. We took our time getting out of camp, hoping that the rain would subside for the day. Finally giving up around 8:30, we set off with our rain coats on. Almost immediately we came upon a woman who was on the cusp of completing the foothills trail by way of section hiking. She’d started it over a decade ago and now in her retirement, was bound and determined to complete the trail. We were just barely 6 miles from Oconee, we wished her the best of luck and congratulations. Once out of earshot, my hiking partner and I both exclaimed how we wanted to be like that in our retirement. We had two goals for this day’s hike. Go 12 miles, and camp next to the Chattooga at this phenomenal campsite we both remembered from July. As we approached the Chattooga, we came across another through hiker who was hiking in our direction but alone. He had goals to reach Table Rock by Friday. We thought he was crazy to attempt such a quick hike but wished him well and gave him what advice we could. Our lunch was spent beside the powerful river on a comfortable rock with a warm breeze. A roaring river as powerful as the Chattooga has a way of reminding you how very inconsequential you are. The river will always be there.
By mile 9, our hearts sank as we passed the camp site that we were aiming for. We couldn’t short the day by that much and be done by Saturday. We carried on and up as we left the Chattooga, both of us saying our forlorn goodbyes. We set our minds to Burrell’s Ford. As luck would have it, we reached Burrell’s Ford without issue, very early in the evening. To our surprise, we found the campsites were bordered by the Chattooga and our hope to soak in the river was realized! The evening ended in rain, we started noticing a pattern. We tucked into the tent and reviewed our mileage plans for the remainder of the trip. Both a bit weary of the rain, we’d independently developed the desire to finish the hike early. Our relaxed pace of 10 to 11 miles per day would get us out of the woods by Saturday. But if we did a 16 mile day here and a 20 here, we could get out by Friday. Hell, we could do Thursday if we did a 12 at the end.
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