Devils Fork State Park

Date: Friday, November 26, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Bear Cove, Oconee Bells
Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I headed out to Devils Fork State Park. The weather was cool and overcast ("gloomy"). At least it had stopped raining. I went up Hwy 133 and turned left onto Hwy 11, then followed the brown park signs to the entrance. I paid the $2 fee and parked at the trailhead for Bear Cove. It took about 45 minutes to get here from the house.

I started hiking around 2:30. I soon realized it would be difficult to stay on the trail, as the path was entirely obscured by newly fallen leaves. Luckily there are blazes frequently marked on trees along the trails. Personally I think white is a poor color choice for a blaze, since many trees have white marks on them naturally. At least they were marked, though, and the trails appear to be very well-maintained.

After moving through mostly oak, hickory, and pine forest, as the trail reaches a peninsula jutting out into Lake Jocassee, the forest becomes dense with mountain laurel. Really, this is my favorite feature of this trail. There are a couple of spots where you can easily access sand beaches, which is very nice in the summer.

Completing the loop and returning back to the car, I decided to drive over to the other trail, the Oconee Bells Nature trail. It is a 1-mile loop, and I got started at 3:30. Although short, this is a really great trail. There is so much to see in a short distance: bridges, streams, narrow twisting trails, a bog/pond, a small waterfall, rocky overhangs, and the namesake Oconee Bells themselves.

If you look at the photo above, the green groundcover along the banks of the stream is the Oconee Bells plant. Up close, the leaves look like a kind of ivy with jagged edges. In early spring, it blooms. It is very rare, and this is one of the few places it grows.

I returned to the car at 4:00pm. Despite the gloomy weather, an enjoyable hike.

Table Rock State Park

Date: Sunday, November 21, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Table Rock, Carrick Creek, Pinnacle Mountain
Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

Another Sunday-after-church hike. The weather was nice, and I decided to head up to Table Rock State Park. I drove up Hwy 133 and turned right onto Hwy 11. It takes about 50 minutes from my house.

Because the weather was so nice (sunny, low 70's), it was pretty busy at the park. I saw a lot of people in the parking area, and around the visitors center. There is a new viewing platform along the paved portion of the Table Rock trail, so people can get a look at one of the waterfalls.

I started on the Table Rock trail about 1:50pm. I turned left onto the Carrick Creek trail. At the next junction, I stayed left onto the Pinnacle Mountain trail. My original thought was to go all the way to Mill Creek Falls, but I decided I didn't have enough time for that. So I just decided to hike out as far as I could before having to turn around, so I could make it home by 4pm.

There are some (new?) mileage markers on the Pinnacle Mountain trail. Just after leaving the Carrick Creek trail, I saw the 1.0 marker. Then I came to a series of low bridges, and soon saw the 1.5 marker. This is where I took some photos and turned around. I finished out the Carrick Creek loop and returned to the parking lot about 2:05pm. A great hike on a beautiful fall day.

Keowee-Toxaway State Park

Date: Sunday, November 14, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Natural Bridge, Raven Rock
Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

After church, I headed up Hwy 133 for a hike at Keowee-Toxaway State Park. It is only a 30 minute drive from our house. I started on the trail about 1:30pm. It was cool, but I decided to wear shorts.

I took both the Natural Bridge and Raven Rock trails in a counter-clockwise direction. This is the way the trail signs seem to direct you, although the last stretch up the Natural Bridge trail returning to the parking lot is very steep. I did skip the short north loop that goes down to the lake, as it is ridiculously steep.

It was a nice hike. I just saw a few people on the Natural Bridge trail, no one at all on the Raven Rock trail. Some leaves were still on the trees, and there was some nice color here and there. I got back to the car around 3:00pm. A very enjoyable hike!

Keowee-Toxaway State Park

Date: Sunday, October 17, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Natural Bridge
Distance: 1.5 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

On a cool fall afternoon, I decided to do a quick hike while the kids were napping / having quiet time. The leaves are just on the verge of changing colors. It was a nice drive up Hwy 133 to the park.

I arrived about 2:40pm (it is only a 30 minute drive) and started on the Natural Bridge loop trail from the parking lot. I saw a couple of other groups, but it was definitely not crowded on the trail. I took the loop in a clockwise direction, which allows you to take the steepest part of the trail going downhill rather than uphill.

I got back to the car in only 30 minutes! I wasn't trying to race through the trail, but I kept a pretty quick pace, and only stopped for a couple of minutes at the river crossing. A nice hike overall.

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge

Date: Friday, October 1, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Pinckney Island
Distance: 5.2 miles
Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4 out of 5

Kerri and I were on vacation for our anniversary at Hilton Head Island. I tried not to put too much on the itinerary :-), but I did want to try a hike at Pinckney Island. You can't miss it when you go to Hilton Head...it is right off of US-278, as soon as you cross the bridge over to the the island.

It was a beatiful sunny day, with the temperature around 75 degrees. Perfect for hiking, really. I arrived and parked about 2:45 pm. The trail leaves from the parking lot on a gravel road. There is a nice posted trail map, and they have some maps to take with you as well. There are also lots of nice interpretive signs along the way.

Right after getting on the trail, you'll notice the wildlife. There are TONS of white ibis here. The trail comes quickly out of the trees and there is marshland on both sides. A lot of other people were out hiking here as well. The trail is so flat; I saw a few bikes, too.

I continued past the Ibis Pond. After 0.9 miles there is a turnoff on the right, which is a grass trail. I stayed on the gravel road past the Starr Pond ("Wood Stork Pond"), and then past Osprey Pond. I can't say I was able to identify any birds other than White Ibis, though.

Somewhere in this area, I saw an armadillo. They are hard to miss, actually. They make a lot of noise rooting around in the brush, and don't seem the slightest bit wary of humans. I took a picture; and yes, I really was that close to the armadillo!

Past the Osprey Pond, there was a 4-way junction, with a bench. I stopped there and had a snack, then turned right (south) onto the grass trail, toward Shell Point. I stayed on this path, past one turnoff on the right, all the way until it ended on a very small island. This trail passed through some pretty dense palmetto / pine forest.

Returning the way I had come, I passed a low point in the trail with a pond on each side. I noticed an alligator sitting there in the pond, and got a (quick!) picture before moving along.

At the next junction, I turned left onto another grass trail, and soon spotted my second armadillo of the day. Really, I didn't know that armadillos lived this far east. I passed Starr Pond (on my right), and finally returned to the junction with the main gravel road. I turned left and returned to the parking lot. A great hike, and a fantastic place for viewing wildlife!

Edisto Beach State Park

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Spanish Mount
Distance: 3.4 miles
Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

A day after doing a short hike with the kids, I was back at Edisto Beach State Park by myself, for a longer hike. I headed out in the early afternoon, and I was on the trail at 1:30. My plan was to do just the Spanish Mount trail all the way to the end and come back the same way. It is 1.7 miles one-way.

The trail is a nice, wide, flat, sandy path. It is mostly under thick tree cover. But in one spot it crosses marsh land. The picture at the top of this post shows the boardwalk here. There were lots of little crabs scurrying across the mud and through the grass, making a 'tick, tick' sound. Besides the crabs, I also saw a few lizards on this trail, and a couple of cardinals. And, I had a run-in with some (biting) black ants when I stopped to read one of the posted trail maps.

Past the boardwalk, the trail goes more into palmetto trees (our state tree!). There are several junctions with other short trails along the way. There are nice posted maps at each junction, and there are benches along the way. At the end of the trail, you have reached Scott Creek. There is an interpretive sign here, and a nice new platform that offers great views of the creek and surrounding marsh land, as well as a 4,000 year old shell mound.

I took some pictures, had a snack, and returned the way I came. It was pretty hot, but here it can be much worse. I know it is very buggy on this trail, but I used some Deepwoods OFF and had no trouble. The sand did get in my shoes, which ended up giving me a blister, but I would not have had that problem with my usual hiking boots. A very nice trail and a good hike!

Edisto Beach State Park

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Spanish Mount, Forest Loop
Distance: 0.5 miles
Time: about 1 hour
Rating: 2 out of 5

We were at Edisto Beach for the week with the cousins; 5 kids under 5 years old! After a couple of days of beach time, we decided to take the kids out for a different activity. Kerri and I had hiked the trails at Edisto Beach State Park years ago. We settled on a short hike and drove back up Hwy 174 to the park entrance on Tuesday afternoon.

There is a $5 per person fee, but at least the kids were free. The Spanish Mount trail leaves from the tree-covered parking lot. It is a wide, flat, sandy path, lined with oak trees at the start. Very soon the Forest Loop trail splits off to the right. This path looks much the same, except maybe there are more pine trees here. After completing the Forest Loop trail, we turned left at the intersection with the Spanish Mount trail and headed back to the car.

The kids really enjoyed looking for trail markers (blazes on the trees) and reading the posted maps. They raced for awhile, but James and Andy soon were riding on shoulders. There are some benches along the way; a good opportunity to take a water / snack break. Despite a little crying, it was a pretty successful outing!