Tuesday, October 4, 2022
I'm grateful to be able to hike so many miles at my age. I know I'm fortunate to have the health and fitness necessary to do it. That's probably not a coincidence, though. Most likely, I'm healthy because I hike.
A study published in 2019 by researchers in Japan looked at the health benefits of walking in a forest. They discovered spending time in the woods is relaxing, though I doubt anyone is surprised by that.
| Weather | Low clouds, then mostly sunny; temperatures from around 50ºF to the mid-70s |
| Trail Conditions | Well-maintained; a short climb first, then a long descent with a few steep sections with stairs |
| Today's Miles | 13.8 miles |
| Trip Miles | 22.4 miles |
Interestingly enough, the team found that a relaxing walk in a forest of just 15 minutes can boost your mood. This results in a reduction of stress and anxiety. The findings are from just one study, but similar research also shows the value of walking and hiking.
For instance, other studies have shown that walking boosts your immunity, and the beneficial effects can last for more than a month.
I met someone today on the trail who shares my appreciation for hiking, and I'm certain she agrees with me that it profoundly improves her life in many ways. Her name is Gail Johnson.
When she thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1996, she earned the trail name Gutsy. Since then, she has completed the other two trails of the Triple Crown, as well as the Florida Trail and others. Except for the AT, she has mostly hiked as a section hiker.
Gutsy told me she was now in her 70s. We chatted for several minutes, and we agreed that hiking helped us slow the rate of getting old.
I wished we could have talked longer, but she was finishing up her hike and would be picked up soon by her husband. Besides, I knew Sasquatch and Polecat were now 30 minutes ahead of me.
The trail was climbing to Sassafras Mountain. From our campsite, the distance to the mountaintop was only 1.3 miles and less than 300 feet in elevation change. I didn't feel guilty about talking so long with Gutsy, but I hurried up the trail just the same.
Polecat and Sasquatch had waited for me at a large stone and concrete observation tower on the summit. They didn't have much of a view while they sat there because low clouds had all but blocked out the scenery.
I suggested they go ahead without me. There was cell service there and I wanted to send a message to my wife.
While I was texting with Kim, the low clouds began to part and lift, revealing glimpses of the surrounding landscape.
The observation tower on Sassafras Mountain is only 11 feet above ground, but the ground is South Carolina's highest peak. That's assuming you're standing on the South Carolina side of the tower. A black line painted across the middle marks the border between that state and North Carolina.
At 3,553 feet above sea level, the mountain doesn't come close to North Carolina's highest peak, Mount Mitchell. That mountain is 6,643 feet high, making it also the highest east of the Mississippi River.
When I began a long descent after leaving the mountaintop, the trail hugged the state line for a short distance before turning away to the south. A couple of long sections of the trail are in North Carolina, but we won't see the first of those until tomorrow.
At first, the trail was deeply eroded, This was the worst shape I had seen so far on any part of the Foothills Trail. Thankfully, there weren't many sections like this.
The trail didn't take long before smoothing out. The descent was steady for nearly 4.5 miles. Much of the route took the path of an old logging road. The wide, smooth trail with a modest grade was an obvious clue of that.
If I hadn't recognized the tell-tale signs of an old road, I would have still known this was a former logging area because of a sign I passed. It said timber from this forest was harvested in 1971. White pine seedlings were planted after that to replace the trees that had been removed.
Trees from this forest were harvested several times in the last century. In the 50 years since it was replanted, the forest has matured and become more diverse than just white pines. Other varieties of trees now greatly outnumber them.
I passed an eastbound hiker named Meat going up the trail as I continued down. She told me I wasn't far behind Sasquatch and Polecat. After keeping them waiting this morning, I was glad to know this.
The descent was sometimes steep. Almost always on this trail, that means something has been done to make the elevation change less difficult. Steps appear to be the trail designers' preferred method to do that. There were only a few switchbacks today.
In at least one case today, a handrail was included with the steps. Handrails are uncommon on most long-distance trails but not on the FHT.
I crossed U.S. Highway 178 at the bottom of those steps. The highway was also named Moorefield Memorial Highway. When a highway is named for someone, that person is usually famous and often a politician. Honoring Charles Henry Moorefield with the naming of this highway is unusual because he was a civil engineer who supervised the construction of highways.
Morefield died in 1936 at age 53. In the 15 years he worked for the state, the miles of paved highways in South Carolina increased from 56 to 2,500 miles.
I still hadn't caught up to Polecat and Sasquatch by 12:40 p.m. when I came to a stream with a light trickle of water. As I filtered some water, I looked at the map. It showed a campsite was less than a mile ahead, and I figured they had probably stopped there for lunch.
I was getting hungry, however, and because I had already stopped and had taken off my pack, I decided to eat my lunch at the stream. I didn't stay long. The temperature was just cool enough that I felt chilled in my sweaty shirt.
My guess about where Sasquatch and Polecat stopped was correct. They were still at the campsite when I arrived.
Before setting off again, I took three ibuprofen because my knees and one elbow were hurting. I hadn't fallen on any of those joints. They were just getting more of a workout than they were used to in a while.
Repetitive motion pains aren't unusual for me early in a hike. They almost always go away after a day or two, and I presumed that would be the case this time.
The trail continued to follow old logging roads. There were many more wooden bridges and a few more sets of stairs along the way. We even passed a wooden bench. The maintainers of the Foothills Trail clearly like to build things.
The bench was near a short side trail to Virginia Hawkins Falls. Although the waterfall used to be called Double Falls, three separate streams were dropping 25 feet from the ledge when we arrived. It was renamed in 2004 to honor a longtime executive secretary for the Foothills Trail Conference.
When I arrived at the side trail to the falls, I saw a couple sitting there. Their dog started barking at me as I approached, but neither one of them attempted to control the dog. I decided to not go any closer.
Many of the bridges we crossed were on Laurel Fork Creek. The trail followed the creek for 3.6 miles. I'm unsure how many bridges there were, but the most elaborate was a suspension bridge.
Logging took place along Laurel Fork Creek starting in the early 1900s. Alterations were made to the creek when a logging road was cut along the creek, including under-sized bridges and culvert pipes. Whenever heavy rains fell, hundreds of tons of silt flowed down the creek and into Lake Jocassee.
This area had become a significant ecological problem that didn't go away when logging ended. South Carolina's Department of Natural Resources began a restoration effort in 2007. Pipes and bridges were removed. The stream was re-diverted to follow its original channel. The creek bank was restored with native plants, boulders, and seeding.
I caught up with Sasquatch at 4 p.m. He had followed a side trail that I thought might go to Laurel Fork Falls.
Neither one of us realized there was an easier way to see the waterfall. There was a viewpoint on the trail that overlooked the falls. We would have known this if we had just looked at the map on the FarOut app. I think this trail has been so well-marked, we didn't feel a need to check the app.
After leaving the overlook spot, the trail turned away from Laurel Fork Creek. We had just three-tenths of a mile more to Jackie's Branch Campsite. Sasquatch and I walked past it, but we didn't go far before realizing we had walked farther than necessary.
After backtracking, we found the campsite and also saw why we missed it. There wasn't a sign for the site, as all of the other campsites had.
We expected to see Polecat with his tent already set up when we arrived, but he wasn't there. He showed up a short time later. He also walked past the site but walked farther than we did.
We timed our day better than yesterday because we were done with dinner before sunset. This had been an enjoyable day, one that had about everything I could want in a hike day. The weather was perfect. The trail had more descents than climbs and they were never difficult. There were waterfalls and a distant view along the way.
What's more, it was a pleasure to meet Gutsy, a fellow triple-crowner. When I talked to her this morning, I said something I often say about hiking, "I'm doing this for my 80-year-old self." She wholeheartedly agreed with me.
There's no way to know if I will continue to have good health in my 70s and 80s. Indeed, there's no guarantee I will live that long to find out. At any rate, I hope I get a chance to prove I was right.
Holding back the years
Thinking of the fear I’ve had so long
When somebody hears
Listen to the fear that’s gone
Strangled by the wishes of pater
Hoping for the arms of mater
Get to me the sooner or later
I’ll keep holding on
I’ll keep holding on
This trail report was published on