Celebration on the Foothills Trail!

Lady Slipper, Songbird and I began making plans a year ago to celebrate Lady Slipper’s milestone birthday somewhere on a trail. We originally had discussed New Zealand but when that became improbable, the talk moved to hiking in the Smokies, a section of the Pinhoti Trail, or possibly the Bartram-Appalachian Trail Loop. Uncertain weather, sore backs, and pulled muscles eventually led us to settle on hiking a section of the Foothills Trail, which we had all hiked previously but not together or in the late winter-early spring season. Songbird’s friend, Sunset who is working on becoming a triple, triple crowner (he is close to achieving the remarkable goal of hiking each of the 3 major long trails, 3 times) intended to join us and we were all sorely disappointed when his schedule didn’t allow his participation.

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for our departure from Oconee State Park at the western terminus of the trail.

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Lady Slipper’s birthday evening was spent at a lovely campsite along the Chattooga River. We built a campfire and Songbird and I toasted Lady Slipper in true hiker trash fashion with a sip of rum from a full bottle that a previous camper had conveniently left behind.

The section along the Chattooga River with it’s tumbling rapids and quirky sights is one of my favorite sections of the trail. None of us had previously taken the side trail to King Creek Falls before and it turned out to be well worth the effort.

Just a few wildflowers were beginning to pop, though the highlight was seeing a large clump of my favorite wildflower, Shortia galacifolia or Oconee Bells! We were a little early to see the magnificent peak bloom that will occur in a couple of weeks, but all the more reason to plan a return visit.

On the fourth day we crossed the wonderful suspension bridge over the Toxaway River and ate a late lunch at the great campsite at the head of Lake Jocassee. I had made a mileage miscalculation, plus we had a guidebook misunderstanding and realized we weren’t going to make it to my vehicle parked at the Virginia Hawkins Falls access road, another 10 miles further. Plans were quickly changed and we hiked 5 miles up the Canebrake Trail to the Frozen Creek access where my Mum, Frolicking Dinosaur picked us up.

What a fantastic hike and trail. We were so fortunate to experience absolutely perfect weather, though as to be expected the nights were quite chilly. I so enjoyed hiking with my Virginia chicas and wish they lived closer! Happy Birthday Lady Slipper! Now let’s see, who’s birthday is next and where are we going to hike?