STRANDED ON A SANDBAR
“Well…I
guess I just needed to take my pants off”
- Andy
If
you study a map of South Carolina, you may notice a large triangular area
between Spartanburg, Rock Hill, and Columbia with hardly anything in it. That portion of the state features a few
small towns and a chunk of the Sumter National Forest. Since it’s close to Charlotte, I’ve been
curious about it for several years. I’m
always on the lookout for hiking destinations that are a little closer to home.
When
completed, the Palmetto Trail will span the state of South Carolina, from the
mountains to the coast. Some portions of
the trail are complete, including a long section through the Sumter National
Forest. Last weekend, Christy and I
decided to check out a short segment of the trail. It would be Christy’s first hike after having
shoulder surgery in December. Although
the hike we planned was long (13 miles), she felt confident that she’d be able
to handle the distance since we expected the terrain to be gentle.
The
drive from Charlotte to the Sedalia Lake Recreation Area near the town of Union
took about 90 minutes. We parked at
Johns Creek Lake, where we found a privy and a group of fishermen. We started our hike on the Enoree Passage of the Palmetto Trail around 10am under blue
skies. We were treated to great weather
all day long, though it was unusually warm for February. I did the entire hike in shorts and a
t-shirt.
We
hiked around Johns Creek Lake before traversing a wooded hillside. A few minutes later we descended to the
shores of Sedalia Lake. We found more
fishermen here, as well as numerous signs of beaver activity. We circled Sedalia Lake, before heading
downstream near Johns Creek. We hiked
through a hardwood forest, which was a bit of a surprise. For some reason I was expecting to see a lot
of pines. We did pass through a couple
sections of pine forest, including one area that was recently logged and
replanted with pines. That stretch was
between Sedalia Lake and Macedonia Lake, and it was my least favorite part of
the hike.
We
arrived at Macedonia Lake around 11:30 and took a short break there. Afterwards we continued downstream, rolling
along gentle hillsides in deep forest.
We crossed a paved road a bit later, but didn’t see any traffic. From that point, it was less than a mile to
the Enoree River.
The last part of the trail crossed a boardwalk, which led to a high
bridge spanning the river. The bridge
was impressive, and it was clearly built to last. We didn’t see a good place for lunch on the
near side, so we crossed to the far side.
We found a place on the riverbank to eat, and Boone eventually descended
from the bridge to join us. He was not a
big fan of the grated metal steps leading down from the bridge.
We
were in the middle of lunch when we heard a loud splash. The river was several sheer feet below the
top of the bank, and Boone had decided to jump in. This was initially amusing, but a couple of
minutes later we heard him whining from just downstream. We got up to investigate, and found him
clinging to the side of the riverbank.
His back legs were in the river, and his front paws were on the
bank. Unfortunately, it was too steep for
him to climb back out.
We
found a spot about 20 yards downstream where the bank was much lower. Boone could easily climb out of the river
there. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see
it, and we weren’t able to convince him to swim downstream towards us. We spent a few minutes trying to encourage
him, but he just continued whining while clinging to the bank.
Next,
I attempted to pull him out. However, I
couldn’t reach him easily without risking falling in the river myself. Wisely I took the car keys out of my pocket
before making my attempt. I slid down
the bank towards him, stopping myself by catching my foot on a rotten log. Luckily, the log held. I was just barely able to reach him, but I
couldn’t get a good enough grip to pull him out of the river.
Our
next great idea was to cross the bridge to the far side of the river in hopes
that he would swim across. The bank on
that side was much more manageable.
However, he saw us leave and apparently thought we were abandoning
him. His whining turned to panicky
barking. We spent a couple of minutes
calling to him from the other side, but he wouldn’t budge from the bank he was
still clinging to.
We
crossed back over, and made one last attempt to get him to swim
downstream. He still refused to move, so
I prepared to go in after him. I really
didn’t want to get in that cold, muddy river, but after 30 minutes of this, I
didn’t see any other option. I took off
my shirt and shorts, and was standing on the bank in my shoes and my drawers
when Boone finally tried to swim. He had
some trouble getting going, and we suspect that his back feet may have been
stuck in the mud on the river bottom. He
eventually got out into the current and floated downstream. A minute later, he was on the riverbank,
shaking water on us.
It
was then that I pointed out to Christy that apparently I’d just needed to take
my pants off.
After
our traumatic lunch break, we were all ready to head back. The return hike was mostly uneventful. However, Christy struggled some. She hasn’t been able to do much since her
surgery, and it turns out that 13 miles was a bit aggressive for her first hike
in 2 months! There was also an
unfortunate mishap at a creek crossing.
The stream was tiny, but muddy enough that we were forced to jump
across. Christy slipped on her approach
and stuck her arms out to break her fall.
She came down on her recently repaired shoulder. She was in quite a bit of pain after
that. Hopefully there wasn’t any serious
damage done.
We
enjoyed some aspects of our first hike on the Palmetto Trail. The lakes and river were nice, and the woods
were pleasant. The solitude was nearly
overwhelming – despite warm, sunny weekend weather, the only other people we
saw were fishermen at the lakes. On the
other hand, the scenery, while nice, wasn’t exactly spectacular. Although a 90 minute drive for a hike is
pretty short for us, on most weekends I’d probably prefer to drive a little
farther to a more exciting destination.
Still, I plan to check out more of the Palmetto Trail. Some of the sections in the mountains in the
northwest part of the state sound intriguing, and the eastern part of the state
has potential, too.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!