ATTACK OF THE LADYBUGS

Christy, Saucony, and I hiked at Jones Gap State Park, in the South Carolina mountains, on Saturday. I was aiming for a low-elevation, southern destination where we could find some lasting fall color. We enjoyed a pretty drive through rural South Carolina. We arrived at the park, and found a huge crowd in the parking area. We dodged the families and kids and finally found a parking spot.

We hiked across a bridge over the Middle Fork of the Saluda River. On the far side we found a trout pond, bathrooms complete with showers, and soda machines. These facilities were all available to campers using the "backcountry" sites in the area. I was disappointed there was no Laundromat or pizza hutt.

We turned onto the Hospital Rock Trail and left the crowds behind. We filled out a permit and hiked up past a few campsites. We headed up a rugged, steep, leaf-covered trail. Initially it went right up a stream. Then we worked our way through a boulder garden. We reached a cliff with a nice view of the valley below. Color was past peak, but still lingering enough to be pretty.

The trail didn’t get any easier after the cliff. We climbed several steep sections. Fallen trees provided an additional challenge. We then negotiated a lengthy descent, which was frustrating because we still had a big climb ahead of us. Finally we reached Hospital Rock, which is a large, deep overhang that could almost be called a cave. Apparently Hospital Rock got its name from civil war deserters that sought refuge there.

We had a break at the rock and continued our climb. There were a few more steep sections, but the worst was behind us. Finally we reached a junction with an old road. After the rugged trail we had climbed, walking the graded roadbed was pleasant. This led out to another road, which is primitive but open to traffic. We followed this one through a colorful forest towards Camp Greenville. Along the way we crossed back into North Carolina. Multi-state dayhikes are always interesting.

It was near the state line that the attack began. Ladybugs were flying at us from every direction. They were constantly bouncing off of us. We each had dozens of them on us at any given time. It was like some sort of Biblical plague. We brushed them off as much as possible and hurried on.

Eventually we reached a paved road leading from the camp. We followed it a short distance to a parking area at Symmes Chapel. The chapel is open but had a roof, and looks out over Jones Gap State Park. It was a great view, and we weren’t the only ones enjoying it. Several other groups were there, though I’m pretty sure we were the only ones that had walked up from the valley. We had lunch, and Saucony behaved herself on her first trip to "church".

After lunch we headed back. The hike down seemed to go very fast, after the 4.5 mile climb had taken 3 hours. We returned to the parking area around 4:30. Aside from Symmes Chapel, we had seen only 3 other groups on the trail all day. There were lots of folks at the heart of the park though, and the campsites were filling up. It had a good, hard hike, and Jones Gap is worth exploring further. I think we’ll shoot for winter or early spring though, to avoid some of the crowds.




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