PARIS
Christy
and I spent last weekend in one of my favorite little cities. Christy is a triathlete, and her coach was
throwing her annual party. We dropped
the dogs off at the sitter on Saturday morning and drove down to Greenville,
SC.
We
stayed at the Hampton Inn downtown, which is conveniently located near Main
Street and Falls Park on the Reedy. The
Reedy River flows through downtown, and there is a nice waterfall in the middle
of the park.
We
checked in early and set out to explore downtown. It was lunch time, so we wandered down Main
Street towards the West End. We ended up
at Chicora Alley. We had to wait quite a
while for our food, but it was worth it.
Lunch was excellent, and extremely filling.
Afterwards
we strolled up Main Street as far as the Dark Corner Distillery. We ended up buying 3 bottles of moonshine
there. We had to have the apple flavored
‘shine to make my buddy Darrin’s Appalachia-Ritas. I wanted a bottle of peach, too, but Christy
preferred the butterscotch. So we
comprised by buying both. I got a pretty
good work out hauling all of that booze back to the hotel.
We
did a bit of shopping without actually buying anything else, which is my
favorite kind of shopping. We did stop
by the Mast General Store, but it was so crowded we didn’t linger long. Downtown Greenville was hopping
for a Saturday in February.
Later
that afternoon we went for a run on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The trail now runs all the way to Traveler’s
Rest. I’m not sure how long it is now, but
during my run I passed mile marker 36.
It was a scenic run, as I passed Reedy River Falls shortly after leaving
the hotel. The only drawback was having to dodge the heavy traffic on the trail.
We
had an early Sushi dinner at Redfin on Main
Street. Then we hurried back to the
hotel. Christy’s friend Melinda and her
husband Curt picked us up and drove us to the party, which was in a country
club up on Paris Mountain.
The
party was actually fun. There was a live
band, which wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. In fact, they were actually pretty good. On the upside, one of the guys played a
variety of horns during the set. On the
downside, they actually did a cover of the electric slide. I guess they do a lot of wedding receptions.
During
the party I met one of Christy’s fellow athletes. Jonathan is a hardcore hiker and whitewater
kayaker. He’s crazy like me, in the
sense that he actually enjoys crawling through tangles of rhododendron on the
side of a cliff in the search for a previously undocumented waterfall. Hopefully Jonathan will be able to join us on
some upcoming hikes.
We
made it back to the hotel thanks to a ride from Curt and Melinda. That was much appreciated, as it saved us
from having to call for a taxi.
We
slept in a bit on Sunday. It was
overcast that morning, so I walked back down to Reedy River Falls while Christy
was sleeping. After a few photos, I met
Christy for breakfast at the hotel. Then
we drove up to Paris Mountain State Park for a short hike.
We
paid the $2 / person entrance fee and drove up to the Sulphur
Springs Trailhead. It was late morning,
and the parking lot was already 2/3 full.
We gathered our gear and hit the trail.
Our plan was to hike the Sulphur Springs loop,
with an extension to the firetower at the top of
Paris Mountain.
We
enjoyed an easy stroll through the woods.
Before long we reached the base of a dam, featuring a pretty (albeit
man-made) cascade. We explored some old
waterworks here before climbing up to the shore of
Mountain Lake. Mountain Lake is small
but pretty. From there we continued up
the valley. A moderately difficult climb
ensued, and we actually passed several sliding cascades along the way.
Eventually
we reached a junction, and we followed an old jeep road up the mountain. Before long we reached the site of the old firetower. This was
when we discovered that the firetower is no longer
there. Some years ago the tower was
moved from its original location to a new site on the actual summit of Paris
Mountain. Unfortunately, the summit of
Paris Mountain is on private property, and there is a residential development
in between it and the park. The summit
also features a gaudy assortment of communications towers. We had lunch at the old tower site before
starting the hike back down the mountain.
The
return hike was a different experience.
A portion of the trail we had ascended was “hiker-only”, but our descent
route was open to mountain bikes. Every
minute or two we had to get out of the way as a mountain bike zoomed by. Most of the riders were quite courteous, but
this was still very tedious. At least we
didn’t have the dogs with us. That
would’ve been a fiasco.
We
eventually made it back to the car and headed for home. Paris Mountain was a good choice, in that it
gave us the opportunity to enjoy a fairly easy hike together. However, I certainly wouldn’t put it on the
list of places that I have to return to – unless I bring my mountain bike!
And
now, it’s time for the latest installment in the “My Favorite” series:
MY
FAVORITE PARIS
1.
“The Last Mango in Paris”, by Jimmy
Buffet. Good song.
2.
Paris Mountain State Park, South Carolina
688.
Paris, Texas. Not
one of the finer parts of Texas, and that ain’t
saying much. On the upside, they
do have their own Eiffel Tower.
Dishonorable mention. Paris Hilton. Ugh.
Back to South Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!