Saturday, November 30, 2013

Hope Station to Pomaria with Ben

My friend Stacy Dickinson told me that sometimes you must force your kids to go do fun things with you, even when they don't want to.  She calls it MANDATORY FUN.
So today I announced to Ben that he was going to have some mandatory fun with his mom! The dogs were so excited to be going for another walk!  Dixiana tried hard to get up into the front seat. [I had to bribe Ben with Bojangles.  The front seat smelled so much more delicious than the back.]

 My traveling buddies: Ben, Fred, and Dixiana.  I will say that Ben walked SUPER fast, and my legs and feet are sore!
 There were lots of trestles on this walk because a creek meandered through the woods.

 And hidden back here was little campsite! Wouldn't that be a fun trip?


 These old railroad signs marked our path.  Perhaps it is marking miles from Columbia up toward Greenville.


 This old brick building was the first to greet us when we reached Pomaria.


Welcome to the Pomaria Trail Head!
Hope Station to Pomaria is about 3 miles long--so we did a 6 mile walk today!


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Peak to Hope Station November 24, 2013

Peak, South Carolina over the Broad River
Stephanie Lockhart and I decided to forgo a Sunday afternoon nap for a Palmetto Trail hike!  We headed up US 176 from Columbia and on over to Alston Station via SC 213--just on the other side of the Broad River--to drop off my car at the finish line.  Then we back-tracked to Hope Station to start our hike.
 Fred and Dixiana were excited to join us on this 6.4 mile* adventure! It was in the mid 40's--chilly, but not bad.  We started about 3:00 in the afternoon.  Sundown was at 5:15 p.m., so we knew we'd need to keep a steady pace to get there with 15 minutes to spare.

 This part of the Palmetto Trail is an old railroad trail from Norfolk Southern Railroad. The part of the trail we traveled on today was first opened in 2009.
We only passed 4-5 people on our whole journey.  We thought we'd see a lot more hikers, but no.  The trees weren't in their prime, either.

 There were some sweet spots on the trail where some crafty people have made it a rustic and cozy spot to have a picnic. I wouldn't be surprised if some boy scouts had a hand in this, too.
 Just before we got to the Broad River, the little town of Peak, SC was partially visible from our trail.  It looked adorable.  I'd love to go back and visit and picnic there someday!
This is Stephanie walking Dixiana and Fred.
 Little Cabin in the Woods--just hidden in the trees on the banks of the Broad.




Stephanie and I were quite surprised when we reached the end of the Broad River at only 4 miles--instead of 6.4. Wow!  When we were about 60 yards from my car, Stephanie blurted, "Your keys are in my console!" Duh.
That's right!  I left my sunglasses and keys in her car--4 miles back.

So, we turned around, knowing it would be getting dark soon.  We made it back to her car about 5:45 pm, about 30 minutes after sundown. It was still light enough for us to see, but much farther, and we would have been walking in the dark. 8 miles round trip! The dogs did fine, too! (*When I got home, I looked up the distances to see why it was only 4 miles instead of 6.4.  There is a trail head at Pomaria, SC 2 1/2 miles up from Hope Station.  If we had started there, it would have been 6.4 miles.  And we would have been hiking in the dark. . . and in lots of pain.)