Palmetto Trail Trial Hike - Day 2:

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Well, my second day "on the trail" started out just fine. I woke up around 6:30am, having slept most of the night (minus one bout of leg cramps), feeling... okay. After my morning ablutions, I walked up to the Park Office to see what time they opened. I found out they opened at 9am, so I figured I could get everything packed up and ready to go about then, so I could have a honey bun and a fresh cup of real coffee, versus the instant I'd been making.

I took down and stored my tent, air bed, sleep sack, then repacked my backpack. After yesterday, I'd already pretty much decided not to do the third day, since it was the longest, and had almost no place to stop along the way. I hoisted my backpack, and immediately had some doubts, since I swear it weighed more than it did yesterday. I told myself not to give up and walked up to the office. I bought an iced honey bun and a cup of hazelnut cappuccino from the Keirig, and asked for directions to the start of the Palmetto Connector for second day's walk.

I thought I received good directions and headed that way. After a couple miles, I ran out of road and the only trail I'd seen was one earlier on posted Chestnut Trail, and the one that goes around the lake that the ranger told me not to take. Since I hadn't seen any other trail where I thought it should be, I tried walking a ways down the one around the lake to see if my trail branched off of there, like it had on the map the Ranger showed me. After a few hundred yards and no branching, I walked back to the main road, just in time for the rain. I found an unoccupied cabin with a porch for shelter and waited there for a while. After putting on my rain jacket and my backpacks cover, I tried to find a map online that might help, but of course, there not only wasn't any WiFi this far out, there wasn't even any cell phone service!

Well, that was the icing on the cake for me. I decided I'd walk the two miles back to the Ranger Office (having no choice), and call my wife where I at least had WiFi, and ask her to come pick me up. On my way back, I noticed the Chestnut Trail sign again, and one of those typical park information signs, and decided to check it out. Lo and behold, this was the Palmetto Trail Connector I'd been looking for. Although it was getting pretty late to start, and it was still raining, I decided to at least go that far, to the Oconee Station Historic Site, and decide then whether to continue.

The trail was fairly scenic, hiking through woods and such, but also a bit miserable in the rain, and my pack was weighing heavily on my already tired body. It was supposedly only 3.2 miles to the Site, but when I passed a Mile 3 marker, it seemed like another 2 miles just to get to the trailhead. At this point, I'd pretty much had it, noticed I now had cell phone service, and called my wife to come pick me up. With an aching, soaking wet body, I manage the few hundred yards to the Oconee Station entrance, and the half a mile up it to the central area, comprised of a tiny Ranger Office that wasn't open, and bathrooms. I noticed the small covered porch with two rocking chairs and dragged myself there. Shedding my pack, I plopped myself down in the rocker and relaxed a bit. Knowing it would take my wife well over an hour to get there, I made the short walk up to the two old buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries that comprised the "historic site". They were interesting, but also closed, so I walked back down to my dry porch, dug my paperback book out and sat down to read, drink and munch while I waited for my wife.

Since my wife had insisted I download an app called Life 360 that tracked our phones, I was able to monitor her progress during my wait. While sitting there, a lady drove up with two large dogs, and after a brief chat, she took them for a walk. While she was gone, two Park Rangers showed up and quickly told me it was okay to use their porch. Soon after that, the lady came back with her dogs, soaking wet since it had started to come down pretty heavily. Checking my wife's progress periodically, I noticed was getting pretty close, since I could actual see her symbol move on the map while I looked at it. About the time I figured I'd better start packing up, I noticed she'd gone by the entrance, which she had apparently noticed too, calling me on the phone. I gave her instructions of how to get to the entrance and a few minutes later, she arrived. We had a long ride back home, stopping once for coffee and for me to change out of my wet shirt and t-shirt.

In summary, I did sort of enjoy the camping aspect, but the heavy backpack caused enough aches and pains to more than negate that small enjoyment. So, I guess I won't be doing the whole Palmetto Trail after all, but of course that was what this trial hike was all about, determining whether I wanted to try it or not. Maybe next spring I'll try another hike, more like the Camino de Santiago, where I might meet more great folks like Rares, Silvia, Jude, etc. And, where I have the culture and scenery of another country to make it worth the effort. Time for some research. This fall, we are flying to Ramstein Germany on a Military Space Available flight, to drive the Romantic road and add on a stop at Innsbruck Austria, Lichtenstein, and Zurich Switzerland, before flying back. More on that later.

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Photos

Oconee's Palmetto Trail Sign
The sign I'd missed the first time, showing the trailhead for the Palmetto Trail Connector

Neat Stream Crossing
One of the few interesting sights along the trail

Oconee Stations' Palmetto Trail Sign
The end of the trail, just a few hundred yards from the Park

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Palmetto Trail
I hate hiking in the rain.