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Off we go
The old man, in Walhalla, ready to walk I, my wife, and our grandson Kai left our house in Simpsonville a little after 8am. We arrived in Walhalla around 9:30, I got my backpack out and on, and we walked down to the Tourist & Visitor's Center. I kept an eye on Kai while my wife checked out the brochures and information they had. After a while, since I was standing there with my heavy backpack on, waiting, I finally left Manoli know I needed to leave. We said our goodbyes and I started walking out of Walhalla. Walhalla is a fairly small town, but I was never quite sure where the town ended. After about a mile or so, already feeling a bit regretful since I was carrying a fairly heavy backpack, the road started climbing and didn't seem to end until I reached the Oconee State Park. Last year, I walked over 500 miles, with no problems, but this time my backpack was considerably heavier (or so it seemed to me), since I was carrying camping gear including a tent, sleeping mat, and cookware/camping gear. The weight was exaggerated since I seemed to be going uphill all the time, and I started taking occasional breaks to sit
Nice Church
St. John's Lutheran Church in Walhalla just after starting down and relieve the weight of the backpack.
Soon after leaving town, my wife went by in the car heading, she said, to see some waterfalls before going home. At one of my rest stops, I checked our new Life360 ap that shows where we both are, at first thinking she'd gone to some waterfalls way off the road. There was no way I was going to be sidetracked that much. I discovered later that they'd stopped at the Stumphouse Tunnel park, and eventfully, just before reaching the turn off, she met me coming back. She pulled over and when I mentioned that I'd considered walking down to meet them at the park, she informed me the road down was very steep and seemed even steeper coming back up. Good thing I didn't have to think about going down to join them! What seemed like forever later, pretty much continuing my uphill walk, I found a little store where I bought a Dr. Pepper and took another break. I'd already decided that I would stop at the last place before the road branched to the park, even if it was early. Turned out I finally got there around 1:30pm,
Walhalla Memorial
Interesting monument just before leaving Walhalla so it was actually a bit late for lunch. Since I knew there wasn't anyplace else before the park, and I didn't know if anything was available at the park, I decided to stuff myself. I ordered coffee, a 1/4 lb. burger, and chili cheese fries. I finished the hamburger and about half the fries before I felt full, without being too full.
I was under the impression that Oconee State Park was only about 2 miles down the fork from where I'd stopped for my late lunch, but it turned out to be over 3 miles, again almost always uphill. It was about 3: 30 when I finally reached the park and checked in. When I'd originally reserved the campsite online, they had a minimum stay of 2 nights, so I had to book 2 nights at both Oconee and Keowee-Toxaway State Parks. When I complained about the 2-night minimum, the park ranger agreed and was nice enough to credit my card for second night. Since the "store" closed at 5pm, I walked down to my site, set my tent and necessities, then walked back up to see what might be interesting, mostly food and drink. I ended
Another Church
Rocky Knoll Baptist Church, in the middle of nowhere up getting an iced honey bun, a small cup of ice cream, a Dr. Pepper, and a park pin to put on my backpack. The campground is nice enough, but the WiFi is terrible. Hope I can on long enough to publish this.
I took a short nap, then a shower. I finally figured out that the Hot/Cold was backwards and the hot is really hot! LOL Oh well. After I finish this and upload it, I'll probably spend some time reading my book, and hopefully get sleepy early enough to sleep well. I sure am tired, and was thinking along the way about not doing the next leg, or maybe that one but not the third one. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
These boots are made for walking
Hope you have a fabulous walk. Sounds like you are on the up hill side of the journey.