I’ve had my eyes on the Foothills Trail for a while and had the opportunity to take a week off work and go for it this March. Stretching 77 miles from Oconee State Park to Table Rock State Park the Foothills Trail is best hiked by adding on a series of short detours that double the amount of waterfalls experienced. March is the most unpredictable month weather-wise in the Carolinas and my temperatures ranged from 30 to 80 over the 7 days outdoors.
Tragedy struck immediately upon starting. I parked at the end of the trail and took a shuttle to the beginning (friendly local driver Taz) but realized too late that I had forgotten my trek poles and camp shoes in my car. Facing the prospect of a week-long hike with no poles or shoes had me down, but I had no choice but to press on. My situation was soon to get much more dire.
A few miles in I stopped to thirstily filter for my first drink of water on the day (I had anticipated filling up at Oconee State Park but didn’t see any water available near the parking area). My filter was completely clogged. I tried backflushing on the trail with no success. Forgetting my poles and camp shoes were annoyances, not having a way to treat water was a more serious problem. After a few minutes of (panic and) reflection I decided to press on, figuring that most water-borne pathogens take around a week to cause sickness. Hopefully, if I did get sick, I’d be finished up and back home before suffering the impact. I couldn’t give up on my first day.
A couple more miles along the FHT I came to a road crossing and met a group of 4 backpackers who were heading the opposite direction and were on their last day. These fellows, members of the Black Folks Camp Too group, upon hearing my plight immediately dropped one of their packs and gave me a filter. He wouldn’t accept an exchange of phone numbers to allow me to pay him back when I finished up, just gifted me the filter out of the kindness of his heart. I am hugely indebted to the Black Folks Camp Too group - they saved me untold stress and potentially serious sickness.
All that adventure was just in my first 5 miles. I still had 75 to go . . .
Thanks for watching!
Layne
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