Table Rock... again!

This month last year, David and I braved some nasty weather and hiked up Table Rock . When we got to the top (well, near the top, actually), the clouds parted long enough for us to take in some amazing fall scenery. It's certainly the best mountaintop scenery I've enjoyed on the east coast.


This time around, we went up about a week ahead of the leaves changing, so the fall colors weren't quite there, but neither was the fall rain. We also brought along some company. David's wife, Holly, made her second Table Rock climb and I was lucky enough to be accompanied by the entire family. By "entire," I mean my wife, Laura, and 16-month-old Gabriel.


We drove straight from Augusta to Table Rock State Park, arriving around 3:30, an hour behind schedule, which is customary when traveling with David, and ended up not actually getting on the trail until around a quarter to four. The issue with the later time was that Gabriel would be approaching bedtime before we could make it down off the mountain and we had no idea how he would handle being stuck in a baby carrier while his eyes got heavy. Of course, we also had no idea how he would enjoy being stuck in a baby carrier for the hike up the mountain either.


As has been the case on all our other outdoor adventures with the little man, he was perfect. When he gets outdoors, his wheels stop turning quite as fast, he calms down, his eyes get big, and you can tell his little mind is just taking in all the scenery around him. This trip was no different.


About an hour into the hike, we stopped at a large boulder beside the trail to take in some water and let Gabriel stretch his legs. David hopped up on the boulder to find a seat and the little toot headed up after him. This was a solid granite faced boulder that had a very steep grade, but he got about half-way up the 6 to 7-foot face before realizing that he was climbing on his own. Crazy little kid!! David's mom always jokes with me that because I introduced David to backpacking, I am also responsible for his rock-climbing hobby (which I completely refuse any responsibility for). Now I tell her that her son taught MY son how to rock climb, so we're even.


We loaded back up and headed up the trail. After about a half hour we came to the gazebo that marks the approximate half-way point. Near the gazebo is an exposed rock face that you can safely walk out on, giving you your first hint of Table Rock scenery.

Already running a little behind schedule, we didn't spend too much resting. With just another couple of minutes climbing, we would be at Governor's Rock. This is the place that David and I had to stop last time due to time and weather constraints. I was looking forward to going back and letting Laura and Gabriel experience the views, although the colors weren't quite popping yet.


We plopped down and let Gabriel run around and much as safety would allow. We took some pictures, drank some water, and snacked on some trail food. Again, we were in quite a race with the sunset so we didn't hang around long because I was anxious to make it all the way out to the nose of Table Rock.

After hitting the trail again, we crossed paths with a four foot rat snake. It was quickly making its way across the trail. If nothing else, it was fun to see David's fear of snakes manifest itself for a quick second. We kept moving and after crossing the official summit of Table Rock, we came to what they call "the nose."


The extra effort was certainly worth it. The views of the lake below and the landscape stretching out into the South Carolina Low Country was awesome. But again, as our race against the setting sun continued, we had to pack up fast and make a hasty retreat down the mountain.


We headed down at a much faster pace, but it was obvious we were not going to make it down before the sun set on us, so we divvied out the headlamps and anxiously awaited Gabriel's fussiness from riding in the carrier at night. Come to find out, as long as he had a handful of crackers, he was as happy as could be riding on my back. He never got fussy. He never wanted down. He was enjoying every second of the hike. The last 15-20 minutes of the hike were with headlamps on, hiking in the dark. Still, Gabriel didn't make a peep. At this time of day he would normally be having a bottle of milk while getting rocked in preparation for bedtime. He was just as content holding on to a handful of crackers hiking through the night!

We made it back to Hotel Dennis and, as always, enjoyed a weekend spending time with the entire Dennis family (despite Texas losing to Oklahoma the following Saturday). Now, Gabriel has added a second patch to his lil' pack! He'll be out of room for patches before you know it!

Trick or Treat!?

Life has been pretty busy lately, and I haven't gotten out much at all. A new baby and a new house have kept me pretty occupied. Well, I was sitting in a training class with Dennis and we decided that, as long as permission was granted by Laura, we would head up to Greenville, South Carolina, for a couple of days. We got up to Caesar's Head State Park at around noon, and the weather was pretty miserable. The above picture is from an awesome overlook located near the park's visitor center. Usually you can see clean past Greenville from here, which is located about 20 miles to the south. But not today. Nothing but FOG! and lots of it.

We sat around for a bit hoping it would open up, but it never did. From there we decided to go ahead and try some hiking anyway, so we headed for Raven Cliff Fall's Overlook.






Luckily, the valley this waterfall was located in was kinda protected from the fog. That meant we got some pretty good views. We spent a while just chilling at the little gazebo there, taking pictures and soaking up all the fall colors.





It was hard to leave, but we finally did. We had to cut our return route short because we took too much time at the overlook (but who can blame us?). So we hiked back to the car and headed back into town to the Dennis residence. We were welcomed warmly as always. After some awesome lasagna and a good movie, we hit the hay, hoping the weather would get better for our trek over to Table Rock State Park the next morning.

We woke up and the weather was terrible. Absolutely terrible. The fog was still thick, and the weather people were telling us it was only going to get worse. We debated our course of action over pumpkin pancakes and almost elected to just stay at home. Dennis decided that since we had our rain gear, we should go anyway and at least get some exercise in.

With that in mind, we loaded up and headed to Table Rock. On the way there it went from thick fog to thicker fog to drizzle to heavy rain. At this point our Halloween was turning out to be more trick than treat. We sat in the parking lot at the trailhead and came close to just turning around. A little reluctant, we donned the rain gear and headed up. Halfway up the mountain we came to a little gazebo-type thing that usually offers amazing views of the valley below. The rain had finally stopped, but the fog was still there in full force. We hydrated and munched on Clif Bars and debated whether or not to head back down, when finally there was small slither of an opening in the fog. We hung around for another 15 minutes, and sure enough the clouds finally rolled back and showed us the view.








We sat there a while enjoying the momentary break in fog before it finally rolled back in and covered everything. The rain was still stopped, so we decided to continue climbing. Dennis had been up the mountain before and said that the views (if the fog would allow) only got better. We passed a hiker coming down and he said the fog had rolled back in and covered everything. We pressed on anyway.

When we got to the top, we were greeted with some of the best views I've ever seen on any trail anywhere. Here's the proof....





































It started out as a trick but ended up being quite the treat. The fall colors mixed with the fog rolling in and out really made it a unique setting. It was the type of scenery that is hard to catch. We happen to be up on the mountain for the only two-hour period the fog relented for 48 hours. Can't wait to get back up there!!!

Our First Spring Fling

The original plan for the first weekend in spring was to tour the hospital where Gabriel is to be born. We also needed to attend some birthing classes and maybe some good ol' breastfeeding seminars too. Don't get me wrong, I want to do everything I can to make sure Gabriel's transition from womb to world is as smooth as possible, but that doesn't mean I couldn't get a little excited when we found out the hospital tour and classes were full this weekend. The weekend had officially become plan free!

Our last time out it became official: No more camping for Laura until the baby comes. With this in mind, I started making hotel arrangements. The great thing about the mountains is that you get away from all the commercial and industrial garb of the city. The bad thing is, if you don't plan on camping, good luck finding a hotel. We called up Dennis to see if he wanted to go too, and hey, maybe we could crash at his parents in Greenville again! (See previous post for details.) Well, he was working, but he said we could crash there without him, no big deal. I was sure it wouldn't be a big deal, but I hate feeling like I might be inconveniencing people, even though in this case I knew Dennis' parents would enjoy the company. Sure enough, when we arrived in Greenville, Mrs. Dennis was excited to see us. We had an absolutely great time. I never thought I would go to Greenville and enjoy the company more than I enjoyed the trails, but that was certainly the case this weekend. We spent the first night enjoying her stories about her kids. Saturday night they listened to our account of the day on the trails and on Sunday we went to church together and enjoyed a great meal at Chipotle... our FAVE! And I'm not sure, but I think Gabriel may have gained new grandmother along the way. Anyhow, anyone reading this is probably here for the pictures and/or the account of the trails, so here you go.


(Laura, me and Austin chilling at the base of Bridal Veil Falls)


We started off late Saturday morning. We headed up the winding road that leads into the Middle Saluda River watershed of western North Carolina. First, we had to go through Caesar's Head State Park. Right before the entrance, after gaining a couple thousand feet by road, we stopped at a roadside granite monolith with a low enough angle you could walk out onto it. The bad part of it was that being so close to the road, it was covered with graffiti. The good part was the view was pretty unbeatable. I'll wait for the part when sunset comes to put up the pictures. From there, with a short stop at the Caesar's Head Visitor's Center, we went on to the Bridal Veil Falls trailhead. The trail was an anti-climactic hike down gated gravel roads to the falls. The mountain bikers were out in full force on this first weekend of spring. The waterfall was pretty busy, but with so many viewing areas the crowds weren't a problem at all.

This waterfall is hard to describe and even harder to photograph. About 120 feet above where the trail meets the base of the falls, Bridal Veil makes its first sheer drop of about 10 feet over a granite ledge. After that tumble, the water spreads wide and thin on a huge granite mountain face. It's too wide and too tall to get into a picture, especially on a sunny day when the thin water reflects the sun's rays straight into your lens en masse.


The big granite slope of the falls.

The water reaches the bottom of the granite in many separate sections but eventually meets back up, forming a shallow, sandy river bed and disappearing into the woods of DuPont State Forest. It was such a perfect day. Maybe a slight chill when the wind blew, but any hiker will tell you that beats hot and sweaty. We flopped down on a big bolder, had a snack, and just soaked up the sun.


Me at the top of Bridal Veil Falls where it makes its initial drop.

After hanging out and trying to get a good picture of the waterfall, I scrambled up to the top of the falls. It really wasn't a scramble at all. The easy slope and smooth granite made for a stroll easy enough for even the feeblest of hikers. I could hardly suppress the urge to slide down the big rock face, but the water crashing violently into the rocks at the base convinced me not to.

From there, we headed back to the car and after stopping to check out a huge flock of Eastern Turkey hens being chased through a pasture by some excited jakes, we continued up the road to Hooker Falls.



Hooker Falls was a little disappointing. The parking area looked like a Wal-Mart parking lot the day after Thanksgiving. The trail, excuse me, dirt road, that led to the base of the falls was populated by people in jeans, mini-skirts, dresses, high heels, and those over-sized skate-boarding shoes. There was even a family of four on bikes (which is crazy because the road is at best a quarter mile to the base of the falls) where the mom, bringing up the rear, was holding the leash attached to a mini-poodle. I never thought I would say this, but the natural beauty of the falls, in my opinion was completely sapped by all the man-made garbage they put around it, making it accessible for everyone. I never thought I would say anything like that. Don't get me wrong, waterfalls can still be great with maintained trails and observation decks nearby, but something about this one just didn't seem to balance well.


Hooker Falls from the side.

From there we walked back to the parking lot. Laura decided to chill in the car while I crossed the bridge and headed upstream to get a glimpse of Triple Falls. It was a very nice change of pace from the over-crowded Hooker Falls. The sun had started retreating, so all those in mini-skirts had to get back to their warm cars. This waterfall was really quite a treat. Three absolute beauties, one right after another. They had carved out plenty of room at their base for you to safely roam around near the falls without being in real danger. If I posted all the pictures I took of these three falls, I might overload the website. I'll leave you with this one. Although I spent most my time right underneath each falls, I was able to get this from a gap in the trees that allows you to see all three falls at once, a real treat.



After a few more shots of the tumbling creek below the falls, I headed back to the car. There was just enough time for us to make it back to the aforementioned rock overlook to catch the sunset.



You can't see it well, but the mountain you see in the right portion of the picture is Table Rock, a South Carolina icon. This was the visual highlight of the trip. It didn't show up on film, but from here you could also catch a small glimpse of the Greenville skyline. Before it went completely dark we headed up the road to get a few shots of a roadside waterfall we sped past on the way in.


lower portion


upper portion

Compared to last weekend, it didn't seem like we got as much hiking in as we should have, but the slow pace this weekend was a nice change. We woke up late, we lounged on rocks, and we enjoyed some great company. With the reality sinking in that Augusta may be my home for another 4 years or so, it was a welcome relief knowing that weekend getaways like this one, at the Dennis house in Greenville, are just up the road.