A traveler, adventurer, outdoors-man, International Time Traveler, and a guide to making it happen. Based in South Carolina, I am an experience camper and hiker with a love of the outdoors. I've been camping, hiking, and paddling here for over 20 years, teaching, training and learning as I go.
Avoid hypothermia – Never sleep in wet clothes, I tried this once, horrible idea. You should change out of your day activity clothes and into night or sleep clothes. You perspire during the day, and even with layers of clothes it will be likely the inner layers are damp although you may not realize it at the time until it’s too late. The dampness will cause you to chill at night. Leave your day clothes out to dry or air out overnight. Absolutely change your socks to a dry pair for sleeping.
#
This one is a little different. With “just” a .3 mile interpretive trail, hiking is not really the main draw, but yet Colleton State Park is a hidden little gem in the South Carolina State Park system.
Nestled on the banks of the amazing Edisto River, this 34 acre park serves as the headquarters of the Edisto River Canoe and Kayak Trail. The Edisto River is the longest free-flowing black-water river in North America and offers some 63 miles of incredible canoeing & kayaking. Having a watercraft is not a requisite for visiting this park. While this park is the smallest in the SC park system, located in Colleton County, just off I-95, this 34 acre park is a popular dropping in point for paddlers, fishermen, and anyone seeking a break from the hustle and bustle of life.
I have camped at Colleton State Park dozens of times over the years (with and without a canoe) and am impressed with the parks steady improvements. Every year there seems to be more and more done to improve the park and services offered. While I’m usually found in the group or primitive campsite, there are about 25 standard camping sites, including a cabin overlooking the Edisto River. The short Cypress Swamp interpretive trail runs from the park entrance down through to the river side Canoe Dock.
Favorite Time of year: Summer for paddling, Anytime for camping.
Distance: About .3 miles.
Things to Know: This is an Easy hike.
Camping: Camping is available at Colleton State Park (reservations required).
Pet friendly: Must be leashed at all times, including the forest, okay everywhere outdoors except cabin and lodging areas of the park.
Getting There: Colleton State Park is just East of I-95, between Walterboro and St. George, right off highway 15. It’s about less than 1 hour drive from the Charleston. .area.
#
Layer your clothes. Rather than a single heavy layer use multiple thin layers. Layering helps build insulation you can add or remove from to maintain a dry comfort level.
Use a wicking base layer; it will help draw moisture away from the skin helping to keep you dry. Remember at least three layers, a wicking base, insulating middle, and outer shell layer.
#
In frigid temperatures, mittens are warmer than gloves. But also bring a pair of lightweight gloves or glove liners for ease in handling camp chores like tent-pitching and cooking.
Forgot the mittens? Hands still cold? Try using a pair of wool socks either as a mitten substitute or as a mitten liner to add layers under a mitten. Another reason to carry an extra pair of clean wool socks.
#
Today is a special day in my country, it is a day of giving thanks. While some may flame, criticize, and chastise the custom’s origins, the bottom line, for me, it is a time to pause and reflect about the things we value in our lives.
Days of giving thanks are celebrated in other countries as well, typically in the fall, more or less for similar reasons. But today is my country’s day to give thanks for what we have. The American holiday of Thanksgiving originated with the early European settlers to the Americas and, as legends go, the early Pilgrims pulled together with the Indians, to give thanks for a successful harvest, which they hoped would carry them through the harsh winter coming. As a little guy growing up, I remember the excitement of drawing turkeys by tracing our hand (the thumb was the head, the palm the body, and the other four fingers the tail feathers), coloring and cutting them out to decorate the class room, mom’s refrigerator, and pretty much anything which didn’t move. We we taught one of the reasons there was a Thanksgiving, was the native American Indians had watched these struggling new European settlers, took pity on them, and helped them adapt the the new world. They were instrumental in making the settlers fall harvest a successful one. I learned in school growing up, everyone, the settlers and the Indians, sat down at the same table and shared in the bounty of the harvest. True or not, hundreds of years later, we, today will sit and share with others, what we can. We will share with family. We will share with friends. We will share with strangers. We will think of our loved ones who could not be together with us, due to distance or obligations, and we will think about our loved ones who have passed from us. In a way, I feel Thanksgiving is about the past, the successes, things we have overcome, the fact we can travel to be with others, the fact we have food and drink to share.
Sitting here writing this in the early morning hours, as the rising sun lightens the eastern sky, I think, Thanksgiving is about hope too. The early settlers were hopeful they would survive the winter. Sometimes our lives may not always take us down the trail we think, but today, I am thankful. Today I think am hopeful too. I am hopeful for the good things in our country. I am hopeful for being able to spend time with separated family. I am hopeful, the folks I love stay healthy and in my life for a while longer. I am hopeful, there are new opportunities, friends, and relationships which enrich my life. I am hopeful.
#
On a blustery, cold, or wet day, change into dry warm clothes as soon as you get to camp. Otherwise, sweat which has been collecting all day in your hiking clothes will soon cool and you’ll start to feel chilled.
Keep your outer layer shell handy, when you stop hiking for put it on the help keep you from getting chilled. Take it off before you start hiking to keep from overheating and sweating.
Looking for a great one day hike? Then this may be the answer. This passage of South Carolina’s Palmetto Trail snakes through the Manchester State Forest, linking Mill Creek County Park with Poinsett State Park. The High Hills of Santee Passage trail gets its name from the high, rolling sandy dunes, which are part of the regional geology. These rolling hills are the ancient ocean shoreline found in the state’s midland area. This is one of my favorite hikes when introducing new hikers to the trail.
Located in Sumter County, near the Northern side of Santee Lake, this 10 mile trail winds through the forest from Sumter County’s Mill Creek Park (+-195’), North up to Poinsett State Park. As the Manchester forest is state managed, you will pass through a couple areas which have been logged in the past and are now in various stages of regrowth. The term forest however is a little misleading. With fairly diverse terrain, including rolling sand ridges, mixed pines and hardwood forest, creeks, and even a patch of quicksand, there is plenty to keep the hike interesting every step of the way.
Of course you can hike in either direction, I prefer starting at Mill Creek Country Park and Hiking toward Poinsett State Park. The southern end of the trail is a bit more sandy and easier to travel through while you’re fresh. Towards the northern end of the trail you enter more rolling hills and wooded sections. As you come up from Shanks Creek crossing, there is a parking lot area before the trail crosses Poinsett Park Road. You are within the last few miles before entering the state park. With a latrine here, this is a great spot to take a short break before the last leg of this hike. Crossing over the road you pick up the trail again. You will step into another completely different type of wooded area as you enter a forest of scrub oaks draped with Spanish moss. This is one of my favorite sections of this hike. As the trail enters the park, it crosses and drops off to the left of the park road and winds down around the creek as you head toward and around the Old Levi Mill Pond. You will comes out of the woods and cross the earthen dam holding back Old Levi Mill Pond. While you are there, take a few minutes and explore the Singleton Grist Mill ruins and old grinding wheel. You end your hike at the park visitors center (+-100’) trail head at the parking lot.
Favorite Time of year: Fall through Spring
Distance: About 10 miles
Things to Know: This is a Moderately Easy hike.
Camping: Camping is available at both Mill Creek County Park and Poinsett State Park (reservations required). Both parks have restrooms, bathhouses, and parking. For all permit and reservation information at Mill Creek county park, call Steve at (803) 436-2248.
Pet friendly: Must be leashed at all times, including the forest, okay everywhere outdoors except cabin and lodging areas of the park.
Getting There: Poinsett State Park and Mill Creek Park are both located near on the Northern side of Santee Lake, and West of the town of Sumter, in Sumter County, South Carolina. It’s about a 1 hour drive from the Charleston area.
To make a waterproof emergency fire starter, roll 20 narrow strips of newspaper together and secure with twine or a rubber band. Soak the roll in melted paraffin, then let drain and harden. Make up a supply of these fire starters to have ready for future camping trips.
Looking for a new tent? Consider borrowing or renting one and take it out for a test-run. See what you like and dislike. Consider one with a rain fly which almost completely covers the tent. Often people are disappointed in their tents simply because the rain fly is too small to properly work.
Contemplating the intricacies of life as I sit, sipping my coffee, in a downtown cafe, waiting. I look back gently on my own life, wondering. Have I done enough? Can I find a happiness which beams like the sun shine?
The journey we travel doesn’t always lead us where we think it will. Sometimes you will pass through fields of green pastures, and crest beautiful summits. Sometimes you pass through valleys of shadows and darkness. I wonder and wait.
I find traveling alone, somewhat sad in ways difficult to express. But on occasion, you meet someone you remember as always smiling. Always. And I cannot help but wonder. I feel lucky to have known them, even for just the short time our paths crossed, as I sit and wait.
I wonder if I can be just a little bit like them. Just maybe, I can keep a piece of the happiness they shared close. The warm ember shared from a friend. And maybe their glow will help light the darkness for me, like fireflies in the summer night.
I sit waiting and wondering. They are on a different journey now, their passage paid.
It’s time now, I must go. Today I go to help bury someone I can call a friend.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén