Every Bit The Journey

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and this is mine.

Tag: SouthCarolina

2019 Palmetto Challenge

We’re Off and Hiking (Part 2 – we’re done)

By

On June 7, 2019

In 2019 Palmetto Challenge

We Completed the 2019 Palmetto Challenge and I figured I would give you a quick update on how we did.

Backstory: In March, Radar and I signed up for the 2019 Palmetto Challenge and I was very pleased to learn I could include his mileage with mine for this event. I had set a pretty arbitrary personal goal 200 miles for the seven week challenge.

How we did: We came in third place of the two member teams! We logged just over 298 combined miles together, which is almost a hundred miles more than my original goal. I only counted the miles where both Radar and I actually hiked together.

What we did: Together, Radar and I hiked just over;

  • 7 miles of the Givhans Ferry State Park trails,
  • 6 miles of the Congaree National Park trails,
  • 10 miles of the Palmetto Trail,
  • and 139 miles of other local trails and around our neighborhood.

What I learned: The rules indicated you did not have to hike together, even if you were in a team. You could just gather the individual team members mileage and combine it for a weekly team total. The rules also did not limit you to just the outdoors and trails, you could count steps at work, at home, etc., basically you could count steps from the time you got up in the morning to the time you went to bed.

Next year I’ll get us both FitBits.

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Good News for South Carolina State Parks!

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On February 20, 2019

In Canoe, Hiking & Camping in South Carolina, SC State Parks, Travel

But why isn’t this it’s own news story?

In today’s local paper, it was reported state tourism is at record levels “marking six years of consecutive record-breaking growth for the state’s visitor industry” according to the Post and Courier. Buried about half way through the article was a couple paragraphs indicating the state park system has “become almost entirely self-sufficient.”

Traveling across the country, I’ve often camped at parks. They are a welcome change from the commercial overcrowded main-stream lodging options. I love state and federal parks, there is so much hidden beauty and history in them. When I first moved to South Carolina over twenty years ago, it was readily apparent the states parks were under funded and under maintained. Kind of like a well worn deck of playing cards, a bit worn around the edges. Heck, some were out right in horrible shape. Colleton State Park was little more than a gate with a dirt road to the river front. Today it’s a little gem in the South Carolina crown of park jewels. This rise from the dust didn’t happen overnight and improvements across the state seem to be ongoing. A lot of hard work by dedicated park rangers have elevated each park from dependency to independence.

Having a park system which is paying their own way is a huge plus-up for the state. With over $30 million in park revenue last year they are just about paying their own way now and still improving. The powers that be are to be commended for the long hard trail to self-sufficiency they have been hiking. Support your local parks system, Come Out & Play!

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