Last fall I had the pleasure of thru-hiking the 77-mile Foothills Trail, after which I immediately drove north to Linville Gorge (North Carolina) and hiked a 40 mile loop around the gorge. In this post, I want to talk a little about the Foothills Trail, then close out with a few updates.
The Foothills Trail was not on my radar until recently. I have a feeling that has more to do with my radar than it does with the trail itself. For most things, my radar resembles a sad, weathered, satellite dish left behind by its previous owners. It has a bent mounting rod and flaked paint. Satellites don’t talk to it anymore, presuming it dead. And they are correct.
The opposite of a hipster, I am often the last to discover things. The advantage of this is that I get to delight in the nuance of matters that are already old news to most. For example, over a decade after the series “Lost” first aired, my wife and I binge-watched it on Netflix. I don’t follow much pop culture news, so there was no chance of the end being spoiled. It was grand! And, this fall, I finally hiked the Foothills Trail.
I have come to learn that the Foothills Trail is the first multi-day backpacking trip for many hikers. It is easy to see why:
- It is 77 miles, making it attainably hiked in a week, or easily sectioned;
- There is a strong community around the trail spearheaded by the Foothills Trail Conservancy, with wonderful volunteers to help with shuttles and food caches for resupply, if needed;
- The trail is very well maintained and easy to follow;
- The terrain is reasonable – it is not an easy trail as there are mountains to climb, but it is not like trying to hike over the Pennsylvania rocks on the AT, or bouldering through the White Mountains;
- The scenery is beautiful, with a nice mix of small streams, the Chattooga River, Lake Jocassee, waterfalls galore, and views at the eastern end atop Sassafras Mountain and beyond in Table Rock State Park;
- Water and campsites are plentiful.
For all of these reasons, I suppose I’d sum up the Foothills Trail as an “all around good time.” It’s the kind of trail where you can have fun whether you spend one day, or an entire week. If you haven’t experienced this trail yet and are within a reasonable distance, I definitely recommend it. Likewise, if you are looking for a place to do some multi-day backpacking, or for a first thru-hike, it’s hard to imagine a better spot.
I didn’t have very high expectations when I set out to hike the Foothills Trail. I knew nothing about it and, for no apparent reason, I associated “foothills” with “boring.” This was not the case at all. Anyone who has hiked up Heartbreak Ridge will tell you just how tough a few of the climbs on that hike are, if they still possess the breath to do so. But don’t let that scare you. In my opinion, the Foothills Trail has just the right mix of challenge and reward.
The trail runs roughly west to east. The western terminus at Oconee State Park in South Carolina is less than 100 miles from the beginning of the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain, but is testament to the complexity and breadth of the mountain range. The Foothills Trail is actually only a small portion of the Appalachian foothills, and a reminder that there is a vibrant and noteworthy world that exists at the base of the core range.
I thought about this when I was on top of Sassafras Mountain, where the North and South Carolina border is painted boldly at the top. I realized how ironic it was to see this human border painted on top of what was, essentially, an ecological border between the mountains and plains. I reflected on this in part two of my video series. Seeing this painted border between the States made me realize just how binary human borders really are. They serve to divide and demarcate, to divy up and parcel out. They are arbitrary, without regard to what, or who, is on each side, but at the same time slice starkly through our lives and cultures. There is no life or existence on the line, only on each side. Rules change arbitrarily when lines are crossed. That is our way.
Nature, on the other hand, creates foothills. They are a natural transition, wide enough to move gradually from one type of land to another, but still bridging the gap between flatlands and peaks. Life is allowed to exist entirely within, and to flow readily between. Flora and fauna spread as far as needs demand and abilities allow. Existence is fluid, and the laws of nature do the work of maintaining order and balance.
I thought about this as I finished up the hike, and of course from there it was only natural for me to crawl down the rabbit hole of my own hike on the Foothills Trail. In some ways, I was in transition as well. We had just closed on the house in Atlanta and were moving to Wilmington soon. I was still trying to find my way through the weeds of post-corporate employment life. In some ways, taking that time to hike the Foothills Trail was also my own way of slowing down to absorb change that was already happening.
I’ll probably always think of the Foothills Trail as a place to begin or end something. It’s what the foothills do. But I will always take comfort in knowing that they are ok with me hanging around for a while, if I want or need that time to just be in transition.
If you haven’t checked out my video series, I’m linking to the playlist here. There are two videos about the hike, and then a capstone video as a planning aid for those who are interested in trying this hike. In the spirit of sharing, I also added the GPX files I created and used for navigation during the trip to my Trip Planners page. I added waypoints for water and campsites to make this a useful on-trail navigation tool. You are welcome to download and use the files if you decide to attempt this hike. I discuss more on how to use these files with a free GPS reader app in the planning video.
I will write a little bit about the Linville Gorge hike that I cobbled together in a separate post. I’m currently editing a video of my footage there. I was very impressed with that hike and definitely underestimated the difficulty of the backcountry and gorge hiking. It was totally worth the effort (and eventual shin pain) though!
A Short Update
Things are going well here in Wilmington. We are slowly settling in. My wife loves her new job, which is fantastic. We have explored some together, and I have wandered a bit on my own. I’ve already hiked a number of short trails through Carolina Beach State Park, a reserve on the other side of the Cape Fear River called Brunswick Nature Park, and down near Fort Fisher on the cape itself. One of the best parts about these lowland marsh trails is the bird life. It will be interesting to see what else shows up as the weather warms. I’m sure we will start seeing alligators at some point.
I have been rehabbing my right leg after the shin splints that kicked in during my fall Linville Gorge hike. I’m happy to say that recovery is going well and I am now able to run and walk without pain, or any signs of my shin splints returning. My runs are up to 6 miles. I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and will add a weighted pack into my walking and lunges routine soon. I probably won’t push my running too hard, but I do want to get my legs into good shape for the upcoming backpacking season. I am starting to get ready for a hike, which I will talk about at a later time.
One of my small joys is a little pond at the apartment complex where we live. There are several flocks of geese that visit, and there is a quarter mile sidewalk around the edge. It faces west, so I’ve taken to walking around the goose pond during sunsets. I’ve snapped quite a few sunset photos there, documenting the various shades, hues, and reflections. There is also a pull-up bar, so I sometimes do sets of pull ups between laps. Somehow pull-ups aren’t quite so bad when there is a sunset in the background.
I hope this post finds you all well and with some goals of your own for 2022, no matter what they are. It’s nice to have things to aim for and to look forward to. If you venture out to hike on the Foothills Trail, let me know what you think!
Happy Trails,
–Hungry Cat
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