Problems, Pain, & Perseverance: Four Wonderfully Pretty Days on the Foothills Trail

[Floridahanger]

I'm exhausted just reading the trip report. And a wonderful report it was, at that. Now that I'm all tired and sweaty from reading it, I will have to wait to watch the videos after I get home.

Good excercise and proper stretching is very important when training for long hikes. Glad to hear the pain didn't stop you and gives you points of strengthening your resolve.

[FLRider]

I'm exhausted just reading the trip report. And a wonderful report it was, at that. Now that I'm all tired and sweaty from reading it, I will have to wait to watch the videos after I get home.

Good excercise and proper stretching is very important when training for long hikes. Glad to hear the pain didn't stop you and gives you points of strengthening your resolve.

Thank you!

I definitely agree that good training makes for good hikes. I need my knees to heal, so I can start training for the bike into the annual hang...soon...

[old4hats]

Rats! I just read the trip report, saw the pics, then wanted to watch the video, but my wife refused to make the pop corn. John, you amaze me. Mr. Determination for sure.

[FLRider]

Rats! I just read the trip report, saw the pics, then wanted to watch the video, but my wife refused to make the pop corn. John, you amaze me. Mr. Determination for sure.

Heh. True story: we got a package from my mother-in-law last night that had "Popcorn Factory" labels on it. Sure enough, Mrs. FLRider got out a package of caramel popcorn from it and watched the video...

I'm not quite as determined as my old neighbors, but thanks anyway......

[Theosus]

I highly recommend doing the whole thing. It's worth it, especially if you can work out a food drop so you can get away with only carrying four or so days' worth of food.

Yeah, that section heading down to Jocassee was...mmm...strenuous...where my knees were concerned. I've had better mornings, for sure. I think that was a primary contributor to my low spirits going through the Laurel Valley. Still, I wouldn't trade the memory of it away, for sure.

Thanks!

I'm thinking of posting it to our hiking group in two sections... two long weekends should take care of it, but none of us do 22 mile days, so three days from oconee to whitewater, and 4 from whitewater to table rock should do us.
Thanks for all the encouragement, your videos are GREAT. Did you do them with a GoPro? I have a little point and shoot, never thought of mounting it down low on a pole like that.

[Heisenberg]

While I appreciate it, you should see some of the serious long-distance hikers we have here. Try going hiking with FireInMyBones some time; he's perfectly capable of running me into the ground. And I'm pretty sure that Fronkey had a thirty-five(?) mile day in the same sort of terrain I was on this trip when he was looking for his cousin on the SHT.

Still and all, I'm really glad that I didn't let the trail stop me a second time. I really dislike leaving things unfinished, and I'm pretty stubborn.

Fronkey for sure is in the pro hikers club! I'm not familiar with the SHT through hike, but by the looks of the terrain you were going through, it looked pretty bad. Still I'm impressed, good on you!! Sometimes you gotta play through the pain!!

[FLRider]

I'm thinking of posting it to our hiking group in two sections... two long weekends should take care of it, but none of us do 22 mile days, so three days from oconee to whitewater, and 4 from whitewater to table rock should do us.
Thanks for all the encouragement, your videos are GREAT. Did you do them with a GoPro? I have a little point and shoot, never thought of mounting it down low on a pole like that.

That's definitely doable for anyone who's capable of fifteen milers on the flat. Ten miles a day in that terrain shouldn't kill your knees, either.

Thank you! No, I did 'em with a three or four year old Canon PowerShot (the usual ~$100 model you can get at any electronics store) and a StickPic (which I highly recommend; I'm going to be purchasing another one). The steady long-shot portions used a GorillaPod, one that I drilled an hole in the bottom of to attach my StickPic to (thanks go to FIMB for the idea).

Hope it helps!

Fronkey for sure is in the pro hikers club! I'm not familiar with the SHT through hike, but by the looks of the terrain you were going through, it looked pretty bad. Still I'm impressed, good on you!! Sometimes you gotta play through the pain!!

Thank you!

[FireInMyBones]

FLRider, I know it's a bit late, but I still thought you might be interested. It took us some work, but now that we have a plan, more trails are in our future. Perhaps it will aid in future endeavors on the FHT.
Foothills Trail Pocket Profile

[FLRider]

FLRider, I know it's a bit late, but I still thought you might be interested. It took us some work, but now that we have a plan, more trails are in our future. Perhaps it will aid in future endeavors on the FHT.
Foothills Trail Pocket Profile

Thank you, FIMB! I got by with my own homemade version of that, but it wasn't anywhere near as nice. For folks wanting to do this trail, I highly recommend the Pocket Profile maps. They've got just about everything you'll need for on-trail information.