2026 Happy Blog Challenge

 Friday April 18th. Travel Day The cabin was lovely, but our time near the Foothills Trail is over.  The original plan was to hike part of the Appalachian Trail this week.  With my foot sore from yesterday's slip-up, that may not happen.  However, we are planning other great things to do.  I'm hoping to keep up with my daily step goal of 10,000 steps, but that depends on my foot. Anyhow, we checked out of the cabin this morning and had breakfast at a local place.  It was good.  We followed that with a drive up Sassafras Mountain.  Stephanie and I hiked it yesterday and only briefly spent time at the top.  It was Silena's turn to see the views from South Carolina's highest peak.  I took the time to actually read the signs today and learned more about the area. View from the cabin with the sun behind.  Down the road from the cabin Some of those hills are where we hiked this week. Close-up of a blossom, probably a magnolia. Different s...

 On Friday, April 17th, we completed the Foothills Trail at Table Rock State Park.  On this day, we slack-packed instead of backpacking.  That means lighter packs and ideally easier hiking.  There was a fair amount of rough terrain, lighter packs made a positive difference for me.  This was our longest mileage day at around 15 miles.   We began hiking before the sun rose and finished about an hour and a half before it set. We saw the most mammals today.  A couple of deer ran off in the distance fairly early in the hike.  There were more squirrels in this section of the hike.  Toward the end of the trail, about 1/4 mile from the Table Rock Nature Center, we saw two black bear cubs.  For a change, I was in front of Stephanie as we got close to the end of this adventure. So I spotted the bear cubs.  They were absolutely adorable!  I saw them, stopped, took three steps back and let Stephanie know.  When I first saw them, ...