Monday, July 31, 2006
Still looking for cool weather, we're off to visit Oconee State Park, in the far northwest corner of the state. First we headed west to McCormick, where we walked around town, admired flowers and butterflies and had lunch.
At McCormick, we caught up with the Savannah River Scenic Highway and followed it all the way to Walhalla. We drove through interesting small towns - Mt. Carmel, Calhoun Falls, Lowndesville, and Iva. We also stopped for a while at the John de la Howe School to admire the barn and the beautiful grounds.
We arrived at Oconee State Park about 4pm and spent a good half-hour searching for a level campsite - no luck in that effort, but we did have a nice lakeside campsite, with a nice view of the lake that was closed to fishing (restocking in progress). We got settled in, enjoyed dinner and walked around to explore the campground - it wasn't very crowded at all.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
We were up early for hiking this morning. First was the Lake Trail, which went all the way around the main lake, past most of the park's cabins. This is Cabin #6, fondly remembered site of long-ago Wheeler family vacations.
After circling the lake, we headed out Wormy Chestnut Trail, which passed over some stonework done by the Civilian Conservation Corps and eventually connected with the Palmetto Trail heading to Old Oconee Station.
By midday, it was getting pretty hot, so we headed back to our campsite for a shower and rest time. We spend a relaxing afternoon reading and keeping watch on the lake.
After supper, we checked out the old water wheel, which was used in the 1930's for power for the CCC workers. Today it's just for looks.
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Today we were up even earlier for hiking to Hidden Falls, approximately 6 miles round trip from the campground. It was pretty cool when we started out, but the heat found us before we found the falls.
It was a pretty trail, lots of rhododendron, mountain laurel, iris, galax - no Oconee Bells - they bloom earlier in the spring. The humidity was just about unbearable, making it hard to appreciate the scenery.
But, we finally made it to the waterfall, which was quite lovely - cool and shady. It was a long walk back home!
Lunch and a cool shower helped a lot. We spent the afternoon looking at travel catalogues and watching a thunderstorm, wondering if the awning would blow away - it didn't. After supper, took another long walk - ran into Rose and Dennis (Hard Rock) Ricard from Gilbert, SC.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
It was cool last night - much better for sleeping! We would have slept in, but crows make good alarm clocks. After breakfast, we broke camp and headed down the road. Specifically, we headed east on SC 11, the Cherokee National Scenic Highway. We stopped off at Marietta, to visit Beechwood Farms again - this time we picked tomatoes and okra. The ride home was uneventful - just hot - afternoon temperatures back home were near 97, with heat index nearer 107 - reason enough to turn around and head back to the hills!
Still looking for cool weather, we're off to visit Oconee State Park, in the far northwest corner of the state. First we headed west to McCormick, where we walked around town, admired flowers and butterflies and had lunch.At McCormick, we caught up with the Savannah River Scenic Highway and followed it all the way to Walhalla. We drove through interesting small towns - Mt. Carmel, Calhoun Falls, Lowndesville, and Iva. We also stopped for a while at the John de la Howe School to admire the barn and the beautiful grounds.
We arrived at Oconee State Park about 4pm and spent a good half-hour searching for a level campsite - no luck in that effort, but we did have a nice lakeside campsite, with a nice view of the lake that was closed to fishing (restocking in progress). We got settled in, enjoyed dinner and walked around to explore the campground - it wasn't very crowded at all.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
We were up early for hiking this morning. First was the Lake Trail, which went all the way around the main lake, past most of the park's cabins. This is Cabin #6, fondly remembered site of long-ago Wheeler family vacations.
After circling the lake, we headed out Wormy Chestnut Trail, which passed over some stonework done by the Civilian Conservation Corps and eventually connected with the Palmetto Trail heading to Old Oconee Station.By midday, it was getting pretty hot, so we headed back to our campsite for a shower and rest time. We spend a relaxing afternoon reading and keeping watch on the lake.
After supper, we checked out the old water wheel, which was used in the 1930's for power for the CCC workers. Today it's just for looks.
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Today we were up even earlier for hiking to Hidden Falls, approximately 6 miles round trip from the campground. It was pretty cool when we started out, but the heat found us before we found the falls.
It was a pretty trail, lots of rhododendron, mountain laurel, iris, galax - no Oconee Bells - they bloom earlier in the spring. The humidity was just about unbearable, making it hard to appreciate the scenery.But, we finally made it to the waterfall, which was quite lovely - cool and shady. It was a long walk back home!
Lunch and a cool shower helped a lot. We spent the afternoon looking at travel catalogues and watching a thunderstorm, wondering if the awning would blow away - it didn't. After supper, took another long walk - ran into Rose and Dennis (Hard Rock) Ricard from Gilbert, SC.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
It was cool last night - much better for sleeping! We would have slept in, but crows make good alarm clocks. After breakfast, we broke camp and headed down the road. Specifically, we headed east on SC 11, the Cherokee National Scenic Highway. We stopped off at Marietta, to visit Beechwood Farms again - this time we picked tomatoes and okra. The ride home was uneventful - just hot - afternoon temperatures back home were near 97, with heat index nearer 107 - reason enough to turn around and head back to the hills!
posted by Fran and Marg at 5:02 PM
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