{"id":2471,"date":"2017-03-23T02:51:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T02:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/?p=2471"},"modified":"2017-03-23T02:51:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T02:51:44","slug":"foothills-trail-day-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/?p=2471","title":{"rendered":"Foothills Trail: Day 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Today\u2019s miles:\u00a0 17
\nTotal miles:\u00a0 65.4
\nCamped:\u00a0 Boulder about a mile before Sassafras peak\n

What a day.\u00a0 Slept well, heard the popping of the campfire a few sites over for awhile.\u00a0 Woke up to the popping of the same campfire.\u00a0 People love campfires.\u00a0 The day started with \u201cheartbreak ridge\u201d.\u00a0 The guy I passed going the other way yesterday said it was \u201cbeyond brutal\u201d and I would need a nap afterward.\u00a0 I planned the trip so I would do this section at the beginning of the day with as fresh legs as I could get.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I did. It was challenging, with about 300 stairs up.\u00a0 Nature\u2019s stairmaster.\u00a0 I had trained a little for this by wearing my pack on the stairmaster at the gym.\u00a0 It was challenging and I stopped to catch my breath a few times.\u00a0 Maybe it seemed harder going the other way, but I didn\u2019t need a nap.\u00a0 Everything is relative.\u00a0 What made me want to lay down and cry was the plethora of other staircases after heartbreak ridge.\u00a0 The guidebook made a big stink about heartbreak ridge, but it was everything after that tired me out.\u00a0 There came a point where the sight of a staircase made me sick inside.\u00a0 On the plus side, mixed in with all the stairs were lots of waterfalls and rivers and a few other hikers, all going the other way.\u00a0 I thought for sure I would be leapfrogging with people going east as well, but that has not been the case. I had only planned to do 10 miles today, as I thought I\u2019d get a myocardial infarction in the morning, but since Heartbreak Ridge didn\u2019t live up to its name, I wanted to do a little extra and go 14 miles.\u00a0 I planned to stop at chimney gap to camp, but wasn\u2019t sure there were any campsites. I ran into two guys going the other way and one of them told me there were \u201cplenty of flat spots!\u201d.\u00a0 I should have trusted the elevation profile and guidebook, as there were no flat spots and I had to trudge along until I found something.\u00a0 I kept going up and up.\u00a0 After taking a look at the pocket profile, I realized I was almost at the peak of Sassafras Mountain (the highest peak in South Carolina \u2013 mile 66.4 of the trail).\u00a0 Crap.\u00a0 No wonder the hills never ended.\u00a0 The next designated campsite was a mile after the peak. Ahhhh.\u00a0 I was trudging along, doing my best to ignore the protests of my calf muscles and ankles.\u00a0 At one point I looked to my right into the valley and I saw a fire ring!\u00a0 I had just past a campsite that I hadn\u2019t seen, because it was blocked by a huge boulder.\u00a0 Needless to say, I turned around and set up camp.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m a little less than a mile to the peak of Sassafras which will be much more enjoyed tomorrow morning when I\u2019m not rushing to camp.\u00a0 I guess there\u2019s a monument, information boards, and pretty views.\u00a0 I plan to finish the trail tomorrow (Monday), although I had originally planned on Tuesday. It is bittersweet.\u00a0 Today was hard, but it felt good to push myself.\u00a0 I have just gotten into the routine of breaking down camp, taking snack\/lunch breaks, treating water, making dinner, setting up camp, and pooping in the woods.\u00a0 Most of all, I will miss being outside.\u00a0 The fresh air, bird songs, and sometimes total silence is something to be cherished.\u00a0 I\u2019m realizing that in order to have these rich experiences, you need to face your fears head on.\u00a0 Yes, being out here alone scared me at first, but I have gotten the hang of things.\u00a0 Things that seem scary are usually not, and I am discovering that there is always something to be learned when putting yourself in situations that may not be in your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The beginning of heartbreak ridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Getting closer to Table Rock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Morning sun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Virginia Hawkins Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sometimes there would be a nice bench between sets of staircases<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sunset and a bear bag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s miles:\u00a0 17 Total miles:\u00a0 65.4 Camped:\u00a0 Boulder about a mile before Sassafras peak What a day.\u00a0 Slept well, heard the popping of the campfire a few sites over for awhile.\u00a0 Woke up to the popping of the same campfire.\u00a0 People love campfires.\u00a0 The day started with \u201cheartbreak ridge\u201d.\u00a0 The guy I passed going the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-yoga"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2471"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2501,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471\/revisions\/2501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intothewideopen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}