New Year's Day at South Mountain State Park

South Mountain State Park: It’s A New Year – 1/1/19 – 3 Miles

New Year’s Day, perhaps my favorite day of the year, a blank calendar full of possibilities, and good riddance to 2018. We’ve had so much wet weather lately thwarting outdoor plans, but no rain predictions today and temps in the high 50’s – welcome to 2019!  My friend Holly joined me for a hike at one of North Carolina's finest state parks, South Mountains State Park, an easy drive from Charlotte.  High Shoals Falls is always powerful but should be particularly impressive from the recent rains.

We took the High Shoals Fall Loop clockwise to the falls.

And there she is, 80 feet of awesomeness!

We tackled the steep stairways past the falls, following Jacob Fork River upstream to cross on the bridge. I remember when there was no bridge…and everyone waded. 

After the crossing, my plan was to turn left onto Upper Falls Trail, then right onto the H.Q. Trail to circle clockwise back down to the parking area.  BUT I got a little sideways…I didn’t interpret the map correctly (a little embarrassing because I was the navigator). We turned left too soon and walked thru the Upper Falls Campsites area. Nice sites, BTW.

On the far side of the campsites we came to a wide unbridged crossing of Jacob Branch.  The look on Holly’s face said “nuh-uh” and we turned back, but then I hesitated.  Had Holly ever waded a crossing before?  Nope.  Well, today is a good day to try it!

I told her my rules of thumb for wet (and cold) creek crossings: If I’m going to a campsite with additional days of hiking, I want to keep my boots dry, so I wade in my Crocs or at least just wear socks (with a spare dry pair in my pack). If I’m hiking back to my car in a few miles where dry shoes and socks are always waiting, it’s okay to wade in my boots. Even wet, my feet won’t be cold while hiking. That’s the part that surprises people until they experience it.

Sometimes you have an unexpected crossing that you must take, but today we had a choice to “practice.” Like the good sport she is with all things, Holly tried it – and her delight was contagious!  A new challenge met for New Year’s Day.

 

At the next intersection I realized again that I wasn’t where I intended to be, but more map study told us to turn left onto Raven Rock Trail leading to the River Trail and back to the parking area. Along Raven Rock Trail we passed a family enjoying a group horseback ride.  We would have missed them if we had been on our intended route. 

 

So we hiked a little less distance than we planned, but that’s better than a little longer.  To celebrate our map reading and creek conquering skills, we stopped at Redbone Willy’s Trading Company where they specialize in unusual homemade ice cream flavors. We had Skillet Cake with chunks of pineapple upside down cake and caramel. Jeez Louise!

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." ~Neale Donald Walsch

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” ~ Neil Gaiman