Day 1 - Saturday, December 28.
This is going to take a long time! Came up short today. Ran 31.5 according to maual.34 according to my garmin. Got bonus miles in making wrong turn and having to escort puppies back home. Will upload pictures and garmin data later. Was interrogated by numerous dogs along the road. First day was rough. Only 3 miles on the trail followed by long 50k on the road. Finished at the entrance to Blue Ridge Passage, just up the hill from Bob's Place.
Day 2 - Sunday, December 29
Ran the Blue Ridge passage yesterday and it is stunningly beautiful. It runs from near Bob's Place (near Rocky Bottom) to Table Rock park. Then ran the next connector section and that was it. So yesterday, only got in about 29 miles according to my Garmin - which included several "bonus" miles again.
I liked the Blue Ridge passage so much I had an annoying habit of doing sections twice. Twice, I made a wrong turn and when I got back to the trail, took it the wrong way, not realizing I was going the way I came from until finally I hit something I remembered - like the start of the trail the first time I did this. (The trail looks different going the opposite direction!)
Coming up way short on the planned miles I intended to do, so my plan will need to be adjusted accordingly. Why are the days in December so short - can't somebody do something about that? I need to write my congressman....
Been taking lots of pictures, but having to shuttle back & forth quite a ways to a hotel after a long day, just not getting any time to post them. Hopefully I'll find some time soon.
Please send inspirational messages!
Thanks!
Shaggy
Day 3 - Monday, December 30
At the end of 3 days, am now where I was supposed to have been at the end of 2 days. This is taking awhile... Ran Middle Saluda and Saluda Mountain passages. Middle Saluda (Jones Gap) is a trail that's not fooling around. It pretty much goes straight up a mountainside. ("Switchbacks?, We don't need no stinkin' switchbacks...."). It also has a ton of waterfalls. But pretty technical trail - the beauty of the trail comes at a price.
One of the biggest issues is just logistics. Still planning things for the next day at the end of the day before, so not getting any time to make the updates here I'd like to. They'll just have to wait I guess.; Barely getting a few hours sleep as it is.
Looks like we'll been spending New Years Eve in Spartanburg.
Happy New Year's, Everyone!
- Shaggy
Day 4 - Tuesday, December 31
Not sure many miles have been racked up so far, but seems like best I can do especially managing the logistics, is in the 30's. Days are short in December - can't someone do something about that?
Dropped my camera at the start when my hands were so shaking so much at the start due to cold. It promptly died. I can take pictures with my phone, but battery life on my phone is an issue. While out running, Usa picked me up an inexpensive electronic camera from the Dollar General. Took lots of pictures but not sure how they're going to come out.
The trail is bordering NC at this point. Ran Poinsett, Blue Wall and Peach Country passages. Lots of road....
When I finished Peach Country in the town of Inman, fireworks were going off, so that was pretty cool.
Day 5 - Wednesday, January 1
Wednesday was "Bonus Day". Lots of extra bonus miles. Guess I like the USC and Spartanburg area so much, I had to explore it all.... So did not get as far as I would have liked and will pick up with Croft tomorrow. Many thanks to Ned Barrett who came out to set me straight on course again and many thanks to my crew chief, Usa, for putting up with me! Spartanburg seems to be a land of many parks & churches and is very bike friendly. Garmin data is posted....
Was able to use my camera again. It seemed to come back to life when plugged in.
Day 6 - Thursday, January 2
Started the day meeting Herald Journal reporters and ran the Croft Passage with Spartanburg Foothills Trail runner Ned Barrett and his four-footed pal Bristol. The Glenn Springs Passage had some pretty buildings but the trail was less so. Started connector to Blackstock Battlefield. Had to stop early due to ankle issues. We'll see how the ankle is on Friday.
Here is the link to the Herald Journal article.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20140102/ARTICLES/140109942/1083/ARTICLES?Title=Columbia-man-aims-to-run-the-475-mile-Palmetto-Trail#gsc.tab=0
Day 7 - Friday, January 3
Oy vey.... Got another late start, partially due to having to check out of a hotel. Would be much easier if you could just do this sleeping in a van, and we considered that, but there is less access to heat, water, electricity & wifi in a van. But on the plus side - in December, you would not need to worry about a refrigerator. It's amazing how much stuff I have just to do a simple run. I even brought my color printer to print off last minutes maps....
Ankle was much better today. Occasional "twang" was it.
My friend Travis Cowan came out today to help crew & he was a life saver. After running to Blackstock Battlefield & out to Enoree in Sumter National Forest, he met me after a section that was supposed to be 6 miles, but came out to 8 on my Garmin. There was some "bonus" milage as I got turned around a few times, but not that much.
Started the next section at dusk. Had two lights and spare batteries, but one light died and I could not get it to work again even changing the batteries. The one light was not cutting it for finding trail marks - could never find the next mark, so after 3 hours, made my way back to where I started. Fortunately I was able to reach Travis on phone. Coverage is spotty at best out here and maybe it's the cold weather, but my phone battery life is horrible - I swear it seems to lose battery life even powered off.... If you were going to get lost in the woods all night, it was a good night for it though - the stars were beautiful!
While I was in the woods with not enough light trying to find trail, I used an extra shirt I had that was somewhat reflective as a marker. (A South Carolina Runner of Trails and Ultra Marathons shirt.) However, I eventually could not find that any more either.
Have not seen an abundance of wild animals, just mostly birds, and then I am never certain what they are. Saw some wild turkeys, a kingfisher, something that looked like a large woodpecker, but had a large stripe on each wing, a large raptor that may have been an owl and another that may have been an eagle. They could have been hawks, but seemed larger & different, but could never get a good view. No bears, although we did see one scouting out the trail a month before. Saw some raccoon tracks (I think).
Looks like another late start on Saturday.... Hard to find time to sleep and run & do everything else too....
Day 8 - Saturday, January 4
Staying at my house now, but it's over 90 mins to where I left off, so definitely got another late start. Had hoped to finish Enoree today, but it is the trail that never ends. Got 15 miles in, Looked for my lost shirt, but still could not find it. I was picturing some little bear wearing it, showing it off to his bear buddies.
However, my phone battery died when I was out there. I had two friends coming out to help me, but had no way to reach them. The day was pretty cold by South Carolina standards (low 30's) and I think that must have something to do with it, but I have not had time to research it. My phone had a good charge when I started, and I had it powered off. But within a few hours, the phone (a Droid Bionic) would power up only enough to tell me it had no more battery left, then would power itself down. I did not have my car charger with me, but when I got home, the phone's battery was fine - like 70%. When running, I had my phone in an outside jacket pocket for convenience, but tomorrow, I will start wearing it closer to my skin in a shorts pocket & see if that helps.
After the 15 mile section it was around 5pm, I met up with both Hunter Smith and Andrew Touzel who had been looking at me at previous meetup locations, but we had never been there at the same time. The next section would be in the dark. I might have gone for it, but I don't think any of us were for being out there another good 4 hours in the dark, so called it quits for the day.
I guess it was an easy day but I feel like a light-weight.
After I got home & got online, got a message from a friend who had been running that section earlier that day and had found the shirt. He had asked if it was mine. Too bad I had not gotten an earlier start and maybe we could have caught up.
Day 9 - Sunday, January 5
Hunter met me at my house & we took separate cars, leaving mine where I hoped to finish at the start of the "Peak to Prosperity" passage (at the Prosperity side). He crewed for me at met me at several stops. He had to run with me at the Lynch's Woods Passage, but I got there later than I would have liked and he had to take off.
Lynch's Woods is only supposed to be 3 miles, but of course, I ended up making it 6 miles. Where I found the Palmetto Trail, it was pretty clearly marked with with trail signs or yellow blazes. However, after one turn onto a road, I could not find any more Palmetto Trail marks anywhere. Searched repeatedly all around the turn. The park has other trails that are not PT, and I tried some of them. I had their map but was not finding it very helpful. But eventually just made my way out of the park but was probably there an hour longer than planned. On the plus side, pretty sure I saw another owl....
Finally got back to my car at 8:30pm & didn't get home til probably 10pm.
Day 10 - Monday, January 6
Peak to Prosperity (or Prosperity to Peak the direction I was going) is one trail even I cannot get lost on. It's rails to trails so all straight. Also a little rough, running on railroad ballast. Pretty though and lots of train trestles to run over. The trail is surrounded by trees on both sides which was nice because it was extremely windy and cold, so it did not feel so bad on the trail with the trees blocking the wind.
Then followed Taba's Guidebook making my way to Columbia. Got as far as Harbison State Forest. You could tell you were getting closer to Columbia as the houses started changing gradually from shacks to mansions. Ran the last few hours at night.
Day 11 - Tuesday, January 7
Started from Harbison and made my way to Riverfront Park on Broad River Road crossing the Broad River over strangely enough, the Broad River Bridge. And what a broad river it is.... The bridge is under construction, being widened, but you can still cross on foot. Looks like it will be nice when finished. Tho book however says to go down a walking path off the bridge to a canal trail, but that path has been disconnected from the bridge during construction. My jumping abilities are not what they used to be, so I continued over the bridge to the other side of the canal and crossed over the canal to the trail using a construction site & hopping a fence. I am a better hopper than a jumper,
Had Franklin McKenzie crewing for me today. He met me a couple of times throughout the day & Usa came out with coffee too. Stopped in at the Palmetto Conservation Foundation and enjoyed speaking to Suzette Anderson who was very helpful. One good tip she had was that the Fort Jackson gate I was going to use was closed! That gate is near the Palmetto Trailhead. So ended up having Franklin drive me in through another gate and to the trailhead.
Along the Capital City passage, managed to drop my camera again. Looks like it may be down for the count this time....
On the Fort Jackson passage was surprised to meet up with local barefoot runner celebrity John Richards who ran with me for a few miles. Then met up with vegan friend Lisa Kopek later on trail who ran with me to the end of it (or as far as Taba's book goes). Finished around 8:30 pm.
Today was probably the coldest day yet - I don't think it ever got above freezing, but it really didn't feel that bad, at least when I was moving. The day before was actually worse because it was a lot windier.
Predicting another late start tomorrow.... seems to be a vicious cycle....
Day 12 - Wednesday, January 8
Latest start yet. Tried to get some stuff done for work before starting and all electronic devices were conspiring against me. Scanners would not scan, printers would not print...
So ended up with an easy 19 mile day, only running the back road connector section between Fort Jackson and Wateree finishing sometime after 8pm. So, didn't even run any actual Palmetto Trail today despite running 4.5 hours.
Tomorrow will be the Wateree and High Hills of Santee Passages.
Day 13 - Thursday, January 9
Today got a ride to & from the trail from Joel Froese. It's starting to get kinda from from Columbia, so tomorrow may stay in a hotel.
Found out why the Wateree Passage is called that - there was maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile under water - maybe calf to knee high. Nothing like a nice swamp walk to wake you first thing in the morning. It starts with a rails to trails section, but then shoots off up some hills and into the woods with some nice views.
The next passage was "High Hills of Santee". Got followed by "Ranger Dog" for a ways. Ranger Dog had a tag with a phone number. Her owner was a ranger, so not sure if that was actually the dog's name or not. The Ranger came out to meet us & take the pup home. The last few miles of this passage were all sand rutted with hoof prints from horses, so not much fun.
Started the Lake Marion Passage but only got in 5 miles. Had good light with me, but the trail blazes were still difficult to find. Was met my Karen Jackson and Brian Reddish. Even with 3 of us in the dark we kept losing the blazes. So I guess running at night in the woods is not such a good idea unless you know the trail...
Usa had picked up a new camera for me the day before & I started using today, so should get some decent pictures again - if I ever get time to post them....
Day 14 - Friday, January 10
REALLY late start today, but still got in 23 miles of the Lake Marion Passage starting around 3:45 pm and finishing around 10:45 pm with some nice "where the heck is the next blaze?!? And where did the last mark disappear to???" sections in the woods at night.
Since I got a late finish will try to make up for it with an extra early start. Oy vey.... Need to finish this thing!
Has it really been two weeks now?
Day 15 - Saturday, January 11
Started off the day finishing the Lake Marion Passage going over a closed two-lane 2 mile bridge over Lake Marion. I guess they built a new bridge for I-95 which runs parallel. So the old bridge seems to be dedicated to the Palmetto Trail now. Glad I did not try to do this at night as it was a nice view.
A little warmer yesterday, but everything comes with a price. Wore shorts but ended up going through some of the most unkept section of trail full of briars, so ended up with you could say, a few scratches. And of course, the warm weather brought rain with it, so at least I could cool off the scratches with a little torrential thunderstorm rain... Still got in a good 39 miles, but finished kind of late.
But my crew is taking off tomorrow! Not sure how I am going to work out the next couple of days...
Day 16 - Sunday, January 12
Lake Moultrie - Done (but started at Viper Rd due to a sign saying the section in-between was closed).
At the end of Lake Moultrie, was joined by old & new trail running friends Karen Jackson and Troy Harper who got me through the first 7 miles of the Fox Swamp Passage. We were later joined by Brian Reddish who taxi'd us to our cars.
Did not get in as many miles as I would liked yesterday, but had gotten another late start (2 pm). With my crew having to go home to Columbia, we had to drive an hour to drop off my car and then another hour back to the start of Lake Moultrie.
The Lake Moultrie passage was mostly on top of a dike that goes around the lake and was mostly easy running. The beginning of Fox Swamp seemed mostly easy running too with a clearly defined trail and easy to find marks, even at night, although it was a bit swampy, fancy that, and despite the occasional boardwalk, our feet were soaked...
47 miles to go!
Day 17 - Monday, January 13
Done!
Longest day out there. Fox Swamp was the easiest running, but Awendaw was a little tricky with lots of tree roots waiting to trip up the unsuspecting tired runner foolish enough to take it on at night....
Started at 10 am and got about 15 miles in when I met Chad Haffa of Eagle Endurance who puts on many trail races in the Lowcountry. When starting the Fox Swamp Passage last night, I kept tripping over holes on the trail and the occasional tree root. I think because of this, my ankle was giving me grief again. I asked Chad about the holes and he said they are a result of fires burning out the stumps. Chad's a firefighter, so he should know...
It actually started to get a little too warm to run during the day - a far cry from just a few days ago when temps were below freezing. The Fox Swamp trail in the Francis Marion National Forest is quite pretty in parts. At least during the day. It's a long trail so I finished it at night, being joined again by Karen Jackson and Troy Harper. They are both driving about an hour to come out & run with me - how awesome is that?
Finished Fox Swamp maybe around 8:30 pm. The section I ran was about 40 miles. We had some issues trying to figure out where Fox Swamp ended and Awendaw began and probably did a mile more than we needed and then got some more bonus miles trying to figure out where Awendaw went. Eventually sorted it out and later met up with Brian Reddish again who ran in from the end of Awendaw. Even at night, I could tell Awendaw was quite scenic, but did not take many pictures since it was night. The Awendaw Passage is about 7 miles.
A little after 11 pm, we rolled into the end of the whole Palmetto Trail (or the beginning if you're going the other way....). Had to dip my shoes into the water, which is probably not technically the sea or ocean, but the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. Not sure if the waterway there is natural or man-made, but it feeds into marshy creeks which feed into a bay which is off the Atlantic.
Pretty much right after we got there, my friend Usa Engelbrecht also arrived. She drove up from Columbia (over two hours away) just to see me finish. Usa crewed & put up with me for a good part of the previous two weeks - I could not have done this run without her help!
Not sure I would say there was fanfare, but there was celebratory beer and picture taking...
Went back on Tuesday to take more pictures of the Awendaw trail during the daylight. It is quite nice.
Will post my pictures somewhere on this blog and on Facebook as soon as I can, as well as some acknowledgements....
Be sure to support: these great causes for whom I ran:
The environment (kind of) - Palmetto Conservation Foundation
http://www.palmettoconservation.org/
The animals: Carolina Wildlife Center (Wildlife Rehabilitators)
http://carolinawildlife.org
People (kids with cancer) - St Baldrick's Foundation
http://www.stbaldricks.org/
Thanks for all your support & stay tuned for more updates!
- Scott
