Tough..not fluff

Today was the monthly hike with my ladies hiking group.  We were hiking in the mountain area of South Carolina (a two hour ride from my house to get there by 10am) and my cousins D and J joined me today which was a good thing for us as we have not hiked together in a long time.

We had a guide today who we call Mountain Man Dan..he is a wonderful naturalist and knows the forests like the back of his hand.  He showed us a twiggy bush that smells like rootbeer and knew the names of a couple of wildflowers we saw.    Our goal today was to hike off the trail to see four waterfalls that are located in the forest and not on the main trail.  

After walking on the trail for about 30 minutes,we dropped our packs and climbed down a short way..using trees and rocks..to stand by Miuka Falls  .   We thought we were doing good.   Then we got back on the trail for maybe 15 minutes before we exited the trail and started into the woods.  And not just any woods..straight down woods that caused my toes to jam against the front of my hiking boots.  Thankful for hiking pole and trees. We kept walking( slipping and sliding for about 20 minutes (which felt like an hour) until we saw Twin Falls.    There was not a good way to get closer so we moved on...UPHILL and not the way we came.   

We were on our way to the next waterfall but it was like when you see those cows standing on a steep slope and wonder why their legs are not shorter in the back than the front..I felt like my left leg was growing while my right leg was getting shorter..and don't  think that my legs were not telling me something was going on that was not the normal..and the toes were saying "I told you so!".   So we finally came to another view..The Secret Falls. so we continued on.

So we thought as we headed back uphill again that we were going to the ridge that we could see a little ways above us. WRONG!

We made a left and continued being mountain goats..I mean walking on the side of a straight up hill that was almost like laying down on your side to walk!    But finally we came to the last waterfall...Deep Secret Falls.    I just sat down, ate chocolate, drank water and breathed, flexed my toes and gave my legs a rest.   Two other ladies were doing the same..the others decided to go down the bank to the falls ...which might be considered rappeling using tree limbs and rocks to get to the bottom of Deep Secret Falls.   I just sat there for a few minutes contemplating.   I stood up and surveyed the route down..about 30 feet of dirt.  I am no wuss..so fortified with chocolate and water, I decided I would go down and get a phone photo of the falls.   I put my phone inside my bra as I did not want to drop it or get it dirty.  There was no way the camera was going down that bank.  

My friend L was coming back up and she saw me looking down so she hollers up at me "don't go down Mary..it is hard as H... and I don't know if I can make it back up!"  She did but used some other fallen trees to help her.  I waved at her and started down the hill..on my butt.   I slid part of the way and then was able to grab a tree to kinda sorta stand up..then I had to slide almost to the bottom on my feet.   That was FUN!   So I dug out the phone and took my photos then turned around to see how I had to get back up.. it was climb in the dirt on hands and knees..rocks make good handholds and trees are helpful..I made it and if I could have laid down on the leaves for a couple hours when I reached the top, it would have been great...but bugs and stuff..so no.   By this time we were all ready to head back UPHILL to the ridgeline..which probably took another half hour or more but felt like 30 years.    I had to stop many times to just breathe.  FINALLY, there was the trail back to the cars..and we did not have to walk that far but hello! IT WAS RAINING!   We all stopped to put on our rainjackets and then continued on our way.  I was really glad to see the car!!   As a southern girl, I knew my flipflops were in there waiting for me..I never leave home without them!  

All told we probably walked about four miles in about five hours..we might have had more time for the waterfalls if we had not spent so much time taking breathing breaks!    

But you know what..we all decided it was a great hike and we would do this again...in our next lifetime.     What a great group of ladies to hike with.    The main photo is my bestie D and some of the other ladies as they walked through the woods.  

 Tomorrow I might not be able to move too much.   
 But I am Tough..not Fluff!