The Great Outdoors

The irony is not lost on me that during a quarantine order, we're actually spending more time outside than ever.  The weeks of isolation have sparked a need to get out and reconnect with nature, to discover parts of our state that we have never visited, and to soak up as much springtime sunshine as possible.  Over the past few weekends we have found some spots so hidden that we never saw a single other person the whole time we were there.  I'm going to share their secret locations here, but only because I think most of my readers are far away enough that they won't broadcast these amazing finds with the masses.

Rocky Branch Creek in Little Mountain:

Random trail behind Cornerstone Baptist church with access to Saluda River:

Peachtree Rock near Swansea:

Franklin Trailhead- Palmetto Trail near Newberry:

What a find this little spot was for our family!  The Palmetto Trail is very popular, it runs the entire state, but this tiny, forgotten offshoot that eventually leads to it is completely in the middle of nowhere and we had it all to ourselves.  The hike from the hidden entrance down to a creek bed was only about half a mile, and then we spent hours playing there in complete happy isolation.

I hope when this is all over, when I look back to the crazy spring in quarantine I remember the sweet moments exploring new trails, climbing rock formations, sinking into squishy sand in a creek, and listening to complete stillness of being miles from any other person.  I hope I remember these moments more than the stress and anxiety that has also filled this time for me.  Get outside, be safe, smart and social distance about it, but if you can- get outside and get as far from signs of civilization as you can. It really helps.