The Tower, The Tower!
The remains of an old fire tower mark this time trekking along the Sulphur Springs Trail in Paris Mountain State Park.
I’ve been to Paris Mountain State Park many times now (Mountain Creek Trail, Brissy Ridge, Sulphur Springs Trail), and each time I’ve been to the park, I’ve been impressed at how fortunate Greenville is to have such a great resource just north of the city. I had been on the Sulphur Springs Trail last winter, but it seemed like a good time to try it again, this time during the summer.
Last time, I took the entire loop, which is about 3.6 miles, but this time, I decided to take the spur trail to an old fire tower, and then return. Overall, the trip was about 3 miles along the most difficult part of the trail.
One of the most striking things about this trip was the difference in the amount of greenery than the last time through. While the winter version of the trail was much more stark in its beauty, the summer version was much more lush, with thick foliage and a few wildflowers still in evidence. I followed the trail past the dam, where the spillover was much more impressive than last time, the recent rains providing a much more spectacular waterfall.
The rest of the trail up to the firetower spur was much like before, but the humidity was quite high, and I found myself rather soaked by the time I got to the spur trail. The Fire Tower trail follows an old overgrown roadway for its .4-mile length, ending in a small trail that leads to the remains of the fire tower. There’s not much left of this tower, which was abandoned in the middle of the twentieth century, when land on a higher elevation became available. All that is left are the brick foundation walls and two chimneys sprouting up from the surrounding foliage. It is a nice place to sit and take a breather before heading back down.
I made my way back down the trail, retracing my steps. I stopped to try to take a picture of a toad on the trail, but it retreated underneath a rock before I could get my camera set. Besides other hikers, I met a dog near the reservoir. This dog had just taken a dip in the reservoir, and before its owner could stop it, it ran up to me and ran its body along my legs. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of wet dog, but at that moment, the cool of the water was kind of welcome. The owners offered their apologies, but I let them know that I was somewhat indebted to the canine for the refreshment to gird me for the rest of the trail down.
I made my way back to the trailhead, maneuvering around a number of particularly muddy spots, as various hikers going the opposite way were also attempting to do. The flow of traffic got a little congested in those spots, but it offered opportunities to make conversation before I got back to the car.
