A Pleasant Surprise
Surprise discoveries of great places to hike or walk are fantastic, and the Clemson Experimental Forest became a regular afternoon destination.
Because my weekends have been fuller than normal of late, during the late summer, I was trying to find a way to still do some hiking. I figured, if I could get to a place nearby after work, that might be doable. Then, I was reminded about the Clemson Experimental Forest.
I had been there before, posted in Mud and Horses, but that was the Fants Grove area of the forest. The Fants Grove area is south of the Clemson University campus, between Clemson and Anderson, SC. What I was reminded of was that there was also an Issaqueena area of the Clemson Experimental forest north of campus. In fact, it is only a short drive from where I work.
So, I struck out on a Saturday morning to try this trail, to see if it might serve my mid-week purposes. The only real map I could find was online, and it wasn’t very good, but I thought I could probably just wing it. The map was for the Indian Springs Loop. The directions took me across Twelve Mile Creek on Hwy. 133 and then down a gravelly fire road to a small parking area. It was pretty well deserted.
I found a trail, and even saw a sign for the Indian Springs Loop. Trying to follow the map, I headed out. But I soon found the map to be relatively useless. But, it didn’t really matter, because it was a pretty trail and I determined that it would, indeed, be a good afternoon hike. Rather than go on a loop, I turned it into an in-and-out trail, so that I wouldn’t get hopelessly turned around. I’m not really sure how long I hiked, but it was probably only a couple of miles or so.
Since then, I’ve been back many times. The second time turned into a very long hike, because I got lost in the maze of trails back there. Fortunately, I found a different parking area, a map kiosk, and a colleague from work who was on a run through the forest. He helped set me straight, and even told me where I could get a map to carry with me. Since then, I’ve not gotten lost again, but explored many of the various trails that weave their way through the forest.
