Hiking with Librarians
I found out people working for the Clemson Libraries love to hike, so I decided that we should all go to Miuka Falls together by taking the Winding Stairs Trail.
While building staff profiles for the Clemson Libraries staff web resources, I noted that many bios involved hiking as a particular interest. Since that’s also an interest of mine, I’ve been building a hiking group of library faculty and staff. I had gone with a couple of colleagues to Blood Mountain in Georgia last fall, but we’re starting to attract a larger group of core hikers. This time, we went to the Winding Stairs Trail, north of Walhalla. I had been here before, but the rest of the group had never been.
This trail is about 3.5 miles down and back, but there are trailheads at either end. We had decided to put a car at both ends, just in case some of the hikers ended up wanting to drive back, rather than hike the return trip. So, we drove both cars to the lower end of the trail. Incidentally, I didn’t ever drive down to the lower trailhead my last trip on this trail. Therefore, I had no idea how long it would take, and how rugged the road was. Low-slung vehicles beware: Cheohee Road, which leads down to the lower trailhead is mostly gravel and is a bit rutted in places. And it is Cheohee Road, not Tamassee Road, as it is sometimes noted.
By the time we got to the end of this, we decided that rather than take a vehicle back up, we’d hike the 2.5 miles or so to Miuka Falls and then return. A nice 5-mile hike, overall, would be a good morning stroll. The four of us set off and spent the morning with good conversation and beautiful weather. Normally, when I’m hiking, I’m stopping to take pictures of this or that. But, this time, I just kept the camera in the bag and enjoyed the company.
At the falls, though, I did break out the camera, after we scrambled down the hill to where we could get a good view of the waterfall. It was pretty striking, since we had had rain recently. The water was plentiful and added a pleasant chill to the air. After some time down there soaking it in, so to speak, we headed back up the hill and started to make our way down.
Except that for some reason, we ended up going on an incline that seemed 1) more up than down and 2) not so familiar. Now, often I recognize that a trail can look very different going one way than the other, but this seemed much more different than I would expect. Oh, boy. We turned around, and once we reached the waterfall again, we found where the trail going down was a hard to see. I hadn’t remembered that from last time.
Now on the right track, we set off once again. At some point during the conversation, one of my fellow hikers made the observation that sometimes it takes a while to learn a lesson. Suddenly, a conversation from the week previous returned to my brain in a flash. About a week before this hike, I had taken a quick hike/walk through the Clemson Experimental Forest, a place I return to often for some refreshing after-work exercise. During that hike, I had hooked my glasses into the collar of my shirt. As has been noted on previous hikes, such as Hidden Away and The Kindness of Strangers, this is a bad habit of mine.
It wasn’t until I was on my way home from that hike, that I realized that my glasses were not hooked on my collar anymore. I had taken a little spill on that walk (exposed roots and weak ankles are sometimes a dangerous combination), and I figured that the glasses must have fallen at that point. Wearing my spares, I returned to that point a few days later to find them. I found them, all right. But apparently someone else had found them, also. Violently. Probably with the aid of a mountain bike. I never did find one of the lenses.
Anyway, bemoaning my station and berating myself for losing/destroying another pair of glasses to my bad habit, I was talking to my wife about it. She mentioned that sometimes it takes time to learn a lesson.
So, when my friend said almost the same thing, my hand went straight to my collar. Sure enough, my grip came up empty. However, I did remember that earlier in the day, I had taken off an outer shirt. I hoped that I could find that point again, and that my glasses would be there. I took part in the conversation on the way back, but my eyes were constantly scanning the side of the trail. I hadn’t had the chance to get new glasses, yet, and these were my last spares. Although I only need them for reading, I really really need them for reading these days. And reading is a lot of what I do. Eyes peeled, I did find the glasses at the trail, right where I had expected (or hoped) they would be.
Since then, I have either put my glasses in a case in my pack or camera case, or just kept wearing them while walking. They are designed to allow me to do that, anyway. My latest pair are perched on my nose as I type, and they remain there far more often. My eyes aren’t getting any younger, so I should probably get used to them.
Anyway, great hike, wonderful company, and a good bit of luck.
