This weekend we discovered that there actually is elevation in South Carolina and it's name is Table Rock. But before I get to how excruciating that discovery was I will tell you about Greenville first. Jason had a few days off of work and wanted to get in a good outdoor adventure so we went to hike the only mountain in South Carolina. It was a four hour drive so after decided it was too long of a trip to do in one day we went to Greenville and stayed the night. Greenville was surprisingly beautiful and hilly. We went and wondered around downtown which is basically a Riverwalk. Jason has been there before and we walked along a little bridge and he told me that "this is the suspension bridge that they're apparently known for." I thought that was interesting since it looked like a fairly typical bridge. We wandered a few stores and walk ways and then we turned the corner and I saw this bridge:
and I said wow! That's a beautiful bridge, and then Jason realized that this was the actual bridge they were known for, he and his colleague just hadn't ventured far enough to realize what they were missing. So we had a good laugh and got to enjoy the discovery together. It really was beautiful though. You almost felt like you were in a jungle. We wandered around enjoying the view, eating tacos, browsing old bookstores, it was very enjoyable.
This is right in the middle of town, so so beautiful.
Can we just talk about how cute this picture is? I just love my boys
So we went back to our hotel, slept and then continued and hour or so farther to get to Table Rock state park. We had chosen this hike largely because it seemed like the one to do in South Carolina. When we were looking it up online I had seen that it was 3.6 miles but I neglected to see the "one way" next to that estimate. And then it did say strenuous but we had hiked a hill in Massachusetts with a similar description and it wasn't hard at all for us Rocky Mountain dwellers. Besides there's isn't any elevation in South Carolina so we figured that's why it would be labeled strenuous. So off we went.
I'll admit that when this came into view as we were driving I started to get nervous. Jason got excited though and I made him promise me that if I felt like it was too much at any point we could turn around. So we were off.
Hello nature! We all started out excited and invigorated for our hike. Jason carried Will while I carried food and water and the camera (as you can pretty much tell since I'm never in many pictures). So we got to about mile marker one and quickly realized that it's probably actually 3.6 miles one way. Not to mention we had pretty much been climbing up hill constantly for one hour. Kind of like when we climbed the stairs to the Eiffel tower, strenuous but doable. So we finally got to an outlook and Jason turns to me and says, I think this is probably the half way mark. And I just looked at him in disbelief and said no, it can't be. But we enjoyed the beautiful view, and it really was beautiful.
As you can tell, Will was pretty happy. All things considered he was great. I just had to keep feeding him little puffs and he'd let me know when he wanted more. So at this point Jason was tired, I felt like I was working but still had some left in me. So up we went. But when the trail never tapered off, it just went up and up and up I thought, maybe we should have just turned around, yes that would have been the sane thing to do. But we were going and we didn't feel like being sane, we wanted a hike! And we were getting a hike and we were going to see that view. But if I had known how long we had to go and how hard it was going to be we would have looked at that view, ate our lunch and turned around satisfied. But no, we wanted to see it all. And we figured that the trail has to be flat or go downhill at some point right?! Well it did for a minute. Just long enough for us to feel like we would make it and keep going. But little did we know. Then we kept going up and up until I thought my legs would give out. I usually just blaze ahead and don't think about how hard the obstacle would be, I just go. But that finally gave out and I started to think about the time I gave birth to Will. I reached a point where I screamed I wanted the epidural, I had no idea how hard I would have to work. And that was the point I was at with the hike. No more up hill! But we were committed and crazy so we kept going. We made it right before Governor's rock and finally ran into someone who was coming from the top. In desperation we looked asked him how much further and he said, well you have a way to go. what?! But we had already passed the 3 mile mark, how much further can it really be? Well that last .6 miles felt as long as the hike itself. You're climbing up rock that they've carved stairs in and thinking, I probably shouldn't have done this with a child but you're committed now so you just keep going. You actually summited the mountain before you reached the end of the trail and we were SO glad to see that sign but so frustrated because we still had about .25 mile to go, but we didn't know that.
And then finally we made it! I would say I've never felt so accomplished but after giving birth I really can't quite say that But the view was gorgeous. Pictures never do it justice. Plus having the feeling of victory after you've just done something amazingly hard and you're lungs are full of fresh mountain air and you are sitting on a rock. I wish I could have stayed up there for so much longer.
Will loved the view. He was so happy and babbling and playing with the food and his water bottle. He loved it and I was INCREDIBLY grateful he wasn't crawling, otherwise I probably would have had a heart attack from keeping him off the edge.
Best view for lunch!
Yay I made it!
Look dad, isn't this awesome?
Eventually we left and started the trek back down. Will started crying as soon as we left and we knew exactly how he felt. Luckily he fell asleep during a part of it and that was our saving grace. The first have went rather quickly but by the end our endurance had all but given out and we were spent and tired. The last mile was as mentally as hard as the last mile going up was physically. As we were going down, each point we passed I remembered, "oh that's when I was so tired, I had no idea how long we had to go" and I kept thinking we were just crazy.
Although I still think we were crazy for doing it, and I don't think I'd ever do it again I'm so incredibly glad we went. It was so satisfying to do something hard and enjoy a beautiful reward. I also have been really discouraged about my body lately, feeling like I can't do anything. I had been praying that I would be able to do this hike and that I would regain some confidence in myself and Heavenly Father granted my prayer. I realized that I am so much stronger than I have been in the past when I was thin. I think it's safe to say our hiking but was satisfied and it was a success!
