In 2015 rather than making New Year’s Resolutions, I made measurable goals. One was hiking mileage - I vowed to hike 100 miles. Doesn’t sound like that much, but for a working mom of 2 busy teens with a husband, 2 dogs and a Girl Scout troop, it was a stretch goal. Even so, hiking is one of the only things that makes me feel peaceful in this hectic life, and I realized I needed to prioritize it, for my sanity.
I love grabbing a weekend day and heading to the mountains for a hike. It’s wonderful to step away from my normal surroundings and climb to vistas that put everything else into perspective. It’s also a huge time suck. I realized about half way through the year that I’d never come even close to my goal if I had to spend 6 hours driving to get a few miles of hiking in. It’s hard enough to find a few hours, much less an entire day I can devote to getting there, hiking and getting home. I needed to hike closer to home.
We’re very fortunate in the Fort Mill-Tega Cay area to have the Anne Springs Close Greenway right in our backyards. Twenty-one hundred acres of nature, just ten minutes from home. Like most people in the area, I’ve enjoyed a stroll from the Dairy Barn to the swinging bridge, explored the Grist Mill, brought the kids to the Earth Day festival, and walked around Lake Haigler. I knew there was a lot more, I just had no idea how to tackle it.
Enter the All Trails Challenge. A goal - I love goals! To complete the challenge, all you have to do is hike or bike all 40-some miles of trails at the Greenway. I was sold. I bought a family membership to the Greenway and dove in.
It took me about nine months to complete the challenge - nine months during which I sweated and froze, hiked in sweltering heat and pouring rain, focused on wild flowers, snuck up on frogs, completely zoned out, finished countless audio books, and got lost and found my way again many times over.
Finishing that Challenge was very satisfying, but afterward I asked “What now?” Isn’t that always the case? I have done several hikes in the mountains this year, but I’m behind on my 100-mile goal for 2016 because I haven’t been visiting the Greenway as much. Still, when I do visit the Greenway, I usually check in on social media and post a photo, and friends often ask where I do my hiking in there. I hear the same comments repeatedly - they don’t know where to go. Well, I do know where to go, because I’ve now been on all the trails. And so, I found my next goal - one to keep me out there hiking these trails, for my physical and mental health and to help others who want to take better advantage of this fantastic resource.
Here, I’ll show you the trails that are on and off the beaten path, so to speak. I’ll warn you when there is a trail junction that may not match the trail map. I’ll tell you when weather conditions might make you want to avoid certain areas, and which seasons are better for which trails. I’ll let you know where you’re likely to be sharing the trail with a lot of mountain bikes and horses. I’ll show you some of my favorite spots. If my phone has a lot of battery left, I’ll give you the mileage I recorded on my GPS, because it doesn’t always match the trail map. I’ll answer any questions you have about the hiking trails. And at the end of the day, I hope I’ll help you take better advantage of this amazing place.
