Agile Trekker: South Mountain State Park Backpack

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/15/2023 - 4/16/2023	9.5 miles				169.6

Parking:

Backpackers Parking Lot

Map:

SOMO_Map_2021 (ncparks.gov)

Directions:

Little River -> Sawtooth -> Chestnut Knob -> High Shoals

I joined a Girls Who Hike short backpacking trip this weekend. I must have signed up for this trip before I stopped taking pain meds for my plantar fasciitis. It sounded short enough that I could do it. I restarted my pain drugs the morning of the trip, but unfortunately, they didn't kick in at all during the weekend. I basically spent 2 days trying to hike on the ball of my right foot in order to prevent weight on my heel. So, the trip was not as enjoyable as I would have liked. After the trip, I've come to the conclusion that I really need to stop all hiking until my foot gets better.

I joined 5 other women and 3 other dogs. We stopped by the visitor center and got our permits for the campground we'd be staying at. I was a bit concerned that we'd be hiking with 3 other dogs that we've never met before, but they were all really nice dogs and well behaved. All the dogs got along, and Krummholz had fun playing with them. One of the women said she was bringing a frisbee for her dog. Once I heard that, I knew I had to bring a frisbee for Krumm. Best idea ever! We took our time hiking to the Sawtooth campsite #3. The campsite is on the edge of a very large open field. There were two other campsite areas along the field. This was luxury camping. There was a privy (with a very large black wolf spider in it), a bear box, a picnic table, and a fire pit. What a great place this would be for a beginner's backpacking trip. There was a .25 mile walk to the water source. The water source had some unusually colored salamanders in it.

The open field meant a great place for throwing frisbees for Krumm. He had other volunteers for frisbee throwing, which made his day. We had a ton of free time at camp, since this was such a short hike (around 4 miles). After dinner, we hiked to an overlook to see the sunset. I considered skipping this (it added on 2 more miles). But I went. We missed the actual setting, but the overlook had a great view. We hiked back in the dark by headlamp. We had a fire in the fire pit and stared at the night sky. We had great conditions and I saw a shooting star and many satellites. We had good nighttime temps - in the 50's. I brought my 20-degree bag. After a little while of being too cold/too hot, I eventually got my temperature regulated (something I struggle with) and was cozy for the rest of the night.

We saw many horses on the trail on the first day. We came across 2 horses that had a shoe fall off! One had his hoof duct taped.

On day 2, we had around a 3-mile hike out. Again, a short hike, but still having a lot of foot pain.

Krumm had a great time, and I think he wants to move into the woods. He did great in the tent - settling down and sleeping through the night. This was his second backpacking trip.