Savannah Valley Railroad Trail (McCormick County, South Carolina)

Continuing my series of training hikes for my upcoming Camino Portuguese Trek, I posted a group hike on the meetup to explore the Savannah Valley Railroad Trail. This trail was created from an old, unused, railway bed and covers about 18.7 miles each way with very little elevation change. That seemed perfect for a training exercise. Two of my friends joined me for the exploration of this trail and we carpooled the two or so hours from Atlanta to the trailhead just across the border in South Carolina.

We arrived at the trail just a few minutes later than planned and took a few minutes to prep our gear and find suitable 'facili-trees' in the nearby woods. Pretty quickly though, we were on the trail, which starts off through a poison-ivy infested section of woods. Thankfully, this only last a short time as it winds back to the road we drove in on and then crosses to the other side and the trail really opens up. Some of the actual rails and ties are still visible here partially buried in the ground. 

As we peer into the distance, the trail looks very well maintained. It is wide and covered with pine needles for as far as the eye can see. It should make for an easy day. Since this is a training hike, we keep a pretty solid pace as we knock down the miles. There are few things of interest along this first section, including some stone signal signs. From an informational sign, these were to warn the train conductor of an upcoming road intersection and indicate for him the proper whistle sequence, with a wide symbol for a long steam horn burst and a narrow one for a shorter burst. The sequence here is two long followed by two short. As we walk, I visualize the scene of this happening in my mind.

After just a couple of miles, we are forced to walk on the road for a good distance. I had read about this and knew to expect it. I warned my friends to choose their footwear accordingly. For myself, I chose to wear an old pair of running shoes today and that seems to have been a good choice. The extra padding helps a lot on the pavement. 

This section on pavement is about two-and-a-half miles long and takes across two bridges spanning sections of the dam-flooded Little River. The water is low, but it's still offers some nice views. A few fisherman are trying their luck on the nearby shorelines below us. Luckily, there isn't a great deal of traffic on these roads and we're easily able to step into the grassy shoulder when the infrequent car does come along. 

After that stretch, we enter the woods on the old rail bed and continue west. Several sections pass through small hills and valleys. To ensure a smooth grade for the trains, either a cut was made to lessen the grade of the hill or a land bridge was built to raise it above the valley. Either way, it makes for a nice flat hike for us. As we cross highway 7, we note a sign on a post indicating the trail is closed about 1.75 miles ahead. That's interesting and will cut our mileage a little short. 

Another mile on, and we encounter a bridge or trestle. I check on either side and try to find a spot to get down to an angle where I can get a good picture, but it's a bit too treacherous for me to want to risk injury. We just decide to cross and are are greeted by a squadron of wood bees guarding the bridge. There are enough of them that I assume they have a next somewhere in the structure, but luckily, they don't do anything more than attempt to dive-bomb us. 

As expected we hit a no-trespassing sign after another 0.75 miles. It's attached to a stretch of barbed-wire across the trail, with no other explanation. As this is a county trail, I assume there was some problem with the easement. Either way, it will cut our overall distance about four miles short of the expected 18.7. We turn around and head back the way we came.

Getting hungry, we discuss stopping at a picnic table near the trestle to enjoy whatever snacks we each brought along. However, when we arrive we find that the bees have taken over the table area also and decide to keep moving. Eventually, we find a nice bench and stop for a few minutes to get a few calories in ourselves.

Fueled-up, we continue the return journey to our car. It's pretty uneventful, but we we reach the last section beyond the road walk, I suggest checking out a couple of side trails that we noticed when we first came this way. It will allow us to get closer to our original goal mileage. My friends agree and we first head northeast along a gravel road towards the old Badwell Cemetery, only a half-mile distant. 

The graves in this small cemetery range from 1793 (the oldest) to 1925 (the most recent). All of them (except one) are enclosed in a thick stone wall that has collapsed in several sections. As the newest grave here is over a century old, it's not surprising to see everything in such disrepair, but it is a little disheartening.

As we explore the area a bit further, we discover another marble gravestone outside the main walled-in area. The inscription tells of "Daddy Tom" who died in February 1857. While the inscription speaks kindly of the main, the way everything is worded leaves little doubt that this man was a slave, which is very likely why he wasn't buried inside the main plot. It's a harsh reminder of the dark past of our nation and the atrocities we committed against so many peoples in our ignorance. I have no doubt the family that erected the stone to this man thought highly of him and that they were doing him a service by even raising a gravestone, but looking at it through modern eyes, I can't help but think of how cruel it is to even consider this a great honor, rather than just a decency owed to any human being. The image of this will remain with me for quite a while, I think.

After the cemetery, we head back the opposite direction to explore a old spring house, which is really nothing more than a small building constructed of concrete blocks over a spring. The interior of the building is flooded with water and there really isn't much to see here, but it's interesting nonetheless. 

Just after leaving the spring house, it begins to rain on us. Lightly at first, it does pick up a little bit. I wouldn't normally have brought an umbrella on a hike, but knowing that this would be a wide and open trail, I thought it might work and it did just that. My companions put on their ponchos, but I simply raised my umbrella. 

Finally returning to my car just as the rain mostly stops, we check our tracks and see that we've hiked 15.8 miles. That's still less than the originally planned 18.7, but it will have to do. This was an interesting and easy hike and we all agree that the history of the area made it an especially enjoyable experience. Now the drive home.