When I arrived, there were two other cars in the parking lot, and one of those was leaving. Right away I could tell that the terrain here was very different than what I've become accustom to at CONG. First, I was hiking downhill. Elevation change in CONG usually means that you stepped atop a downed tree or jumped into a gut! Second, the trail was sandy and rutted out pretty deeply.
The trail leveled out pretty quickly and ran along something pretending to be a ridge line (but I wasn't fooled)...
Then dropped down and crossed an itty-bitty little creek...
I followed the trail as it started to climb, and came upon some nifty sandstone outcroppings...
And a really funky tree...
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| A rare self-portrait |
And an interesting looking rock...
This is Peachtree Rock. The soft sandstone at the base has eroded faster than harder sandstone at the top creating an upside down pyramid-type shape that some say looks like a pruned peach tree. You used to be able to approach it, but due to how it is precariously perched as well as vandalism, they now have it roped off 25 feet out.
Within sight of Peachtree Rock is Peachtree Falls. I didn't expect to find a waterfall practically in Columbia (the only one in the Midland area)!
Sure, it's more of a water trickle than a water fall, but I'll take it. I climbed up to the top of this sandstone hill to have a look at the stream that feeds the fall. If I came upon such a thing while tromping about in the woods, I probably wouldn't even notice it!
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| The stream that feed the falls |
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| The same stream falling |
Here's a view over the edge. Well, sort of. I have no fear of heights as far as I know, but I tend to have a problem with vertigo-like symptoms near drop offs or on open faced stairs. Weird.
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| A peek over the edge |
And a view of Peachtree Rock from Peachtree Falls:
After taking a family picture of a dude with his two kids, I moved on. It was obvious that the trail was much less traveled from this point on. The Rock was probably less than half a mile from the parking lot, and I think a lot of people just nip in to this part of the preserve and never see the rest.
Not far from the Rock I stopped to check out some birds flitting about. Turned out to be a few Pine Warblers and a Black-and-White Warbler, the second I've seen this season.
I hiked through the woods for a bit longer, passing a barrel from an old still, and then the terrain opened up and became sandier.
I found a flycatcher or something perched on a tree in a field that I wasn't supposed to be in.
I was drawn into the restricted field by the knocking of a woodpecker. I had read something about Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers around here. At CONG we strive to preserve the habitat of this endangered species, but they haven't been seen in the park since the late '90s. They do nest a few miles from the park, so perhaps one day they will come back. At any rate, I would not have minded seeing one at Peachtree. But, I never found the source of the knocking. It's surprising how hard it can be to pinpoint where such a sound is coming from.
I snapped a shot of a cool lizard, an Easter Fence Lizard (aka Fence Swift). It was nice to see something other than the Broad-headed and Five-lined Skinks and Anoles I've been looking at for the last year.
I also saved the life of a grasshopper! This big ol' sucker came flying at me then veered off and landed beside the trail. I didn't realize what was going on until I noticed the bird (a Red-eyed Vireo I believe) a few feet from me. The bird decided that it didn't want to fight me for its lunch and flew off while I snapped a photo of the hopper. It's amazing how well camouflaged this this is.
I continued hiking through the pine trees that skirted the backside of the aforementioned field. There was lots of bird activity back here. I can't believe how many Brown-headed Nuthatches I saw, they were all over the place! I didn't get a picture, but I took a short video of one going at a pine cone up in a tree. (I'll spare y'all the video, it's little more than a silhouette anyway.) I also spotted several more Pine Warblers back here.
The trail wrapped around the field then continued along another undulating, ridge-like area. I found a wicked-cool, gnarly tree.
It started getting rockier again, and there were some pretty nice views.
I ran into a pack of kids as I came to the last major landmark, Little Peachtree Rock. It's not as phenomenal as Peachtree Rock, but I think I like it better. It's beautiful standing out in the sun, and I had a great day for it!
LPTR still has initials and whatnot carved into it, but it has not been as tortured as PTR, no doubt because of the lighter traffic in this part of the preserve. It's not blocked off either. In fact, the trail (treacherous though it may be) goes right past it---watch your step, those stairs are rickety and uneven!
It's a wonder this thing is still standing. You lightly touch the rockface and the sand just slides right off onto your hand. It's fascinating to lay your hand on this monolith that was created when this area was under the ocean (the holes you see in the rock are fossilized burrows of marine worms) and realize that the slightest touch schluffs bits of it off. I think it looks like a camel, not a peach tree.
After LPTR, the trail wraps back around, under the Rock, and opens up into an area covered with blinding white sand, the kind of sand you expect to find at a nice beach (except for the pinestraw), before looping back around to the trail leading out to the parking lot.
There are a few others trails at this preserve that I'll have to check out in the future.
As far as the book, 50 Hikes in South Carolina, 2 down, only 48 more to go---the Oakridge Trail in CONG is the other that I have checked off.
A side note---Well done to the SAR teams working in Glacier NP that spent the weekend searching for the two missing hikers and recovered them this afternoon alive and in good health!
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