10 Weeks 10 Dates #3: Chasin' Waterfalls

When thinking about our next hot date, Steve and I realized that we were ready for a change. A change of location, that is!

This decision led us to choose hiking as date number three, and we headed out of Greenville to Oconee State Park at the base of the Appalachian Mountains. Of course, it's July. In South Carolina. Which means one thing: it's hot. That, combined with the fact that a regular old hike sounded a bit boring to us, led us to focus our hike around waterfalls!

Originally, we thought it would be great to visit a few waterfalls — a romantic one, one where we could swim, a secluded one — but unfortunately, there were fatal flaws in our plan. Those being that we had a limited amount of time that day, and that we had not been hiking since moving to Greenville and therefore had no idea where any specific waterfalls were. Oops.

Thankfully, we gleaned enough information from the internet to know that just inside Oconee State Park was a parking lot within easy hiking distance of two waterfalls—King Creek Falls and Spoonauger Falls. Although we would usually prefer to challenge ourselves, the fact that it was already about 90 degrees at 10:30 in the morning made us feel a bit better about taking the "easy way out".

All in all, we hiked and explored for about two and a half hours. First, out to King Creek Falls, which was more a stroll than a hike up until we reached the Falls themselves and faced a bit of a dilemma - that being that the only way to get a great view and have access to the small pool at the base was to cross the creek — on a somewhat narrow, very smooth log. Not that the creek was deep or dangerous — but who wants to get their feet wet just a half hour or so into the hike?

Thankfully, with a little bit of scrambling, some heart-in-your-throat moments (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit), and an eventual hop over the last couple feet of water, Steve and I reached the other side and were greeted with a clean, if small, sandy little beach that sloped gently down to a shallow pool that was maybe fifteen feet wide at most. Not much for swimming, maybe, but great for wading, and at least it was cooler by the waterfall than it had been in the parking lot.

King Creek Falls itself was beautiful - not the biggest waterfall we've ever seen, but the water cascaded over level after level of moss-covered rocks, misting us with a cool spray and looking amazing in the bright, late-morning sunlight. We rested for about ten minutes, until a group of hikers approached with a dog and disturbed our peace a bit—at which point we decided to make our way back across the parking lot and down the road to the Spoonauger Falls trail. This trail was even shorter and easier than the one to King Creek Falls, but I had high hopes for our second waterfall—especially after we passed a woman on the trail who said "If you're going to Spoonauger, it's worth the hike!"

When we reached our destination, however, we couldn't help but be disappointed. Spoonauger was not only smaller than King Creek (which in itself wasn't very large), there wasn't even a pretty pool at the base. It was basically just a dash of water falling over a practically sheer cliff. We took a few pictures, looked around for a bit, but finally had to admit that we'd seen better and make our way back down the trail. At this point it was after noon and I don't think Steve or I have ever been so glad for our nifty Camelbak hydration packs...a hiking must anywhere, any time, but even more appreciated when hiking in South Carolina in the summer heat.

As for our failed attempt at finding some truly great waterfalls...the moral of this story, folks, is to do more than a simple Google search if you're hoping for something specific out of a hike. Or go somewhere that you've been and already know you love.

And as dates go—we call hiking an even average 5 out of 10. It's something different, something active, and if you and your guy are the outdoorsy type like we are it's at least a fun way to spend a day. In fact, it may have rated slightly higher had (a) the weather been a bit cooler and (b) we found more information on area waterfalls and actually accomplished our original goal. But even if the temperature had been perfect and we had found those more amazing waterfalls that we know lurk somewhere in the nearby Appalachians, one still has to take into account that hiking is a sweaty, dirty business. No point in cute clothes or makeup, ladies, so if you're just beginning a relationship you may want to steer clear of hiking with your new guy.

About the Authors
Nearly a decade after being introduced, Steve and Tara finally fell into a relationship together in September 2008. After braving three months of the dreaded LDR (that's Long Distance Relationship), Tara moved to Connecticut for work and they commenced living together. In October 2009, Tara was forced to re-locate again, this time to South Carolina. She dragged Steve with her and that's when they started their blog, as they became Connecticut Yankees in South Carolina. They divide their time between the mundane workaday world (Steve as an engineer, Tara in finance), exciting vacations, relaxing at home with their two dogs and four cats, and exploring their [now] beloved city of Greenville.