Advice on Foothills Trail

[Low_Spark]

Hey all. Three of us are heading to upstate SC next week to spent a few days on the Foothills Trail. We really will only have a couple hours at best Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, and a little more than half a day Wednesday. Any recommendations on where to start/finish given the time constraint? Want to drop a vehicle somewhere but cant gauge the best section. Among the three of us = one AT full thru hiker & two very fit but not very experienced hikers. Hoping to cover 25-30 miles - is that reasonable? Thanks for any help.

[Drybones]

Start at Whitewater Falls and hike to Oconee State Park...you'll enjoy this hike.

[Rain Man]

Hard to go wrong on ANY section of the Foothills Trail. I agree that the Oconee SP - to - Upper Whitewater Falls is a fine section (though I did it the other direction).

Upper Whitewater Falls to Laurel Valley (US Hwy 176) is very fine and more remote.

Also great would be Laurel Valley (Hwy 176) to Table Rock State Park, if you run shorter on time.

Don't underestimate the ruggedness of the Foothills Trail. It's about as rugged as anything I've done on the AT so far (1,200 miles), except for the White Mountains.

Rain Man

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[scope]

In a general sense, 25-30m is mostly unreasonable. A speed of 3m per hour is pretty brisk and would be hard to keep up all day for all but the most experienced at hiking that fast. Most hikers move at about 2m/hr. Given what you've told me, 2.5m/hr isn't unreasonable. For the two of you that are relatively inexperienced, however, that's still a brisk rate to keep up all day, for about 10-12 hours + break time (if you like math like I do). Completely doable, but still mostly unreasonable. I would say expecting to do 15-20m is aggressive but reasonable, given that all goes well for you.

[Rain Man]

We really will only have a couple hours at best Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, and a little more than half a day Wednesday.

In a general sense, 25-30m is mostly unreasonable.

I think he's talking about almost two full days of hiking. If that's correct, I'd say it's reasonable.

BTW, this thread is in the AT General forum. It should be moved to the "Other Trails" forum. For what that's worth. And may even get you more responses.

Rain Man

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[scope]

Oops, damn ADD again!! Yes, I'd say 25-30 is right on target.

[Drybones]

In a general sense, 25-30m is mostly unreasonable. A speed of 3m per hour is pretty brisk and would be hard to keep up all day for all but the most experienced at hiking that fast. Most hikers move at about 2m/hr. Given what you've told me, 2.5m/hr isn't unreasonable. For the two of you that are relatively inexperienced, however, that's still a brisk rate to keep up all day, for about 10-12 hours + break time (if you like math like I do). Completely doable, but still mostly unreasonable. I would say expecting to do 15-20m is aggressive but reasonable, given that all goes well for you.

I did the entire trail (76 miles) with an inexperienced hiker, and I'm not saying I'm experienced, and we averaged 17 miles/day, started at 9:45 the first day. My partner did have some difficulty, not being accustomed to that distance but he did okay. In all honesty, it was the easiest hike I've done, it was mostly easy walking but I believe what made it so easy is that the scenery was so nice the miles just flew by, plan to go back around Memorial Day.