Return to Chau-Ram

Last week, Cari and I tried to visit Chau-Ram county park without success. After driving an hour we were told the park would not open until March 1. Guess what today is?

After lunch, we loaded up the car and the five of us headed out to Chau-Ram. God help them if they hadn't opened the park yet.

The last ten minutes of our drive consisting of "are we there yet?", so I was relieved to see no gates or barriers to the entrance of the park.

There is a great waterfall when you first arrive to the park. This is Chau-Ram falls on the Ramsey creek.

There are several trails that follow the nearby river and one leads to a large suspension bridge. We took the path over the suspension bridge and up the hill.

We took the stroller for this hike. The path leading to the bridge was paved. The bridge was not a problem to push the stroller over. Even the dirt path on the other side of the river was easy. Suddenly the path became a rocky, root infested, narrow path, leading up the hill. I grabbed the front of the stroller and pulled while Cari pushed up the hill. It was a bumpy ride for Brenna, but she didn't seem to mind one bit. At the top of the hill we had a choice to make. The path split off three ways.

Randy checked his map.

He wasn't looking at the map of the park or its trails. In fact, he grabbed the wrong pamphlet at the visitor center. He was looking at a map showing waterfalls of the entire upstate of South Carolina. Cari and I decided to continue on the blue blazed trail we were on. It couldn't be any worse than the hill we just climbed.

Oh how wrong we were. After climbing a much steeper hill the path became choked with briers. Then I saw a narrow staircase. These wooden steps lead down to the riverbank. We were beyond half way around the loop trail now and turning back didn't sound any better. I held the baby along with my camera gear while Cari folded the stroller and dragged it down the stairs. At the bottom, the trail remained narrow. We all walked single file to make it between the trees and shrubs. I ended up packing my camera gear away and carrying the stroller for most of this path.

Then Meredith started complaining about the long walk. Mind you, this trail was about a mile TOTAL. This was NOT a long walk. Before I could say anything, Cari reminded the older two kids that we were carrying a baby and a stroller. THEY should not complain about anything at that moment. Remarkably, it kept them quiet.

We came to a section of rapids that had a small beach on the bank. We stopped to take a break and get a few photos.

To get them to smile, Cari told a joke. About me. I didn't hear the joke because I was off unpacking the camera gear. I was a little nervous because they were laughing so hard and nobody would tell me the joke. I still don't know what was so funny.

It wasn't long after that break, that we reached the end of the trail. Never again will I attempt to take a stroller on a hike. No matter how flat and smooth the trail looks. It's misleading.

Before we left, Randy took up residence on a small island in the river. As Cari and I were crossing the bridge we looked down and saw this:

Chau-Ram county park is a great place to visit. You can save some space in the trunk by leaving the stroller at home. You might want to use some of that space by packing a bolt cutter. You never know when they'll lock the gates.