The Swamp Rabbit Trail

Earlier this week, I walked the whole 10.5 mile distance from my front door to Travelers Rest, most of it (9 miles) along the Swamp Rabbit Trail. A 12:30 and obviously informal client lunch at Williams Hardware was my destination.

The Trail, which eventually will extend to the North Carolina state line, is beautifully maintained. It’s also perfectly flat, paved, tree-lined and no motor vehicles are allowed.
What a welcome change from my customary sidewalk routes along traffic corridors like Church Street and Wade Hampton Boulevard. How nice not to be engaging drivers at intersections and driveways.

I’d forgotten, too, how cleansing a truly long walk can be. Somewhere around mile five or six, the body just … goes with it.

At some later point, of course, the body stops going with it, as happened the morning and afternoon that I chased a hiking merit badge from Sumter to Wedgefield, SC. My 12-year-old legs were useless for days after, but the badge, the badge. 20 miles, full pack. (And to this day, my personal best.)