I've been on the Sulphur Springs Trail in both the summer and winter, so why not fall? It is my favorite season of the year, after all. So, on a Saturday in October, I headed up to Paris Mountain for another hike. I decided to do the entire trail, not just up to the fire tower and back; this trail is a 3.5-mile loop, and by Paris Mountain standards, it's one of the most strenuous ones.
Early in 2014, I paid a return visit to the Mountain Creek Trail in Paris Mountain State Park. Last time I was there, it was summer and the place was very green. This time, it was deep winter, and definitely not as lush. However, just as I've noted elsewhere, winter treks can be just as beautiful.
I've been to Paris Mountain State Park many times now (Mountain Creek Trail, Brissy Ridge, Sulfur Springs Trail), and each time I've been to the park, I've been impressed at how fortunate Greenville is to have such a great resource just north of the city. I had been on the Sulfur Springs Trail last winter, but it seemed like a good time to try it again, this time during the summer.
In mid-December, I took the Sulfur Springs trail, a 4-mile hike that is part of the Paris Mountain State Park network of trails. I had tried to take this hike a week earlier, but got too late a start and had to return too soon. This time, I made it the whole way through.
This time, I took a trip along the Mountain Creek Trail, which is part of a series of trails in the Paris Mountain State Park, just north of Greenville, SC. I had not even been aware of this state park, but I found the trails on the web and figured I'd give it a chance. It wasn't a very long trail, only 2.6 miles, but considering the heat wave we've been dealing with, that was about all I was prepared to do. As it was, there was much sweat involved in this hike, and very little of it was due to hiking difficulty.
