Day 69 – 19 miles – total 914

We got a ride early in the morning from Rich back to our spot that we ended at yesterday. We were able to leave the carts and Domino at their house and all we had to carry all day was a water bottle. To hikers this is called “slack-packing”. It was a great thing that this worked out for us because out route was dangerous today and would’ve been a nightmare with our carts.

We started off in the Francis Marion National Forest area that we had been walking through the last few days. Francis Marion is who the movie The Patriot is based off of. This land is where all that went down. We had about 6 miles of that and then we were back to civilization.

We hit our 900 mile mark and stopped to mark it with chalk as we do every 100 miles. A fist bump from Stick for celebration and we kept going.

We walked into Georgetown and stopped by Penny’s office. We got to meet her mother who was very nice. They all just make you feel like part of the family. It’s astonishing and extremely heartwarming for a weary traveler.

We left her office and she gave us directions that took us down a scenic route through downtown Georgetown. What a great city with lots of fun history.

Coming out of Georgetown was rough though. We had two sketchy bridges and then a long stretch of the dreaded Hwy 17. We crossed the bridges and had to stay sharp as there wasn’t a lot of space between the huge trucks flying past us at 60 mph and the ledge that dropped over 60 feet down into water. It was my kind of party 🙂

The other side was annoying at first but then we found a power line trail that ran parallel to 17. We took it. It was a little swampy but we had piece of mind from not dodging traffic.

It was a long stretch and we just wanted to get back to the Grieb’s house. Mainly because they are awesome but also because they have a hot tub. Stick never stopped talking about it all day.

We finally made it there and they had some fun company over. A real pleasure to meet them and we shared stories over crackers and drinks. I must have had a half a gallon of sweet tea.

Their company left and then an incredible dinner was made for us. Just so amazing. After dinner we headed over to a local Pawleys Island bar for live music. The band was great. Whiskey Diablo. The name fit them. They were interesting to say the least. Talented musicians and the lead singer was one hell of a performer. We had a great time and I could’ve stayed all night and got rowdy at this place but we had to stay disciplined as we are on a mission.

It was a great spot and I hope to come back sometime and let loose a little. We made it back around midnight and were wore out. Now to get some rest and start early to see what tomorrow has in store for us….