With a day off to recover from a rough couple of months at work, I decided to go someplace different for a little walk in the woods, the Parsons Mountain Recreational Area in Abbeville County, South Carolina, USA. I’ll say right up front: if you’re looking for a nice easy stroll through the trees, this is not the place for you. The trails are not particularly well marked, and my hike involved a couple missed/wrong turns. Most of them look like:

but can be rather hard to follow in some areas:

and in other areas you get real acquainted with the local flora (yes, this is the trail):

There were bridges for many of the stream crossings, but where there weren’t, it wasn’t difficult. At least with as little rain as we’ve had.

After coming around the north side of the Parsons Mountain Lake, I came to what I thought was the T-intersection with the tower trail. Make note: this isn’t it:

Having gotten back on course, then losing the trail again and doing a little “area navigation”, I started up Parsons Mountain proper. There were several of these little fenced-off areas.

Once at the top, Ah, there’s the fire tower. Unfortunately it was locked up and “no trespassing”, otherwise I’m sure the view would be worth the stair climb (N.B. this is NOT a lightning-safe area).

Still, the view from the mountain top there was pretty good.

I think this is where I should have intersected the Tower Trail on the way out. Found it on the way back anyway.

And this is the Parsons Mountain Lake. That’s pretty much all of it.

I didn’t really see much in the way of animal wildlife, aside from the abundant insects. There were interesting plants (and fungi) just about the whole way though. I have no real expertise in plant identification, so here’s a bunch I took pictures of. Add a comment if you recognize any of these.