Table Rock State Park is a 3,083 acre park at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Pickens County, South Carolina. The park includes Pinnacle Mountain, the tallest mountain totally within the state. On this date, It cost $7.50 each for seniors. Other adults were $12 each. At least there is one slight advantage to being older. Ha Ha!

There are two trails. There is a 3.5 mile Table Rock Summit Trail rising 2,000 feet above the trailhead. Naturally, this was not the trail for the two RV Gypsies. So they took the 2-mile Carrick Creek Nature Trail that loops around two creeks with small cascades of water along the way. Both trails are moderately strenuous.

Passing by the "swimming hole", Karen Duquette noted that people had just left and debated about getting wet, but regrettably decided it would be best to wait until the return trip because by then Lee would appreciate taking a rest while Karen played in the cold water. Plus Karen knew they were both excited to see the "real waterfall" that Lee had talked about. (However, after that it was too late, Karen did her research and found that this "swimming hole" is the only waterfall here, and it is just a short walk from the parking lot.)

Below: The two RV Gypsies started the hike to the big waterfall that does not even exist. It was a rough trip the entire time. Karen Duquette paused occasionally to take a few photos to show the type of trail, and to catch her breath. It was an extremely hot day.

Below: Karen Duquette liked the shiny reflections in the water alongside the trail. But she did not like the looks of the narrow trail shown below in the right-hand side of each photo below.

Below: Lee Duquette paused to take a look at the water. That one step up, shown below, was a big one.

Below; One of the few easy spots on the trail - a short boardwalk.

Bellow: Then some nasty tree roots to maneuver through.

Below; Karen Duquette liked the bright red mushrooms along the trail. There were also some bright green ones, but she was too tired to take any more photos. Lee Duquette had not noticed them until Karen mentioned this red one, so he took a photo of the red one.

Below; Karen Duquette decided it was time to cool down. She regretted that she did not go into the "swimming hole" at the beginning of the trail. The narrow, curved rock she had to walk over to get to the water was wet and slippery, so she approached very slowly and cautiously.

Below; Karen Duquette said it felt refreshing to splash the cold water on her face.

Then it was time to continue the trip. But the rock was curved, slippery and sloped downwards. Karen Duquette dropped her water bottle and when Lee Duquette tried to get the water bottle out of the fast flowing water, he almost fell and dropped the camera in the water. He was quite angry. But the camera was okay and so was Lee. Karen took just one more photo to be sure the camera worked.

But after hiking further up the hill, Karen Duquette was really short of breath and it was getting hard to breath or talk. So when they reached a turning point, they took the other part of the loop trail down and never got to the waterfall they thought was higher up on the trail. They thought perhaps they should have gone right after the "swimming hole" instead of left. (But then again, there is no waterfall higher up anyway). This just may be their last hike ever, at least in really hot weather.

Although there were some other places on the return loop back that would have made interesting pictures, including one of some dude walking over boulders in fast flowing water, Karen Duquette just was too drained to take anymore photos, and really had trouble completing the trip back to the "swimming hole". Once there, Karen waded into the very cold water while Lee Duquette sat on a nearby bench and relaxed after taking a few photos and a movie of Karen in the cold water.

Karen Duquette got as close as she could to the waterfall. A ledge prevented her from getting under the waterfall at this point.

So Karen Duquette went around to the side of the ledge to actually get behind the waterfall. She kept one hand on the ledge above her as a safety precaution because the ledge was wet and slippery.

After a nice time in the cold, but refreshing water, it was regrettably time to leave.

Later, Karen Duquette looked at photos on her computer and found ONE lonely photo of her under a waterfall back in 2007. It was labeled "somewhere in SC". She believes it is this waterfall, because they were also at the Carrick Creek Falls in 2007 and this place is on the Carrick Creek Nature Trail so she is posting it here. Plus it looks just like other photos above that show the grounds near and above the waterfall. BINGO - WAY TO RESEARCH !!

Below: Driving a bit down the road, the two RV Gypsies spotted a car with the best ever "Star Wars" paint job. Unfortunately, Karen Duquette could not get out of the car to take photos, because it was in someone's private driveway, but she is happy with the two photos she took.

Hagood Mill Historical Site in Pickens SC

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