Greg & Camille Go Bike

We were not excited to return to US 17 today and started the day out by trying (but failing) to find an alternate. It ended up being one of the better stretches on this highway though. There was still steady traffic but the shoulders were plenty large and we enjoyed decent views of marshlands and rivers. Further on, we even decided to skip an alternate that would have bypassed 10 miles on the highway with 20 miles on back roads.

Just short of half way through today's ride, we said good bye to US 17 for the day and turned onto back roads through unpopulated woodland. It felt great having the entire road to ourselves, even if only for a short while. After several miles, our surroundings became more residential and eventually we were forced onto another local highway. After only a short distance though, we were able to pick up the Spanish Moss Trail, a clean and well paved off-road trail with some beautiful views of salt water marshes and other water bodies.

Our original planned route was supposed to only briefly pass through Beaufort, but we'd decided to go off route ~20 miles to stay at Hunting Island State Park. Its the most popular state park in South Carolina and has the only tour of a lighthouse available in the state. We'd talked about stopping at a half dozen other light houses, but never seemed to have time. This seemed like a great opportunity.

As we passed through Beaufort, Greg heard an older couple shout "Warm Showers? Warm Showers?" He stopped to chat and learned that they're Warm Showers hosts from Charleston. The exchange was pretty brief as Camille had already passed. They acknowledged that biking around here (South Carolina) is pretty terrible, but insisted that the experience in Florida was going to be wonderful.

Despite some heavy traffic, the route heading south from Beaufort was pretty friendly, providing a nice dedicated bike lane. We were routed off route 21 for a stretch through a lower traffic area, but we were chased by a couple dogs and noticed a bunch of others off leash. We actually felt safer on the highway and agreed to skip this detour on the way back tomorrow.

Eventually we reached the island and set up camp. Both the park employee who checked us in and our camp site neighbor (Kelly) were pretty excited to learn about the trip. Kelly is from Pittsburgh and had come down with his dog. He had a bike in the site with a trailer attached to carry his dog. From our brief discussion, it didn't sound like he tours at all, but we regret not asking about the experience biking with the pup in the back. We're both intrigued by the idea some day. We set up camp and turned in pretty early.