The highest peak in South Carolina is located in the Appalachian foothills in the extreme northwestern part of the state. The state line with North Carolina actually bisects the summit area, so the highest part of the mountain may not actually be in South Carolina. Sassafras trees are pleantiful in the area, lending the mountain their name.

The road to the summit is well-maintained, though the occasional winter snowstorm can close-off access. The Foothills Trail leads 9 miles from Table Rock State Park to the top of Sassafras Mountain. For those not wanting to follow the full length of the trail, it can be picked up at Chimneytop Gap, about 2.5 miles up County Road 199. This last section of the trail meanders up and down the ridges for 2.5 miles, crosses the road just below the top, and arrives at the forested top of the state.

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2005.03.14 - Like many of my other trip reports, this one begins with a business trip. Leaving Texas for the carbon fiber producing metropolis of Greenville, SC, my thoughts obviously turned to the local highpoints, and with then end of celestial Winter less than a week away, I was very anxious to visit as many as possible. Running down my itenerary for one last time, the plane descended through the clouds onto the tarmac of Greenville - Spartanburg International Airport.

Checking out my rental car, I started out toward nearby Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina. The roads twisted, turned, rose and fell and before I knew it, I had reached the tiny hamlet of Rocky Bottom, SC at the base of Sassafras. I quickly started up the curvy, albeit well-paved, road. After a few miles, I entered the dense layer of clouds through which the plane descended but an hour-and-a-half earlier. Taking a few more twists, I soon found my way to the summit parking area, home to one lonely RV.

I got out of the car, and opened the trunk to get out the tripod, my Lone Star and of course my trusty climbing compatriot, Jacko the Frog. As I was preparing for the short hike to the summit, movement came from within the RV and a friendly Pitt Bull mix named Shasta emerged. Shasta's owner followed and introduced himself. A former resident of Southern California, this fellow highpointer had quit his job and sold his house in order to travel the Lower 48 and visit all of the highpoints in a single push.

In May of 2004, I encountered some AT through-hikers in Shenandoah National Park, and at the time, I thought that my feelings of jealousy were as elevated as they could ever be. Boy was I wrong!

The gentleman, forgive me for forgetting your name, and I talked for awhile about our respective adventures; it was quite interesting that both of us had canines named after mountain peaks! At the conclusion of our conversation, I had but a short jaunt up to the summit of Sassafras Mountain. I took the obligatory summit pictures near a tree which seemed to be the actual highpoint (2 feet higher than the USGS benchmark). The fog was extremely thick. There were no views to speak of, so I didn't spend much time on top.

Driving back down the mountain, I paused at a map near the Chimneytop Trailhead for the Foothills Trail. I was feeling a bit guilty for driving to the top, and when I saw that there was a good 5.0mi round-trip trail, the decision all but made itself. I followed the track as it wound steadily upward with the fog as my constant companion. The enjoyable hike ended all to quickly back at the parking lot. I went back up to the summit, and as the clouds began to break, I found a somewhat obstructed view through the trees. Not wanting to spend too much daylight, I started the descent, which went quite quickly.

On the way back to Greenville, I paid brief visits to the picturesque state parks of Table Rock Mountain and Caesar's Head; in fact, I watched a brilliant sunset though gaps in the cloud cover from the head of Caesar. With the day waning, I hastened back to my hotel to get some rest before my meetings the next day, though my attention had already turned to the next hike up Brasstown Bald, GA.