The Mountain of Kings

It's really called Kings Mountain State Park, but I thought "Mountain of Kings" sounded more dramatic.

Our more avid fans might remember that we went to Kings Mountain last year in April , but there's so much to see and do that we had to hit it a second time! With another free weekend in the scheduled, we called up our camping buddy John and headed south(ish) to Kings Mountain.

Our main goal for the weekend was to try out some of the other hiking trails we didn't have time for last time. Kings Mountain is like a hiking hub of the North/South Carolina border. There are miles and miles of trails that cover several of the surrounding mountain ranges. Obviously, there was no way we could try them all in one weekend!

After our usual Friday night camping ritual of "sodas" and sandwiches, we rested up to hit the trails on Saturday morning.

The sleeping weather was fantastic! It got into the mid-to-upper 40s, which is ideal for camping! Luna loved every minute of it. When we woke up, we put on our camping pants (that's what we call our fuzzy pajamas) and got energized with a hot cup of coffee under the trees.

On our last visit, we hiked to an old 1800s farmstead in the park. This time, we decided to hike to a nearby Revolutionary War battlefield. As a history nerd, I was super excited.

Before we started the trek, we had to take a few pictures at the super-cool waterfall dam again!

This hiking trip took some very careful map reading. The loop the battlefield trail was on was 18 miles long. It had a connecting trail that was an additional 3 miles to another 19-mile loop. So, if we messed up, we would have been in the woods for a loooooong time.

Me trying real hard not to walk 18+ miles

By our very approximate calculations, the battlefield was about four miles away from the campground, a decent little hike. Off we went!

The trails were pretty cool. They winded and curved through the woods, revealing streams and rocky hills at every turn. The little pups loved cooling off in the water.

While the trails were great, we quickly discovered the four miles on hilly mountain trails is much different than four miles on the flat SC trails we're used to. By the time we got to the battlefield, everyone in the party was quite tired, but we made it.

Unfortunately, the battlefield park building was closed (stupid COVID), and—knowing there was another four-mile hike in our very near future—we didn't feel like walking the 1.5-mile loop around the battlefield itself. We settled for a brochure and a peak at the fields before starting the trek back.

With sore legs, we made it back to camp, ready to sit and enjoy the rest of the cool Fall evening. On the way to pick up campfire from the store, I fulfilled a lifelong dream and found Bigfoot!

Someday I'll find the real one. And you know what, I'm gonna keep camping until I do!

Maybe on our next trip to Kings Mountain we'll try out even more of the hiking trails. I might have to train for that one...