To Parking Lot

    After luncheon with the awesome Ms. Amy Holleman yesterday, I ran many errands, then decided to take advantage of the weather to go hiking. It wasn't the kind of weather one would normally take advantage of, as it was highly overcast and not really a beautiful day unless you like pewter. But it was cool and comfortable, rare in these parts this late in the year. So I went to Peachtree Rock.
    Peachtree Rock is about all we have in the way of scenic wonders in these parts. If you could see it, you would laugh to hear it described as such. It's a big rock, shaped vaguely like a peach tree (surprise!) or possibly an inverted pyramid. It's maybe 15 or 20 feet high, capped with granite probably and tapering to the base. In the same heritage preserve, there is also the only natural waterfall of any height in the Midlands. As that height is also 15 or 20 feet, it isn't a particularly electrifying sight either, but we take what we can get.
    The last several times I visited Peachtree Rock, six months or more ago, there was one little problem. You hike down from the highway on a link trail, then the rest of the trails in the preserve make a number of loops. The little problem was that the link trail wasn't marked, so finding it in order to leave was a bit of problem. Yesterday, however, it was marked, and clearly so, and throughout the preserve there were "To Parking Lot" signs with an arrow pointing back. I wondered if anybody had gotten badly lost during the unmarked period. Regardless, things are certainly better now.
    Peachtree Rock is one of the more dangerous easy trails you could ever visit, because it gets so damn hot back on the sandhills. That is also why it was a good idea to go yesterday; I never felt the least discomfort. I visited Peachtree Rock, the waterfall and then looped around to Little Peachtree Rock, another rock formation, this one looking more like a battleship on a pedestal than any manner of tree. But I still think it's neat.
    And I tell you all this because... well, if anyone in the Columbia area is reading this (which I doubt), know that Peachtree Rock is a lot safer to visit. (Also the little yellow-jacket-looking zeebs are no longer patrolling the trail, which is a plus.) And if you're somewhere else, always remember when hitting the trail that you should always know the way back out before you go particularly far in.