What if you could hike across South Carolina?

From our coast to mountains, imagine the most fulfilling path you could possibly take.

That tour called the Palmetto Trail will stretch 500 miles when it’s completed.

It will take you through swamps, by vast lakes, through towns, over mountains, and even up and down the steps of the Statehouse.

Right now you can hike 350 miles on 29 unique sections ranging from 1-50 miles.

New sections are frequently opening.

The Palmetto Conservation Foundation has been working to complete it since 1994.

Most hikers do a day or weekend hike and camp along the way.

A few adventurers take a through-hike.

I met Bernie and April Hester, known on the trail as Mule and Inchworm, about halfway through their 4th through-hike.

They started Oct. 13 at the Northern Terminus in the mountains near Walhalla. Hiking 8-12 miles a day is no easy feat in the mountains, especially with 18-20 pound backpacks, several days of food and water.

Over their first 15 days, Mule and Inchworm hiked the hardest parts. They passed through 5 state parks, including popular destinations like Caesar’s Head and Jones Gap.

They climbed numerous mountains, including Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina at 3,563 feet.

They also spent days on roads connecting the missing sections of trail and on part of the 76-mile upstate Foothills Trail.

The trail takes a sudden turn from mountains to the rolling piedmont hills in the 4-mile section known as the Blue Wall.

In the piedmont, they have hiked through Landrum and other small towns as well as urban Spartanburg and Newberry. The towns are a relief. They can get a night’s sleep in a hotel bed and resupply their food.

In between Spartanburg and Newberry are Croft State Park and Sumter National Forest.

After a few days off in Newberry, they made it to the Peak-to-Prosperity Passage, a 10.7-mile section of old railroad bed. That’s where I met Mule and Inchworm at their campsite after a 10-mile day hike.

In a typical day on the trail, they awake, dress, pack up and hike until they need a break. Then they hike more.

When they are hungry, they take a break to eat.

When they stop for the day, they set up camp and eat before heading to bed early.

In the woods, there’s no point in staying up much past dark because there’s nothing to do.

They carry water bottles and refill and filter them at creeks. In dry areas, they hid a cache of water before they started their hike.

Backpacking offers having enough water and food.

That’s not to say there aren’t bad days.

Mule and Inchworm told me sometimes they think about just going home. They say hiking is 80% mental and only 20% physical. I agree.

Inchworm has MS, which makes her hike more difficult. She told me her foot feels like dead weight, but with stubborn determination and 2 good poles, she hikes on.

Part of the reason they are hiking the trail is to prove that MS doesn’t have to stop you.

At the beginning of the year, Mule and Inchworm’s plans were different. They planned to hike the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, but the pandemic changed their plans.

After months of being cooped up at home in quarantine, they decided to hike the Palmetto Trail again. They hope next year will be the year they get to fulfill their longtime dream to hike the Appalachian Trail.

It was great to speak to Bernie and April and I wish them well on the remainder of their hike. As of writing this, they have passed through Columbia, crossed the Wateree Swamp, and are now hiking by Lake Marion. They have about 150 miles to go before they finish at the Intercoastal Waterway in Awendaw.

Their favorite section of the trail in the mountains is the Roundtop Mountain Passage, a hard 7-mile climb to Sassafrass Mountain. In the midlands, it’s the diverse Wateree Passage. In the Lowcountry, it’s the 26-mile Lake Moultrie Passage.

They applaud the Palmetto Conservation Foundation for the well-kept trail.

You might not be up to through-hiking the trail like Mule and Inchworm, but you can still get out and enjoy it. Several sections are within 30 minutes of Lexington.

The Peak-to-Prosperity Passage is a great place to start. Check out the 1,100-foot trestle over the Broad River. Or you can hike the Columbia Canal, also part of the Palmetto Trail.

Make sure to follow Mule and Inchworm’s trip on Instagram @mule_inchworm or read their journal at www.trailjournals.com/journal/24533 .