Lula Lake Land Trust - Hike Bike Brew (Walker County, Georgia)

Today, I'll be attending one of my favorite charity events, which combines two of my favorite things - hiking and craft beer. The Lula Lake Land Trust hosts their Hike Bike Brew fundraising event twice a year generally (spring and fall). I've attended a couple of times in the past and always found it a great experience for a good cause. 

The event takes place at Lula Lake in northwestern Georgia and unfortunately, it took me almost three hours to get there this morning due to road construction around Atlanta. I had originally planned on doing a couple of other hikes up in that area, but with an extra hour of travel time each way, I wasn't able to squeeze them in. No matter - enjoy what you can. After getting directed to a spot to park my car, I walked over to the check-in and received my glass and a map of the route. 

Starting from the event area, the trail follows a gravel road through the woods following Rock Creek as it rushes over rock outcroppings and long chutes. The first beer stop is hosted by Chattanooga Brewing Company, who are offering their Luchador Mexican Amber Ale. The brewers at this event are always friendly and knowledgeable. They tell me a bit about the beer as they pour me eight or so ounces of their delicious beverage. It's a great one to start with.

I pass two more beer stops and enjoy their wares before coming to the bridge just above Lula Lake and the waterfall that pours the creek into it. Everyone always stops to take pictures from the bridge, though the views ahead are even better. Instead of continuing on this path though, I opt to climb the rocky trail up to the Bluff Trail, where I'm told there are three more beer stops. Participants are welcome to choose their own path and so, I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary.

There is one stop along the way and then two at the top of Eagle Cliff overlooking the Chattanooga Valley. The views are great, the beer is pretty damn good, and I can think of few ways to better spend a Saturday afternoon.

After relaxing with my cold one for a few minutes and breathing in the greenery stretching to the horizon, I move on. I come across a couple that I had spoken with earlier on the trail and warn them not to take the High Adventure Trail, which will be coming up on our left very soon. They had told me they were struggling a little bit with the terrain and I know from past experience that the High Adventure Trail includes some rope-aided descents down some steep cliffs. They thank me for my advice. 

Since I'm a little more adventurous, I decided to take the trail I warned them against. Just as I remember, there are a couple of very steep sections to traverse. The more difficult of the two has a knotted rope tied off and I'm forced to lower myself down a step set of rocks sliding from one knot in the rope to the next. It's a little precarious, but the rope makes it manageable. At the bottom, I rejoin the gravel road and hit the next beer stop. 

This stop is just above Lula Lake Falls, which is a gorgeous waterfall that flows over a tall cliff. I take some time to savor it. The beer here is not that great though. It's a PB&J porter from Back Forty Beer Company and I'm not tasting any peanut butter or jelly. Ah well, they can't all be amazing.

From there, I start the walk back towards the event area passing one last beer stop along the way and Lula Lake itself. When I reach the parking area, I see that I've hiked 2.8 miles. While the event includes a celebration here in this area, complete with live music and food options, I decided to head on home. I know I'm going to get stuck in that traffic again and I'd rather get going early. As always though, the event was a lot of fun.