Pine Mountain via Cooper's Furnace (Bartow County, Georgia)

Today, I'm returning to a great hike I've done a couple of times just northwest of Atlanta, and dragging a few members of the Meetup along for the ride. Pine Mountain, not to be confused with the long ridge of the same name in west-central Georgia, rises above Lake Allatoona near Cartersville, GA. I had read a few weeks ago, that much of the brush had been cleared off of the summit providing a much better view of the surrounding area. It seemed like a great way to spend a Saturday morning. 

Meeting the folks that had signed up for the hike near the historical Coopers Furnace, we did a quick round of introductions and then hit the trail. It starts near the giant iron furnace built in the 1830's and later abandoned after the nearby town was mostly destroyed by General Sherman's troops during the march on Atlanta. 

The first part of the trail is a gravel road leading into the woods and travels due north, but soon the trail crosses over a tiny creek and begins a mild ascent. After about a mile-and-a-half, the trail takes a sharp left and heads west up the eastern slope of the mountain. The trail is well maintained and most of us in the group are pushing a pretty fast pace. The trail will include a figure eight with stretched mid-section and so, we pass the forks that we will later revisit. 

Reaching the spur trail to the summit, we take the short offshoot and head uphill. Once we get to the top, we are rewarded with a magnificent view of all of the lake, with Kennesaw Mountain and downtown Atlanta in the distance. We agree to take a few minutes for a snack and to take pictures. However, some agitated, winged, stinging friends take some offense to our presence. There appears to be yellow-jacket nest nearby and they are on high alert against invaders. Though no one gets stung, we make a tactical retreat down the mountain towards safety.

Next we begin hiking down the norther side of the western figure eight loop, which requires just a little bit of rock scrambling. We encounter a number of other hikers on this side of the mountain. Most of them have probably parked at the western trailhead and will complete a shorter route than what our plan calls for. We make quick work of this second loop and then continue on the southern section of the eastern loop, finally returning to the parking area near Coopers Furnace. 

The rest of the hike was uneventful, but very enjoyable. The weather has been fantastic all morning and everyone seems to really enjoy the hike, though a couple of people were struggling to catch their breath on the uphills. Our total distance was just over 7.5 miles. After saying our goodbyes, we get into our respective cars and go our separate ways.