Cloudy Lunar Eclipse and Sunrise from Arabia Mountain (DeKalb County, Georgia)

The astronomers say there will be a full lunar eclipse (also known as a blood moon) early this morning. I had gotten an email from the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Center indicating they would be leading a hike to the top of Arabia Mountain (technically Bradley Mountain) for the event. Originally, I had planned to get up and drive to the nearby Little Mulberry Park and walk up to the observation plateau, but when heard of the Arabia Mountain option, it seemed a better choice.

I got up a little after three and after getting ready, I drove the 35ish minutes to Arabia Mountain. Though there was a thick cloud over overhead, I was optimistic that it might clear before the eclipse was over with. When I arrived, there were a few folks already there, but over the next twenty or so minutes it grew to a crowd of rough 125 people. Truly awesome to see this many people, including a number of teenagers, interested in something like this.

At 5:15 am, the rangers gathered everyone up and gave a quick briefing for the hike. From there, we walked through the woods and crossed the street over to a shortcut to the top. It's cold out this morning, but it seems most people, including myself prepared for it. I even brought one of my foam sleeping pads to sit on once we reached the top.

With our headlamps on, we scaled the side of the granite monadnock and quickly reached the top of the short mountain. The clouds remain and my hope of actually seeing something dwindles, but while we wait, I enjoy a number of nice conversations with fellow enthusiasts, as we brace ourselves from the cold winds. 

As 6:33 am, the minute of maximum, comes and goes, we're unable to see any thing resembling the moon. We do have a nice view of the city in the distance though. I pick up my sleeping pad and walk a few yards to get a eastern facing view. Perhaps the pending sunrise will be more accommodating. A few others join me, but once again, the clouds put a damper on our plan. 

With the time of sunrise, 7:03 am, now having come and gone, I pack up and head down the mountain. It's a bit disappointing, but it's still great to be outside and I do love climbing Arabia Mountain any chance I get, especially at night. I didn't do a GPS track for this one, but I suspect my distance was just over a mile. Hardly worth the effort of tracking.

Yellow River (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

I was able to get some good miles in yesterday and knock out an unexplored section of the AT in northern Georgia, but I really need to be pushing myself in preparation for some other upcoming hikes. I decided to join the Meetup group for their standard Sunday hike, which today was happening at Yellow River Park, which is only a short drive from my house. 

Arriving just a couple of minutes before the start time, I was greeted by several friends. We did our quick round of introductions and quickly hit the trail. I've hiked here before, but it has been a while. The park is mostly known for mountain bike trails, but they are shared with hikers. As we meander through the woods, I get into numerous conversations with friends, new and old alike, about a variety of topics. Several of the topics relate to an upcoming trip a few of us are doing together to hike the Camino Portugués de la Costa and our preparations for the trek.

As we hike, we are afforded a nice view of the river here and there. With the recent rains, it lives up to it's name with a muddy yellowish color to the water. It's still a nice view though. In addition, we wander alongside a couple of tributary creeks, one of which has a couple of small waterfalls, which adds some nice scenery to the hike.

Our hike takes us all around the park and finally, we end up back at the parking lot. Having hiked 7.6 miles today on top of the big miles yesterday, I feel I've given my legs a pretty good workout for the weekend. I say my goodbyes and hop in my car to drive home.