Kennesaw Mountain - Pigeon Hill Trails (Cobb County, Georgia)

 

After hiking a fairly tough (though short) section of the AT yesterday and with my knee feeling quite a bit better today, I decided at the last minute to join the Meetup for some hiking around Kennesaw Mountain. Since we're not planning to climb the mountain, I think my fatigued knee will be okay. I met the large group in the overflow lot and immediately began chatting with several friends. Our introductions were short and sweet and we were soon in the woods to the west of the mountain.

This whole area was the site of a Civil War battle and has numerous historical reminders, which includes some fake cannons. We stop for some pictures before continuing further into the woods. Our path follows a small creek for some distance, before descending into some lowland areas that probably flood quite often. The result is a marshy muddy area that we struggle with a bit. 

A couple of small creek crossings later and our muddy boots reach firmer ground. Along the way, today's organizer has stopped a couple of times to play a some word games, which is his normal practice. It's fun and keeps the event very social.

Reaching the bridge over Noses Creek, we stop for quick lunch. While hiking and continuing here, I discuss some up coming trips with a few friends. The conversation with this group is always one of the draws and I've made many friends while hiking with these folks. 

Soon, we're on the trail again and headed back towards the parking area. Our leader decides to stray a little bit from the way we hiked in and we are required to cross another creek and then climb up a steep hill to a railroad track, which will pretty much lead us back to the parking area. I end up helping several hikers make it up the hill, which is pretty challenging. 

Before long, we're back at the cars. We say our goodbyes and head our respective paths home. Our total distance for the day was 8.0 miles, which is not bad. My knee bothered me just a little, but nothing to serious. I'll rest it for the next couple of days and I should be fine.

Appalachian Trail - Coopers Gap to Hightower Gap (Union County, Georgia)

 

Continuing my quest to knock out the remaining Georgia sections of the Appalachian Trail (AT) that I haven't yet hiked, I organized a Meetup event to do a shorter section from Coopers Gap to Hightower Gap. As I think I've mentioned previously, I sectioned out the Georgia AT in such a way that all portions could be done as an out and back hike based up on trailheads reachable in my Subaru Outback. Todays' section is not that long, but due to the elevation gain and loss should be pretty challenging. In addition, I felt as though I was coming down with something yesterday and didn't eat a great deal, which may play into my energy level today.

One hike asked to carpool with me and so after picking her up, we headed to the trailhead at Coopers Gap, which is close to a two-hour drive. The last short section of the forest service road is a bit rough, but my car didn't seem to have any issues with it. Soon after our arrival, several familiar faces began arriving and we arranged our cars in the crossroads of two forest service roads, which serves as the trailhead. We did our customary round of introductions and then entered the woods.

Temperature-wise, it looks like it's going to be a great day for hiking. This first section, as we ascend Sassafras Mountain, is a pretty good climb, but everyone seems to be doing okay. We stop at the top for what will probably be one of our best views today, but even it is blocked by trees. This section does not have any really notable vistas. The downwards side of the mountain is pretty steep though and we begin to encounter several AT thru-hikers. I offer them some words of encouragement as they start the first days of their 2,000+ mile trek to Mount Katahdin in Maine. 

Reaching the bottom, we hit Horse Gap and a nice gentleman has set up some chairs and is offering water to the thru-hikers. He offers us a respite, but we're anxious to get our miles in. The next couple of miles are relatively uneventful and we finally reach Hightower Gap and stop for a short lunch break. We make use of some fallen logs and gather round to take in some calories. 

After ten or fifteen minutes, I suggest that we should wrap-up and start heading back. Everyone agrees and we start the trek back towards our starting point. I can feel myself getting a little tired by now. Though I just ate a peanut butter sandwich, I think yesterday's low caloric intake may be affecting me. Not long after restarting, we encounter a small garter snake seeking safety in the warped portion of a small tree. He's a cute little guy and poses for a picture before slithering off.

The hills on the way back do a number on my right knee and eventually each downward step begins to ache. We decide to stop at the gentleman's 'trail magic' spot this time and enjoy a short rest, which my knee is thankful for. He seems nice and offers everyone water. It seems he does this just to occupy himself and enjoy some socialization. I'm sure the thru-hikers really appreciate it. 

The final push up Sassafras Mountain is by far the hardest section for me, as it ascends for nearly a mile before reaching the summit. I'm pretty exhausted and the way back down the other side to our cars is really hard on my aching knee, but we make it without incident. Everyone thanks me for organizing the hike and begins to head out. Our total distance for the day was right at 7.0 miles. Not much, but at least I can check off another section.

Panola Mountain - Diamorpha Days (Rockdale County, Georgia)

This time of year is always exciting around the three monadnocks (Stone Mountain, Arabia Mountain, and Panola Mountain) southeast of Atlanta due to the blooming of the diamorpha smallii. This is a tiny rare reddish plant that grows in the solution pools of these granite behemoths. It provides a stark contrast to the white granite and green mosses that generally cover the landscape.

I arrived at the park and checked in with the ranger a bit before the scheduled 9:00 AM start time. I've hiked here before, but it's always a treat as the public is only allowed on the protected mountain in the company of a ranger. This is done to protect the undeveloped environment that is home to a number of endangered plant species, including diamorpha smallii. 

After a brief round of introductions, we headed into the woods with Ranger Veronica leading the way. Along our path, we stopped to discuss some of the fallen tree and the remnants of some long abandoned moonshine stills that were left here from an earlier era. Soon though, we hit the base of the mountain and begin carefully making our way up through the rich green moss and mint green lichens, trying our best not to damage these fragile plants. 

We stop a few times along the way as the rangers shares more information about the mountain, the ecosystem, the flora, and the fauna. She's quite knowledgeable. At one point, we encounter some trees that have taken shallow root in the soil created over the millennia as the moss and lichens convert the raw granite into something softer. Perched near the the top of one of the trees, a couple of buzzards hold their wings out sun themselves. I've never witnessed this behavior before, but apparently it's pretty common on cool days like today. They are effectively using the back of their dark-colored wings as a natural solar panel to raise their body temperature. It's quite a stunning picture to behold.

Further up the mountain, we begin to see some great examples of the diamorpha smallii beginning to bloom. It fill some of the largest solution pools at the summit of the dwarf mountain. It looks almost like a fairy wonderland with all of the marvelous colors. Really stunning. 

The hike continues around the top of the mountain and eventually back through the woods to the parking area, where we say our goodbyes and head to our respective homes. Our total hike was only about 3.3 miles, but we had to take it pretty slow on the wet granite to ensure no one slipped and injured themselves. This was another great experience that I would encourage anyone in the Atlanta area to take advantage of.

Tallulah Gorge - Full Moon Hike (Habersham County, Georgia)

 

I guess I'm just in a "lun-ey" mood today. After getting up super early this morning for the blood moon, I decided to spend my evening hiking down into Tallulah Gorge to see the full moon rise over the cliffside. This is a monthly event the park rangers put that draws a pretty big crowd. It's about an hour drive from the park and I left after dinner to arrive at the park a little after 8:00 PM. There was quite a crowd gathering.

At just about 8:30 PM, the scheduled start time, a ranger came out and started handing out light-stick wristbands to all of the participants, and soon we were headed down the 310 steps to the swinging bridge. In a moment of poor planning, I forgot my good headlamp and ended up stopping at a gas station on the way up to get something. It was a cheapy, but it definitely helped on the stairs in the dark. The walk across the bridge was a little un-nerving. Though the bridge is well constructed, it still sways a bit as people walk across it and with darkness surrounding us before the full moon rises, it's a little . . . unsettling. 

Once at the bridge, some people decided to wait, but I continued on with the park ranger and a few others to the bottom of the stairs at the gorge floor itself, raising the total stairs to 1,099. From there, we were very near the water level and with a few spotlights managed to get a decent shot of Hurricane Falls, the tallest waterfall in the park. It looks a little creepy at night. 

Returning to the bridge, the bright full moon began to climb above the trees on the distant cliffside and rise into the sky above us. My phone really struggles with night photography, but I chose the best photo I was able to get for inclusion here. 

After a bit, I decided to climb back up the rest of the way to the parking area and head home. I'm extremely tired and it's been a long day. I'm glad I came though. This was a cool experience.

Blood Moon (Gwinnet County, Georgia)

 

Note: Photo credit to the Griffith Observatory and Youtube.com

Tonight, I'm waking at the incredibly early hour of 1:30 AM to try and get some shots of the blood moon, which is a common name for a full lunar eclipse due to the red tint the moon takes on during totality. From 2:26 AM and 3:31 AM, the moon will be completely in the shadow of the Earth. On average, this only occurs in any given location about every 2.5 years and so, it's worth a little sleep deprivation.

I got up so early as I don't know how good the view will be from our home and I might need to drive somewhere for a good view. Luckily, the view from the bottom of our driveway turned out to be good enough. The cameras on our respective phones on the other hand, not so much. My wife and I tried several techniques with both of our phones (I'm using an iPhone 15 pro and she has a new model Android), but the pictures we were able to capture left quite a bit to be desired. I was able to take advantage of some new binoculars I recently purchased though.

At the predicted time, we could start seeing the dark curved shadow of the earth moving across the surface of the bright white moon. And then as it neared totality, the color shifted to a cloudy crimson. This is due to atmosphere scattering the shorter wavelength blue sunlight, while the longer red wavelengths are bent and refracted towards the moon.

In the end, it was a very cool experience and I'm glad I got up for it even though, I'll have to settle for someone else's photo.

Chattahoochee River - Suwanee Creek Unit (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

 

Today, I decided to join the Atlanta Outdoor Club for a hike in the Suwanee Creek Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. I've hiked many of the park units, but this one was unknown to me, even though it's very close to my home. The hike organizer mentioned that this unit is undeveloped and has no official trails or parking area. 

I met the organizer and two other hikers in the corner of a nearby grocery store, where we had agreed to leave our cars for the hike. After a sprinting across Peachtree Industrial Drive due to a malfunctioning crosswalk light, we walked a short distance through a pleasant neighborhood before reaching the entrance to the park unit. There is an old sign here, but all of the print has either worn off or was removed. 

The trail begins as a dirt road, which followed a short ways before ducking into some side trails that had been cut by someone, perhaps one of the many residents of the nearby neighborhood. The hike organizer mentioned that he had scouted the trails out prior to this event and had good idea of the route he planned to take. We followed his lead and were treated to some nice, but pretty standard trails through the woods. With most of the trees still barren of leaves, we could see quite some distance across the landscape. It was nice.

After completing a small loop on the western side of the dirt road, we headed towards the confluence of Suwanee Creek and the Chattahoochee River. Here we crossed an old concrete bridge, which seemed sturdy, but likely hasn't been used in years. Now it acts as a canvas for graffiti. 

From there, we walked alongside the Chattahoochee for a short distance, even climbing down an earthen bank to examine some kind of abandoned crane apparatus. The trail continued to loop around until we found ourselves back at the dirt road. 

The bulk of our miles put in, we headed back through the neighborhood towards our cars. Overall, it was a nice little hike of just about 5.2 miles. I have to compliment the organizer for having explore the trails so thoroughly before posting the event and for maintaining a strong pace for the hike, which was a pleasant surprise.

Parade of the Planets (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

 

*Note - Credit to Google for the above image

For the past few weeks, the seven other planets of our solar system (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) have been aligning themselves on the same side of the sun. The effect of this is the ability to see all seven of them in the same night sky. From everything I had read, February 28th, would be the night to witness this 'parade of the planets'. Though I did make an effort to witness this event while on Cumberland Island last weekend, the clouds did not cooperate. Tonight, however, is blessed with clear skies.

After getting done with my last conference call for work about 5:30pm, I drove over to the nearby Little Mulberry Park, which is home to the highest point in Gwinnet County. A short walk from my car up the paved trail and then into an open field with a walled stone patio at the top, provided a great spot to witness tonight's astronomical rarity. There were quite a few people here for the event and I chatted with several of them while observing the heavens.

As the sun set in the southwest, I tried my best to locate Saturn and Mercury, which were following close behind, but the sunset was still too bright. Neptune came next, but was too distant to see with the naked eye and residual sunlight. I did try my new binoculars, but no luck. Soon though, the bright shimmer of Venus became quite apparent in the dark blue sky. Directly overhead, mighty Jupiter soon came into view, and a short time later the red shimmer of Mars began it's march across the sky. I searched for Uranus, which should have been slightly ahead of Jupiter, but was unable to locate it. 

After about an hour enjoying the spectacle, chatting with fellow astronomy enthusiasts, and just taking in a beautiful evening, I decided to call it a night and head back to the car. I startled a few deer on my way down the path, but they quickly went back to their business. What a wonderful world we live in to be able to witness something like this.