Mount Yonah (White County, Georgia)

 

Between the combination of a nasty cold and an excessively wet winter, my hiking has been somewhat limited over the past several weeks, but as today is supposed to be a nice sunny day, I'm going to take advantage and get out on the trails. First stop - Mount Yonah. As I'm starting to explore more and more of northern Georgia, which includes the southern end of the Appalachians, I'm enjoying the hiking and the scenery more and more with each outing. Yonah is located about 80 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta and rises to 3,166' above sea level.

It appears temperatures dropped below freezing overnight and I'm forced to scrape my windshield before departing. The drive is uneventful, but there is definitely a chill on the air when I leave the house. As I near the mountain, I can see it rising to tower over the surrounding landscape. A number of sheer cliffs are visible on the southern face. Arriving at the popular trailhead, I find a parking spot and immediately head into the woods along the well worn path. I understand this trail is fairly steep and I'm looking forward to a good workout.

Passing through the woods, the route begins to gain elevation almost immediately, gently at first, but definitely getting steeper as a proceed. With all of the rain a number of small streams are carrying water down the mountain and a small bride has been placed over one of them. With winter entering its last hold on the land, the trees are still barren of leaves, but will be showing signs of budding in the very near future.

The hillside has a number of large boulders scattered about and as the trail follows a several switchbacks, I pass between some of them. It's actually quite pretty here, even without the green foliage. At least the cold temperatures are keeping the bugs away.

Eventually, I reach a fork in the trail and my map indicates that a loop is formed up to and then coming down from the summit. I opt to go counter-clockwise, which takes me near some of the tall cliffs I saw on my approach. Apparently, this is a popular destination for rock climbers, as I see several on my way up the mountain. Most appear to be setting up to repel down these cliffs. There's also a thin sheet of ice covering some of the stone surfaces that make up much of this part of the trail. It's pretty slipper, but I'm able to find enough footing to pass safely. It is interesting to stop and watch the water trickle underneath the thin ice. Quite magically in truth.

Finally arriving at the top, I'm somewhat surprised to see a bald clearing. Surrounded by trees on all sides, but only short grass covers the actual summit area and a couple of families have decided to use it for a short break. I, on the other hand, head off in a couple of different directions to take in the view. In the distance, I can see the beginnings of the Blue Ridge, which heads several hundred miles north and which I intend to explore later this year. Unlike the Sierras, it's difficult to not see signs of human development on the landscape, but from up there, it doesn't diminish the beauty.

After just a few minutes, I head back down the trail completing the loop I saw on the map. As the ice melts, the trail gets a bit muddy and even more slippery, but I've got pretty sure feet and arrive back at the jeep without any issues. Total distance was only about 4.4 miles, but with a steep 1,450' of elevation gain between the parking area and the summit, it was a good workout.