Talking to other hikers as I've started integrating into that community in Georgia, many of them have told me of the Pine Mountain Trail or PMT, as they like to call it. It's a long day hike or has several primitive camp sites along the way, making it a good target for an overnight trip. When one of the local meetups posted the trip as a shuttle hike, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see this part of Georgia, which I had not yet visited.
Leaving my hours about 6:00 AM, I drive the nearly two hours in a light drizzle down towards FDR State Park near Warm Springs Georgia. Our defined meeting place is at a tall radio tower, which is visible for many miles. When I pull into the parking lot, I see a few hikers have already arrived and are preparing themselves for a long day on the trail. The organizer has put together two hikes in the area. The first will do an eight mile loop, while the second does a supported shuttle hike the entire length of the PMT, 23 miles. Trying to be socially responsible in during the COVID-19 pandemic, each group is limited to no more than ten hikers.
After a quick round of introductions, we quickly hit the trail at about 8:15 AM. This first section has a number of small waterfalls and for the most part follows the tiny creek forming these falls. They are quite pretty, especially Cascade Falls, which is the largest of them at about eight feet. Just above Cascade Falls is a small stone overhang cave known as Wolfsden. Though, I don't see any wolves around, it's an interesting geologic formation and has probably provide shelter to a few critters over the eons.
From here and for the next several miles, the trail elevation rises and falls as we travel over the various ridges that constitute Pine Mountain, which itself is just one long mountain ridge. Just after mile five, we hit a trailhead and our support driver is there with fresh water and snacks. Knowing that I need to continue training for an upcoming Grand Canyon trip, I opted to carry most of my weight today, but it's still nice to stop for a water break.
My fellow hikers are very capable and as a group, we maintain around a three mile per hour pace. Before the trip leader can fully get his snack down, one of the other hikers is rearing to go and so, we do. This next section is much like the previous one with lots of ups and downs, but it passes through some beautiful country.
As we climb towards Dowdell Knob, which is the highest point on the hike I can tell that I'm getting a little tired, but I continue on. Reaching the parking lot at the top, we find our support car once again and take a few minutes to put down some calories. This area of the park was a favorite of President Roosevelt's and apparently he visited it several times to take advantage of the mineral water soaks available nearby. The state park has erected a bronze statue of the former President, leg braces and all, overlooking the magnificent view from this point. This time of year, just a day or two into spring, it's a sea of green and quite stunning. We can also the radio tower where we started off in the distance.
Returning to the trail, we next reach a section which saw a Tornado blow through a decade or so ago. Apparently, the fallen trees left the trail in such a mess that it took a couple of years to reopen that section.Still, it passes through a section of tall grasses much like fictional Dortraki Sea from the Song of Ice and Fire novels. It gives the place a dark foreboding feeling and I think we're all happy to reach the end of that section.
Crossing the highway, we again meet up with our support car and after allowing a couple of the hikers to refill on water, we head up a couple of switchbacks to an area known as the Rock Garden. Here, we take a few minutes to rest on the stone surface and put down a quick lunch. The sun is really starting to warm things up and I can feel a sense of fatigue coming on. I do my best to drink more water.
After a few minutes rest, we push on. The next several miles are more of the same with lots of ups and downs. Several sections of the trail, follow below stone embankments with steep drop offs on one side or the other. It's pretty scenic and I enjoy hike places like this. That said though, the trail does have a lot of rocks embedded in it and it can be hard on the feet. Luckily, my merrell hiking shoes have a pretty think sole and I don't really feel the rocks. I would recommend against doing this trail in trail runners though for this reason.
With the miles adding up, I can sense myself getting dehydrated and perhaps, slightly overheated as the sun bares down on us. I keep pushing on, but as we reach the park headquarters around mile 20, I can sense that the factors building up and I opt to stop here. I catch a ride with our support car and await the other hikers at the finish point. They are all very positive though exhausted. It was quite a trek. They even suggest that I should come back and do the part I skipped. Perhaps someday I will, but I'm not that kind of hiker and I don't really need that validation to check off my list. I was still able to get in 20.7 miles, which is the longest hike I've done in quite a while and a good warm up for the Grand Canyon.
There is an well known expression, reportedly of Chinese origin that says "may you live in interesting times". Well, we certainly do. The world is pretty much on lock down in fear of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Events are cancelled, stores and restaurants are closed, employees work from (when possible), and gatherings of 10 are more people are not recommended, if not outright banned - all in an attempt to slow the spread of this contagious virus. As I work from home anyway, it's not really causing a lot of hardships and I figure I can take advantage to get in a few more trail miles on days when the weather cooperates such as today.
Only about ten or so miles from my home, a county park offers an interesting loop around a man-made lake with a few remnants of a long forgotten mill lost to time. I arrive at Tribble Mill Park just after 8:00 AM. The paved trail is only a few yards from where I park the jeep and I quickly make my way over to it. Given that this is a mostly paved trail through an urban park, I decide to take in a podcast while I get my miles in.
With spring just around the corner, it's warm this morning, but a heavy fog sits over the lake and obscures much of the view. The trail is easy enough and winds its way around the lake. I encounter a few other activity seekers. It's difficult to be trapped in one's home and these folks have gotten out, like I have, to get a little fresh air and exercise.
Before too long, I come to a side trail, which I know leads to something of a waterfall. I head that way as it winds down a hillside and finally leaves the pavement at the start of a natural granite surface that covers a pretty vast area here. A shallow creek makes its way over the rock. It's really more of a water slide than a water fall, as the creek probably looses 10-12 feet of elevation of a run of 100-150 feet of distance. It's interesting that the running water hasn't carved more of a permanent path through the stone though. Here the water just creates a sheet over the surface with the occasional whitecap where a rock or small drop-off may impeded it's journey. It is a nice thing to find though, so close to the city.
Heading back towards the main trail, the remains of a stone structure catches my eye in the nearby woods. I take a few steps towards it only to place my foot on one of the most slippery surfaces I have ever encountered. The moss and algae growing on the granite have created an ice-like sheen and I do a performance reminiscent of the Three Stooges while trying to regain my balance and footing. Luckily, I do and save myself from falling into the wet, muddy, mossy mess. I hunker down to get a few shots of the structure and the remains of some type of wheel nearby. I suspect this maybe part of the old mill. It seems these are pretty common finds in the wooded areas of Georgia.
After returning to the main trail, I continue my way around the rest of the lake uneventfully. I try to push my pace to ensure a good workout. With the humidity, I'm a sweaty mess by the time I return to the jeep, but it was nice to get in just over 4.2 miles on a workday.
I'm a planner by nature. As crazy as it may sound, I live by my outlook calendar and have lists of events and hikes that I intend to do. That said though, the world is in turmoil now and it's throwing a number of curve balls at my carefully laid plans. Due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the events on my calendar are being cancelled, include a beer festival I was to attend today. Couple all of this with the extremely wet and unpredictable weather the Atlanta area is having this season and I've just to get in hikes whenever I can. This morning, I'm taking advantage of a last minute hike posted on one of the meetup groups I belong to. I've been meaning to hike to Indian Seats anyway, and the group is planning to do that as part of a longer hike around Sawnee Mountain. Seems perfect for a day like today.
As I pull into the parking lot, I see a lone figure standing under a shelter at the far end of the pavement. There is a very light drizzle falling from the sky and I assume he's part of the group just trying to stay out of the rain. I grab my pack and approach the gentleman. After I state the magic word, he confirms that he is here for the hike. We are quickly joined by three other members. As this is my first time hiking with this group, we do a quick round of introductions and then we're off.
This group is known for keeping a good pace and the organizer mentions that today is just a fitness hike. Apparently, others in this small group have had to change their plans as well based on current events. As we climb the well maintained trail leading towards the summit of Sawnee Mountain, we share conversations about other trails, professions, origins - the standard topics.
Not long after we get going, we encounter a gentleman on a phone call (ear buds) and swinging his poles wildly without regard for others around him. I speak up and ask if we might get around him, and he allows us to pass him. Our group is maintaining a very steady pace at just over three miles per hour - not bad at all considering the up and down nature of the trail. Our friend on the phone though doesn't seem to have a metronome and as we get to a downhill section, he runs past us. A short time later we catch back up and are forced to pass him again. This occurs a couple of times and the combination of the loud phone call and the dangerous inattentiveness to who he might be smacking with his hiking poles leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It's actually quite rude.
After finishing the Sawnee Mountain loop, we cross the street where we parked and head up towards Indian Seats to complete the second loop. Luckily, our 'friend' seems to have gotten in his mileage and doesn't do the second hill with us. This loop is shorter and I had intended to do this some morning before starting work, but I'm happy to get it done today.
At the top of this peak, there are a number of rocks forming a rough set of steps overlooking the valleys below. Legend has it that the Cherokee once used this place for meetings, but today it's just a popular local hiking destination not far from town. This is confirmed once we reach the top by all of the people up there - maybe fifty. The views are pretty nice though and I can see why this is a popular trail.
It's been raining or drizzling the entire way, but as we make our way down from Indian Seats, it picks up a little bit. Luckily, the cars are only a short distance away. I say my goodbyes and hop in the jeep. Looking at my GPS map, I see that we've put in just over 9 miles. Not a bad way to start the morning.
As I'm starting to warm up for a big Grand Canyon adventure in a couple of months, I really need to start putting the miles in. So to follow up to Monadnock Madness yesterday, I decided head out with one of the hiking meetup groups I belong to here in Atlanta to explore Fort Yargo, which I have heard of, but haven't yet visited. It's only about twenty miles from my house and so, I probably should have visited before now, but it's never too late.
Arriving at the state park's visitor center just a little before noon, I find the group starting to form. We do a quick round of introductions and then shortly thereafter, hit the trail. The trail essentially follows the shoreline of the lake. Instead of doing the yellow trail though, which is the interior loop, we will mostly follow the blue trail, which is intended for mountain bikes and strays a little ways from the lake in parts making for a longer trail overall. At the start though, we begin on the Bird Berry Trail, which supposedly has a lot of bird watching available, though at this time of year, there doesn't appear to be much to see.
The trail continues on around the lake. The terrain is easy and the landscape looks very much like many other hikes I have done in Georgia. Soon though, the spring colors will begin to take hold and banish this brown for a few months. As always, the members of the group break off into various conversations, all while maintaining a very good pace.
For such a beautiful late winter day, there really isn't a lot of traffic on this trail, though we do encounter a few mountain bikers. While on a section known as the 'Monster Mile' our leader points out a couple of really tough climbs, just as a couple of bikers come through and make it look easy. He comments about about how easy they made it look.
There are a number of trails and junctions throughout the woods here, but our leader knows them pretty well and steers the group along the proper path. As we near the end of the trail, we pass the log cabin that was the basis of Fort Yargo. Reading up on it a little bit, the structure was built in 1793 to help protect settlers from attacks by the Creek Nation, though I imagine the attacks were completely justified knowing how 'well' (/sarcasm) we treated the First Nations as we stole their land and resources. Still though, it's an interesting bit of history to be able to see in person.
Arriving back a the trailhead, we say our goodbyes and head our separate ways. As always, it was good hike with good company. We managed to put in just over 10.9 miles on the trails today and I'm glad for it. I really need to get the miles in as I prepare for some more challenging adventures in the coming months.
When I hiked Panola Mountain a few weeks ago, I learned of an event run by the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. For the last 8 years, this organization has organized guided hikes of all three of the monadnocks southeast of Atlanta during a single day. A monadnock, as I have recently learned, is a mountain-like geologic formation that is not part of a mountain range. They generally result from cooling magma floating to the surface. Just a few miles southeast of Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Arabia Mountain, and Panola Mountain provide great examples of the phenomena. How could I resist an event like this?
First on the list is Stone Mountain, which I have hiked around and summitted previously. Of today's three mountains, Stone is the tallest and by far the most prominent. It's also the most visited, thanks in part to it being the closest to the city, but more likely because of all of the event infrastructure built around the granite dome.
Meeting up with the group of "Monadnockers" in a predefined parking lot, the 47 or so of us split into two groups and began making our way up the steep granite trail. It seems mother nature is in a cooperative mood today, as the weather is simply outstanding. The nice lady guiding my group seems very knowledgeable of the mountain and its storied history and a shares much of this with the group as we slowly make our way up the steep slopes of the Walk-up Trail. The group's pace is pretty slow, but the attendees seem nice and in good spirits. Eventually though, we reach the top and take some time to admire the view from 800' above the city.
After a short time, I begin to make my way down to the parking lot. The group offers to caravan over, but I'm kind of anxious and just head out on my own, with the directions provided. The total distance at Stone Mountain was right about 2.5 miles. Not a bad start to the day.
Arriving at Arabia Mountain's visitor center, I take advantage of my early arrival to eat down one of the peanut butter sandwiches I packed for lunch. Soon after, the rest of the group arrives and we start heading out once again with a very nice park ranger. When I was hear just a couple of weeks ago, I was complaining about the long board walk necessary to reach the ascent trail. The ranger though, shortcuts the board walk and takes us directly up the granite mountain. An amazing amount of lichens cover this face of the mountain, and while we do our best to avoid stepping on the primitive plants, its completely unavoidable in some places.
Reaching the summit, which is considerably lower than Stone's, we break off and begin exploring around taking note of the various flora species up here, including diamorpha, which is almost ready to bloom and provides a stark red color against the bare granite. As I learn, though it rains a lot in this area, the rain-water almost immediately runs off the granite dome. With no soil to hold the moisture, the area is very desert like and the flora has had to adapt to this very dry landscape. There are even yucca and prickly pear cactus growing up here naturally. I never would have expected to see this in central Georgia, especially with all the rain we have experienced since moving here.
We begin heading to the second summit, which I didn't even realize existed. It's slightly lower than the high point, but it's a ways distant. I'm amazed at how much granite is here and how large of an area it covers. Apparently, this didn't go unnoticed by settlers in the past. As we wander around the multi-football field-sized area, we see remnants of quarrying efforts of decades past. In fact, they have really torn the hell out of the area around this second summit. It's a shame that so much beauty was destroyed by these efforts.
Soon we head back to the parking lot and begin to make our way to the final destination of the day, Panola Mountain. With all of the wandering around, I was able to log almost 3 miles here at Arabia.
For our hike to the top of Panola Mountain, we are joined by a ranger and several volunteers. This mountain is designated as a National Natural Landmark and protected as such. Unlike Stone and Arabia, the granite that comprises Panola is not of a quality suitable for mason work and so, other than some experimental sections, was never quarried. Additionally, the infrastructure that would normally accompany a quarry was never built. This has allowed Panola to remain in a very pristine state in comparison to the other two. Additionally, a threatened plant species grows here in some sections. The granite stonecrop is a very picky little plant that only grows on granite outcroppings and underneath red cedar trees. I learned of this on my last visit and did some research, but it seems scientists aren't exactly sure why these very specific conditions need to exist for the plant. Regardless, the rangers and volunteers are very protective of their threatened little friends.
We park the cars in a field off of a restricted park road and begin to head out in two groups, with each group going a different direction of the loop trail to the top. As we make our way, the volunteers leading our group share much about the geology and ecology of the mountain, which is quite fascinating. The two groups eventually meet near the summit and a group picture is taken. Since we have completed the challenge, we are awarded a printed handkerchief noting our accomplishment. It's kind of silly, but I appreciate the effort these folks put into the event.
Finally, we make our way down and back to the field where we left the cars. The park has prepared a campfire and smores for the group and many of my fellow hikers head that way, but as I'm hungry for real food, I decide to say my farewells and depart. Here at Panola Mountain, I logged about 1.7 miles, bringing today's total to 7.2 miles. It was a fun event.
