Not willing to settle for only the 5-miles hiking out from the Len Foote Hike Inn this morning, I decided to explore another short trail that has been on my radar for a little while. Though there is some naming confusion over this trail, I prefer to call it the Edge of the World Trail, named for the river rapids and small tumbling falls popular for kayaking and tubing that the trail hikes beside part of the way. It's also known as the Amicolola River Trail and the Amicolola Creek Trail. Regardless, Edge of the World certainly sounds the coolest.
The trail starts from a gravel parking lot and after descending a few steps, follows a boardwalk along the river for quite a ways. A number of shoals or rapids are visible out in the river and I suspect they would be quite fun to traverse in an tube or small kayak. Further on, however, the rapids get even more "seat of your pants" as they tumble over a series of small falls. A number of people are in the water in the section passing through the complex in tubes. I must admit, it does look like fun.
From here, the trail heads uphill and enters the woods. It's steep in a couple of short sections, but as I'm already warmed up this morning, I actually run up the steep sections. Reaching the top of the area, the trail follows what I suspect was an old logging road for a short distance before passing beyond a locked gate and onto an overgrown road. Judging by the tall pine trees, lack of deciduous trees, and the tall grasses and shrubs up here, I'm pretty sure this area was logged in decades past and is only starting to return to it's wild nature. Honestly, the pine trees remind me of hiking in Reno and I have fond thoughts of my former home.
After a long section on this overgrown road, with some gorgeous grasses and wildflowers blooming, the trail descends back to the boardwalk and returns to the parking lot where I started. It was only about 2.8 miles, but I was able to enjoy some nice scenery.
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