Island Ford on the Chattahoochee (Fulton County, Georgia)

With Thanksgiving tomorrow and a lot of my colleagues already on vacation, I don't expect today will be a very busy day in the office and so, I decided to get a short hike in prior to starting. I've been meaning to check out the trails at the Island Ford unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and today seemed like a good time to visit this nearby park.

Arriving early and just after the park opened, I quickly make my way down the autumn trails around a small pond, across the road, and then down to the river. Several large rocks emerge from the shallow river and a number of Canadian geese and other waterfowl have taken advantage of them to stand on against the river's currents. As I approach, a great blue heron spreads its wings wide and takes flight just over the river's surface. 

Continuing on down the strangely vacant trails, I encounter a number of rock outcroppings at the river level. Almost all of them contain some sort of large overhang and could easily be used as a shelter. I wonder if the indigenous peoples or later European settlers took advantage of this natural lodges in their travels. Surely they must have.

Heading up hill away from the river, the trail enters a large wooded area with nearly all of the leaves stripped from the trees. While I do encounter two other people out here this morning, I'm somewhat surprised there aren't more. Perhaps, I'm just too early - good for me.

Returning to the area where I parked, I see that I've hiked 2.5 miles this morning. That's a pretty short hike, but it's nice to get out during the week when I can.

East Palisades to Bamboo Forest (Fulton County, Georgia)

I hiked the East Palisades trail several months ago, shortly after moving to Atlanta. However, I was unable to find the famous bamboo forest that is supposedly nearby. That was a little disappointing as it was an appealing feature that I was very interested to see. When one of the local Meetup groups scheduled another visit to this area, including a trip to the bamboo forest, I decided to revisit this trail and find that which had escaped me before.

It seems parking is always a problem at any of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area units, and today is no exception. When I arrive, the lot is completely full and several cars are just waiting for a spot to open up. As the group start time is approaching, I decide to head back out to the main road and find parking there, which results in another 1/3rd of a mile walk, but I need the exercise. Finally, meeting up with the group, we do our standard quick round of introductions before heading out.

The trails here are well maintained, but very similar to most of the trails in the area. Fallen leaves cover the trail in many places and as we are now in late fall, the nearly barren trees allow clear views of the landscape. The large group begins to fragment based upon each hiker's pace. This isn't normally an issue, but many of the slower hikers have positioned themselves closer to the front, forcing those behind to hike at a lesser pace. I see several people ask to pass and things sort of adjust naturally as we make or way through the woods.

After stopping at the observation deck to allow people to take in the sweeping view of the river far below, we make our way down a steep hill along one of our group leader's "secret trails", which takes us down near river level. From here, we follow the well worn trail north and into the bamboo forest. There seems to be a fair amount of bamboo growing in and around Atlanta, even some near my house, but the "trees" here are enormous. Many of the trunks are 6-8 inches in diameter and reach heights of 40-50 feet. The whole grove covers an area of roughly ten thousand square feet, but even at that small size, it's the largest example I've seen of a bamboo forest.

We spend a little time here before moving on. Several of the hikers in our group opted to take a different and less steep path to the forest and are only now reaching it as we depart. Not wanting to wait very long, we tell them to take a quick look and then rejoin us. The trail we take then leads us into a somewhat residential area that our leader has hiked before, but there is some amount of route-finding necessary as much of it has been overgrown since his last visit. I think some of the slower hikers get frustrated and begin asking for a route back to their cars. We eventually turn around and head back the way we came before rejoining the main trail.

Arriving back a the parking area, I catch a ride back to my jeep and while doing so, see we only covered about 5 miles today. It's a short hike, but I got to see what I came for. Several of us decide to visit a local tap room for drinks and snacks. Okay, just twist my arm, why don't you.

Providence Canyon - Backcountry Trail (Stewart County, Georgia)

 

When I visited Providence Canyon State Park a few months ago, I was amazed by the color palette of the continually collapsing canyon, but I was a bit disappointed in the short distance of the hike, knowing that that there was a longer option available. When one of the Meetup groups posted this hike again, and specified they would be doing the Backcountry Trail, I decided to return to the park and take care of that unfinished business.

After driving the 2.5 hours south to the park, I arrived at the visitor's center just a few minutes before the scheduled start time and began looking around for any familiar faces. It didn't take long to identify the group, even though the park is extremely crowded on this beautiful Saturday morning.

With a quick round of introductions, we start the trail heading clockwise around the rim of the canyon. Unlike many canyons out west, this one was created by poor farming practices during the last century or two. Uncontrolled erosion ate into the soft soil that was formerly a sea bed and began cutting this network of canyons through the orange and yellow earth that makes up this area. Looking into the canyon from above, it looks something like a miniature Grand Canyon, but on a much smaller scale.

The trail takes us through the area that was a former homestead and the rusted hulks of vehicles they left when they relocated. We then enter the wooded area to the south and west of the main park's main attraction. There area couple of somewhat steep climbs, but just enough to get the heart pumping a bit - nothing to strenuous.

After rounding the long finger of the trail on the western side of the park, we head back towards the eroded depressions that we saw from above earlier. Here the trail has a stead stream of water running over it carry even more soil from the canyons beyond. This is a continual process that will one day carve the canyons even deeper into the landscape. The sandy red soil mixed with clay doesn't hold the water very well and it makes for a bit of a muddy hike. Along the way, we note a couple of interesting trees - one with enormous leaves, which after some research, I'm still not able to identify.

Making our way back into the main area of the park, we explore a couple of the finger canyons, some of which require a small amount of climbing to access. This is where most of the people concentrate, but surprisingly, many are wearing masks and practicing social distancing. It's good to see.

The climb out of the canyon is a little steep and I notice my breathing is a bit more labored while wearing this face mask and ascending the trail, but it's all for a good cause, not to mention, I need the workout. As we say our goodbyes, I check my mileage and find that we've hiked about 8.1 miles - pretty good. This park is very interesting, but now that I've explored the Backcountry Trail in addition to the main canyon area, I don't know that I'll have any reason to return.

Blood Mountain via Jarrard Gap and Slaugther Creek Trails (Union County, Georgia)

Today will mark my third trip to the summit of Blood Mountain, and I believe along the final path to the top. It will also be my first trip completely during daylight, as my previous two were either evening or overnight hikes. When my friends in one of the local Meetup groups mentioned hiking this route from Jarrard Gap, its seemed only fitting that I should complete the trifecta and visit this high-point on the Georgia section of the AT from all possible angles.

Leaving the trailhead near Lake Winfield Scott around 11:00 AM, the twenty-or-so of us immediately encounter some rain on our ascent. We knew there was a chance of this and the thick fog driving up the mountain should have been another clue of things to come, but we decided to persevere and do the hike anyway. We're stubborn like that.

The trail is covered with leaves, but fairly easy to find. The rain fluctuates between a light mist and a steady pour, but never gets too bad. However, the combination of wind and rain do make for some thermal challenges and we stop a couple of times on the way up to shed and later add layers. 

Eventually meeting up with the AT near the summit, we quickly find the Blood Mountain Shelter and begin climbing the rocks to see what kind of views are available on this foggy day from 4,459 feet. The answer is really none. We surrounded by a thick bank of fog blocking the view in all directions. It's fine though. I've been here before and seen the wonderful views available from this mountain top.

We take a few minutes to get a quick snack in the shelter before heading back down the slippery trail. Instead of returning the way we came, we take a different route along the Slaughter Creek as we make our way back to our starting point. This path provides some outstanding views of the creek and the path our leader takes us on, which is not well known, actually crosses the small creek several times over a series of small wooden bridges and planks. Some of which turn out to be very slippery.

*Note - Photo courtesy of the Hiking League Meetup

After returning to the parking lot cold and wet, many of us do a quick change into some dryer clothes and decide to head to one of the nearby wineries to enjoy a little vino and celebrate our triumph over this nasty weather. Total mileage for the day was about 8.5 miles and while there was some elevation gain, it really didn't feel like much at all.

Old Stone Fort (Coffee County, Tennessee)

While moving my mother to Atlanta a couple of months ago, I drove past a sign for the Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park in central Tennessee. It caught my attention enough to research it a bit and what I found intrigued me. Set on the peninsula at the confluence of the Duck and Little Duck Rivers, the park protects a stone enclosure built by the Native Americans that inhabited this area during the Middle Woodland period around 1,500 years ago. Though early European settlers of the area that came many centuries later saw the structure as defensive in nature and called it a fort, this is probably unlikely.

As I'm passing back through this area to take my mother to visit my aunt in Kentucky, a quick hike around the ancient structure and park seemed a good way to stretch my legs on the long drive. We arrived at mid-day, but as it is a Thursday, there are only a few others in the parking lot at this time. The trail quickly departs and heads between two entrance mounds before opening up to the area enclosed by the fort wall, which is actually quite stunning. A large flat clearing of yellow grasses surrounded by a halo of orange and red trees showing their autumn plumage.

The trail follows the perimeter of the peninsula with options to hike below or above the wall. I choose to follow below for a better view of the river and waterfalls. The "fort wall" itself was created by piling stones to a height of four to six feet and then covering the pile with earth. After almost two millennia the wall now appears as a strange ridge line that encloses the plateau of the peninsula and reinforces the cliffs that drop off most sides of the area, as the two rivers cut gorges to descend to their confluence at the point of the area. Why did the indigenous peoples choose this place for their structure? It is quite beautiful to be sure, but what purpose the wall served is unclear.

Making my way around the peninsula in a clockwise direction, I'm amazed at the ruggedness of the terrain here in the middle of Tennessee. The gorges cut by these small rivers are pretty jagged and display several gorgeous waterfalls. I do a little rock scrambling on the cliff in attempts to get some good shots, but there are some pretty precarious situations to be found here and still wearing the splint on my broken finger doesn't help much. 

As I round the corner of the peninsula, I see that the wall actually has some intentional breaks in it. Again, I wonder why they didn't build it all the way around instead of in these long sections. We'll likely never know. 

Rounding the other side of the structure, I find the ruins of the Stone Fort Paper Company, built shortly before the Civil War. Now only a few crumbling stone walls remain, but apparently, there were three main structures back in the day utilizing the power of the river to produce paper and other products. It certainly adds even more history to an already historically interesting place, but I suspect visitors too preoccupied to read the informative signs will mistake these stone walls for those constructed by the much earlier inhabitants of this area.

After a great hike in the brisk fall air, I feel recharged and ready to continue our trip to my Aunt's house. I hiked about 1.8 miles around this very interesting ancient site and it was well worth it. The fall colors and colorful history of this place make for a great diversion, and the waterfalls are just a cherry on top of an already delicious ice cream sundae.

Chicopee Woods (Hall County, Georgia)

 

Sundays are normally great days for a hike and I often hit the trails with one of the local Meetup groups. Today, we are hiking Chicopee Woods and around the Elachee Nature Center just a few miles north of my home. After the short drive, I arrived at the parking lot and trailhead just a few minutes before the scheduled start time. With this broken finger of mine still in a splint most of the time, getting ready can be a little slower than normal. After a quick round of introductions, we entered the autumn-colored woods.

Following the green trail around the northern perimeter of the nature preserve we were able to maintain a pretty healthy pace. In fact, myself and a couple of other hikers got too far ahead of the main group and had to wait for them to catch up at one of the junctions. The trail has very, very little elevation gain though and so, it's just to easy to go fast. It's well maintained and cuts nicely through this beautiful wooded area. The fall colors are in full display, and shades of gold, orange, and ocher can be seen everywhere.

There are a few minor creek crossings, but well constructed foot bridges make them a non-issue. Eventually, we reach the junction of the green and orange trails and in order to add more distance, we switch to the orange trail, which will follow the southern perimeter of the area. This part of the trail does have a couple of very easy climbs, but nothing too strenuous. 

Finally nearing the end of the trail, we follow the read trail to the Nature Center, which also serves as a preschool. One of my fellow hikers, explains the "story trail", which we follow around the facility. It combines exercise and learning for the youngsters by placing a story panel every thirty or so yards, each contain the next lines of a story and encouraging the children to walk the trail to read the entire thing. It's actually pretty cool and we quickly walk around it. With this being a Sunday and in the middle of a pandemic, there are no children to be seen out here today, but hopefully, things get back to normal and the children are able to take advantage of this facility again soon.

Returning to the parking lot, I see from my GPS app that we have hiked about 7.1 miles on this glorious day. The weather was amazing and it was really great to get outside. Some of my fellow hikers suggest hitting a nearby brewery for a post-hike pint. Who am I to turn something like that down. Slante!