First Day Hike - Falls to Farm (White County, Georgia)

 

It's New Year's Day and what better way to kick off 2023 than with a good hike. Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites is offering a supported 11-mile hike from the gorgeous Anna Ruby Falls along Smith Creek and ending at the historic Hardman Farm. It seemed like a great way to spend the holiday. 

I tried to pace my sleep the night before accordingly as I needed to be up before midnight PST (3:00 AM for me in EST) in order to reserve some camp sites for a backpacking trip I have planned for late April. After getting the sites taken care of, I laid back down, but still didn't get a great deal of sleep. No matter. I left the house about 6:15 AM in order to arrive at the starting point, Hardman Farm Visitor's Center, in time for the start of the hike at 7:30 AM. Once there, I checked in and shortly afterwards one of the park employees gave us a rundown of the event and facilities along they way. With that out of the way, we loaded onto a shuttle bus and headed for the Anna Ruby Falls parking area a few miles north.

Stepping off of the bus, I can tell it's a bit cool this morning, but it should be great for hiking. Smith Creek rumbles in the background and after a group shot, everyone starts making their way up the paved trail towards the famous waterfall. Actually, a few started as soon as they exited the bus, not realizing the park staff wanted to get a group picture. Anyway, I started pushing my pace immediately. I really need to get myself in shape for a number of reasons and there is no time like the present. 

Smith Creek provides a great hiking partner all the way up to the twin waterfall that feeds it. Anna Ruby Falls was apparently named for one for the daughter of one of the areas early settlers, who also has some history with Hardman Farm. After a short, but steep half mile or so, the roaring waterfalls come into view. The taller plummet for Curtis Creek on the left and the York Creek on the right merge to form Smith Creek, which is a major tributary of the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia, joining with the famous river just northwest of the German-inspired village of Helen, GA.

I stop at the waterfalls for a couple of pictures and then start up the earthen trail to the right, which is known as the Smith Creek Trail, as it follows the creek all the way down to where it has been dammed to form Unicoi Lake. The trail is fairly easy to follow even with a lot of autumn leaves carpeting it. As we've had a lot of rain over the past week or so, there are some pretty slippery sections and I'm careful to ensure I have good footing. My pace remains fast and I pass I end up catching up to and passing all of the early starters that missed the group photo.

As with most group hikes, the spray of hikers tend to group themselves by pace and after loosing the trail briefly and having to relocate it, a couple of other fast hikers seemed to have caught up with me. One of them, a middle-aged woman is blaring music from her cell phone. I'm patient at first, but eventually become frustrated with it and politely ask her to either use head phones or turn it off, as I want to enjoy the music of the forest. She doesn't put up any argument and immediately turns it off. Afterwards, we actually begin talking and hike together for most of the remainder of the event, along with another gentleman.

When we reach the lake, the park employees are staffing our first supply site. Here, they are offering us sausage or egg biscuits, fruit, granola bars, coffee and water. It's nice to have these options. I quickly munch down a banana and then confirm the next part of the trail before heading out. My companions are close behind. From there, the trail follows the Helen to Unicoi Trail into Helen, Georgia. This is probably a more popular trail and offers less elevation change. It's very serene though and I'm really enjoying the creek crossings and just general atmosphere.

At the end of this section, we enter Helen, GA and will walk the backroads of this small hamlet until we exit the eastern end and continue on to Hardman Farm, just outside of town. Along the way, cross over the mouth of Smith Creek, where it merges with the adolescent Chattahoochee and also the Beer Hall, where the village holds their famous rendition of Oktoberfest. There's also another aid station in town supporting those of us on the hike. Helen is a cool little town and enjoy coming here. 

Finally, we reach the end point of the hike back at the Hardman Farm visitor's center. Other than a young man that treated the hike as a trail run, my companions and I are the first to arrive. The park employees greet us and point us to the food. They have set up a buffet of different varieties of chili and toppings, along with a selection of cookies. I put a bowl of chili together and relax with my fellow hikers, while the park employees explain a bit of the history of Hardman Farm.

This was once a working farm and an early settlement in this part of northern Georgia. The main house was built in 1870, along with several of the supporting buildings (some of which are older). Additionally, it's worth mentioning the Nacoochee Mound in the nearby pasture, which is a Native American mound structure that was spared the fate of others in the area because the family thought it would be a great location for small gazebo, which now sits atop it. The house and farm were donated to the state in 1999 and converted as a state historic site.

I consider taking a tour of the house, but with the minimal amount of sleep that I got last night, I'm pretty exhausted and decide to save that for another time. The hike registered on my GPS tracker at about 10.8 miles and I completed it in just over 3 hours, which is a pretty decent pace. It was an enjoyable event and I may considering doing it again at some point. For now though, my pillow at home is calling my name and I must answer.