Kennesaw Mountain - Pigeon Hill Trails (Cobb County, Georgia)

 

Kennesaw Mountain National Historic Park is a piece of land set aside to preserve a famous and bloody battle towards the end of the Civil War, as General Sherman made his march towards Atlanta. I've hiked many trails in the park over my time in Georgia, but speaking with the leader of one of the meetups that I often hike with, I learned that he planned to do some unmarked trails today, which peaked my interest. 

Arriving at the overflow parking lot a few minutes before the scheduled start time of noon, I find a shady spot to await the arrival of the others going on today's outing. It's hot today. Not warm, but truly hot. The heat index is expected to rise over 105 degrees. I'm a bit concerned about heat exhaustion and take some steps to help protect myself, including plenty of hydration. Additionally, I opted to carry my water in a little sling as opposed to using my day pack. With the heat and humidity today, I think the pack would have just created a pocket to capture sweat on my back and just raise my body temperature.

People start showing up and congregating around the leader's SUV. With a group of about eighteen hikers, we do a quick round of introductions in the shade and then head into the woods directly from the parking lot. The shade of the thick woods and a slight breeze makes it a little more tolerable in here, but it's still extremely hot. Over the first couple of miles, we make really good time and only really pause to allow people to look at and some canon installations along the Union's 24-Gun Battery. Here some mock cannons have been installed at the original locations and behind the earthen walls that once protected them incoming fire. Though the woods has grown up around this area, it's not difficult to imagine this as an open field where Union canons were battering the Confederate lines. 

Continuing on, we hit an open field and the sun beats down on us harshly for a short distance. Luckily, I used an ample amount of sunscreen today. Even though the heat is uncomfortable, the great conversation makes it all worthwhile. We had discussions across a variety of topics, from hiking shoe comfort to politics and from the origin of human community to the relativity. It's always entertaining and I always learn a few things from these good folks.

Finally stopping at a bridge over Noses Creek, we take a short snack break. The water is flowing reasonably well for this time of year, but it offers little relief from the overbearing heat this day. Even though I'm wearing synthetic materials in the ops of wicking away the moisture, I feel it's something of a lost cause on this day.

Heading back up into the woods, we encounter a series of trenches dug out to serve as cover for soldiers during firearm exchanges. We have some discussion on which way the soldiers were probably firing. Here again, the woods has grown up around the area, but a century and a half ago, this was probably an open field. It's always interesting to see these Civil War sites and playout the battle in my mind.

With a few miles under our belts, we begin making our way back towards the parking lot. It's been a hot hike today, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I end up in the lead and find a small stick to wave in front of my face to take the spider webs. On more well-traveled trails, this usually isn't a problem, but these are not well-known trails and with the joro spiders having made their home in this part of the state, it's better to be safe than have a face-full of super-strong spider web and it's maker in your nose.

Getting back to the cars, I see we've hiked right at 9.3 miles. That's more than the leader had originally planned for this hot day, but I don't mind it a bit. Now, several of us will head to local pub for a snack and some cold adult beverages . . . and cold water, lots of cold water.