Morningside Trail (DeKalb County, Georgia)

 

I was near downtown Atlanta this afternoon for a class and thought I would take the opportunity to check out a short trail I found on the map starting from the Morningside Nature Preserve. We're in the first week of autumn and the temperatures have been very mild the last few days, with today being the warmest I've seen since getting home from Iceland. I'd guess the air temperature is about 84°, which is still much better than it was prior to my trip.

The small parking area has couple of other cars, but it looks like I will largely be alone on this trail. As I make my way up a slight incline through the woods, I'm actually kind of amazed. It seems this little piece of woods has been carved out of the surrounding residential areas. Once I reach the top of the small hill, a set of staircases allows the trail to descend back down towards the South Fork of Peachtree Creek. Along the way, I encounter a gentleman admiring a large spider in the center of its web. I'm fairly certain that it's just a large joro, which have been taking over the area for the last few years, but he emphatically claims it is a venomous banana spider. The gentleman doesn't seem to be all that stable and I just let him have his way, though I'm confident it was a joro. 

A bit further down the trail, I approach a wooden suspension bridge over the creek. It seem sturdy enough and after walking along the little shoreline for a few feet, I go ahead and cross. On the far side, the trail splits, but having looked at the map, I realize this is a loop and so the direction I choose is irrelevant. I choose to go right. That said though, there area large number of side trails leading off from the main trail. I decide to stick to the widest and most well worn trail, which is usually the best plan for this situations. It serves me well and after a bit I return to the bridge.

Making my way back towards the parking lot, I note that the spider is no longer on its web. I assume the man put an end to it. Disappointing! When I arrive back at my car, I check the mileage and see that I only got in about 1.8 miles, but it's better than nothing and this was a nice little trail system in such a developed area.