Brown's Mill Battlefield (Coweta County, Georgia)

 

When a new hike that I had never done popped up on the Meetup schedule, I decided to take advantage of checking out a new trail. Brown's Mill Battlefield is a small park near Newnan, GA and commemorates a Civil War battle that took place here on July 30, 1864. From my research, a Union cavalry column launched a raid to sever Confederate communication and supply lines in the region. However, they were defeated by forces under General Joseph Wheeler. This defeat contributed to forcing Sherman's siege of Atlanta.

In the days leading up to the hike, my friend that manages the Meetup group was injured and had asked me to lead in his absence. I was more than happy to help him out. I arrived about twenty minutes before the scheduled start time to get a lay of the land and plan out my route. This trail system is meant primarily for mountain bikes and consists of several interweaving trails cutting back and forth on each other. But with a map on my phone and a good sense of direction, I had a pretty good plan put together in my head as the hikers started arriving. As usual, we did a quick round of introductions and I explained the plan. With that, we hit the trail.

The first thing I noticed was that the trail colors on the marker posts differ from those on the map. I soon realized that the blue trail was actually the maroon trail on the map. That's an unfortunate piece of coordination by the park administration. We made our way okay though, as we crossed a power-line swath multiple times along different trail routes. 

Eventually, I wanted to make my way to the outskirts of the park and began heading that way. Suddenly, though an unexpected lake came into view. I was expecting to see a small pond, but further along the trail. This made me question my perceived location on the map. Pushing forward we followed a use trail along the shore of the lake and eventually got into an area where the trail just vanished. I still had a good sense of direction and knew how to get us back, but it required a little bushwhacking. That normally wouldn't be an issue, but we had to pass through a section of thick thorn bushes. I warned everyone to be careful and just as I did, ended up slicing my finger open on one of the sharp little devils. Once we got back to a clearing, I took a minute to clean it and put a bandage on it. Nothing serious, but it was bleeding a bit and needed to be cared for. 

From there, we eventually found the correct trail and covered the outskirts of the park, including the expected small pond. The larger lake we found did not appear on any map we had available. From there, we road walked a bit to get back to the main hiking trail and encountered a fenced marker commemorating the battle. It actually looked more like a tombstone, but after researching it a bit, I discovered there wasn't anyone buried here and it simply marked the battle. The print had unfortunately been heavily worn and made it difficult to read on site.

Once the parking lot came into site, I explained our current mileage and that I was going to do another section, but that everyone was welcome to make their own choice: return to their car or continue hiking. Three of the fifteen or so hikers decided to join me. We followed the red trail, which is wide and well marked. It added an additional mile or so to our total distance, which reached about 6.7 miles by the time we returned to the parking lot. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. While the trails were nice and well maintained at this park (other than the surprise lake and trail color issue), it's one of those parks where they've cut trail for the sake of cutting trail, instead of having a trail that actually leads somewhere. This my not favorite type and I will likely not return, but it was great to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and good company.

Appalachian Trail: Woody Gap to Gooch Gap (Lumpkin County, Georgia)

The weather has not been cooperative the last couple of weekends and though, I have wanted to some trail miles in, I really don't like hiking in the pouring rain when I can avoid it. That said, today, it looks like I may catch a break. For a while now, I've wanted to start doing some sections of the Appalachian Trail and the next one on my target list is the easy section from Woody Gap to Gooch Gap. I'm going to try to beat the rain and knock that piece out today.

On my drive, I catch a few drizzly rain drops, but I decide to push on and when I finally reach the trail head parking area at Woody Gap, the sun has come out and it's turning into a beautiful December day. Tossing my day pack on my back, I head south from the parking lot along the well maintained trail. The first part skirts along the side of a small mountain, but the grade is pretty level and the going is easy.

At about the mile-and-a-half point, I start a short climb up to Ramrock Mountain, which is really nothing more than a bunch of giant boulders poking out of the top of a hill. It reminds me though of just how out of shape I am. I really need to get back to doing this more regularly. On the descent from this part, I run into a man with an orange hunting vest on and a rifle over his shoulder. He asks if I have seen any deer, but I inform him that I've only seen and heard squirrels bouncing around in the dry leaves. He thanks me an continues along his way. I wasn't aware that hunting was allowed this close to the trail, but perhaps, he is only following it back.

From there the trail continues to rise and fall with a little elevation gain, but overall, it's pretty easy going even with my less-than-ideal fitness level at the moment. When I finally reach Gooch Gap, I find a woman sitting at an obvious campsite, complete with a firepit and logs setting around it for benches. I ask if I might join her to take a short break and she welcomes me. We chat about the trail and the weather for a few minutes, before she heads her own way down the road passing over Gooch Gap. After another couple of minutes and a swig of water, I start heading back the way I came.

I bump into a few more hikers on the way back. All of whom are very friendly. I wish each of them a Merry Christmas as I pass by. The return the sentiment. I'm reminded of how nice it is to be outside with the sun shining down and the trail leading me back to my car. I really miss this and need to get back to doing it more frequently. Finally reaching the car, I take another swig of water and check my mileage. It seems I've hiked almost exactly 7 miles round trip. Not a bad way to spend a Friday. 

Victorian Christmas at Hardman Farm (White County, Georgia)

 I was able to briefly visit Hardman farm earlier this year as part of the Falls to Farm New Year's Day Hike, but I didn't have time to explore much. Since then I've wanted to return and really take in this Victorian farm house. When I saw that the state park service was going to host a historical Victorian Christmas re-enactment at the farm, it seemed a great opportunity not only to see more of the farmhouse, but also to get my mother out for a little holiday cheer.

My wife, my mother, and I drove the hour or so to Helen on this drizzly Saturday afternoon. Luckily, the rains held off and we simply had to deal with a foggy drive. Once we arrived, we checked-in at the visitor's center and enjoyed some cupcakes a mulled wine, while we waited our turn to take a hayride from the visitor's center to the farm house. The field between was quite muddy and the tractor pulled trailer saved us from making a mess. I also think that my mother enjoyed it.

Once at the house, we finished our drinks before entering and were then greeted by a volunteer portraying Mrs. Ary Jones the head housekeeper. She welcomed us to the dinner part re-enactment and explained the various rooms, historical figures being portrayed in the various rooms, as well as the Christmas Tree decorating contest between rooms. She was very warm and her acting and accent were top notch. Moving into the family parlor, we met "Cpt. James and Mrs. Kate Nichols", the owners of the mansion. They were also very friendly and thanked us for attending their dinner party.

Moving through the various rooms, we met a host of historical figures and enjoyed wonderful conversation with the actors. The lack of mention of modern cars or highways in our travel story to the farm was quite comical. As we explained, we arrived by "carriage". 

After leaving the main house, we headed out to one of the farm buildings to meet Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause. They thanked us for coming and just as they did, the tractor and trailer arrived to carry us back to the visitor's center. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and both the actors and decorators did a wonderful job of recreating a holiday dinner party as it may have happened over a century ago. I think my mother really enjoyed it, but for now, we need to head home.