Sawnee Mountain and Indian Seats (Forsyth County, Georgia)

A couple of weeks ago, the owner of the Meetup I hike with most often called and asked if I would be willing to lead the group's standard Sunday hike on this day. He was going to be out of town and didn't want to cancel the hike. He offered a couple of suggestions, but left it to me to set the location. I agreed and decided to take the group to Sawnee Mountain Preserve, which might be just slightly more challenging than the normal Sunday hike, but nothing terrible. The trail includes two loops forming a figure eight around the two small mountains, Sawnee Mountain and Indian Seats. 

Knowing that some folks in the group might struggle with the inclines, I set the hike up in such a way that we passed nearby the parking area after doing the longer southern loop around Sawnee Mountain. The plan was then to continue along the second loop and visit the summit of the second mountain on the northern loop and visit Indian Seats, which is the name given to a large rock outcropping that offers some wonderful views.

Meeting up with the group under an awning near the parking lot, I give a brief overview of today's plan and after a quick round of introductions, we're off. I purposely try to slow my pace a little bit today. I'm generally a very fast hiker, but this group is often more leisurely and as I'm simply leading the hike in the normal organizer's place, I try to keep things as standard as possible, which includes a slightly slower pace for me.

The trail is well maintained and we enjoy some great conversations as we make our way around the southern mountain. I stop the group at trail junctions and to give the slower hikers a chance to catch up. We finish this loop without incident and once we reach the cross-point, I point out the parking area and offer those that have already exhausted themselves a chance to bail. A few take advantage of the opportunity. The rest of us take a couple of minutes to enjoy whatever snacks we may have brought with us.

After a ten minute break, we cross the road and head up the northern trail towards Indian Seats. This side is only a short distance and we're there before we know it. As there are some really great views from atop this mountain, I tell the group to take ten minutes and then point out a place to reconvene. Everyone wanders off and starts taking pictures. This is a really popular spot and there are already a number of other hikers up there that are not part of my group.

With the appropriate time having passed, I yell for the group to head out and we start down the longer descent on the western side of the mountain. Along the way we pass an old gated-off gold mine, which sparks some conversation.

Before long we're back at the parking area. I check my GPS track and see that it lost signal at some point and is unusable. From past hikes though, I know this trail is about 9.1 miles long and so, we'll go with that for today's distance. I wish everyone safe travels and we each set off in our own directions for wherever home might be.