On my way home from Cloudland Canyon, I wanted to do a couple more hikes. I got in some good trail miles yesterday, but I've got some big hikes coming up in the next few weeks and I really want to give myself some conditioning hikes. I chose to drive to the Burnt Mountain Preserve near Jasper, GA, which has been on my radar for a while, but until now, I've never visited.
The trailhead is nothing more than a dirt clearing and there was one other car there when I pulled in. Knowing that even the more challenging of the two available trails was only about two miles, I decided to leave my pack and my water in the car. The trail starts out simple enough, but I ran into a lot of spider webs and saw quite a bit of poison ivy on the shoulders of the path. I grabbed small stick and began waving it in front of me to clear the spider webs. It helped a bit.
Where the trails diverge, I decided to do the more challenging one that lead down to Champion Creek far below. The descent was actually pretty steep and it seems the trail has eroded quite a bit. Eventually though, I made it to the creek and found pretty cool shelf-like water feature, which is probably a neat waterfall when there is more water flowing. This really was the highlight of the hike.
From there, I began the steep ascent along the other half of the loop. With the temperatures rising and me working pretty hard to climb out of this valley, I think I may have suffered some minor heat exhaustion. At least, I was exhibiting the symptoms of it. I slowed my pace and took my time on the last half-mile or so, but I was very glad to reach my car, my water, and my air conditioning. The loop trail was only about 2.1 miles, but it was a good workout.
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