Long Creek Falls (Fannin County, Georgia)

 Wanting to get more miles in today, I decided to join one of the Meetup groups for a hike along a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT). The planned starting point was an area known as Three Forks and I plan on hiking another section from here at a later date. However, I took advantage of the carpool today, which should allow me to scope out the road and parking situation. Meeting up with several of the other hikers at a nearby Best Buy, we loaded into two vehicles and started the long drive north.

The drive went by fast, though the last several miles are along fairly rough forest service roads. We arrived at the parking area, which has room for around twenty cars in various configurations. While the group prepared themselves, I walked around and gathered a couple of other hikers that were part of our group, but that had decided to drive themselves. After a quick round of introductions, we quickly hit the trail heading northeast towards Long Creek Falls.

Reaching the junction, the entire group opted to take the spur trail back to the waterfall, which I had visited a while back on a different hike. Though we haven't had much rain lately, there was still a pretty good flow to the waterfall. In addition to the waterfall, I pointed out the petroglyphs (modern in nature) to the group. These had been brought to my attention on my last visit and after a careful examination that time, I was very confident in saying that the figures were scratched into the rock by European-American visitors and not Native Americans. I've visited a lot of rock art sites all around the country and even take some special interest classes to learn more about them. I can say with confidence that these were likely made in the last 100-150 years by settlers.

Leaving the waterfall, we continued north a ways and stopped at a cemetery and trail shelter just off the trail. It was a good place for a snack. We rested for a few minutes and then were at it again continuing northwest. As we made our way to the top of a ridge, a light mist started and we decided that it might be best to head back and possibly hike southwest on the trail to get more miles in. The idea being that we didn't want to be too far from the cars if a downpour should happen on top of us.

After crossing Chester Creek along a well made bridge, we entered a rhododendron tunnel and everyone commented about how beautiful it was. This side of the trail seems to be prettier than what we had done originally. To be honest, I didn't notice that much difference, but the others seem taken with it. We went a little further before turning back. 

Reaching the parking area just as my GPS tracker flipped over to 7.0 miles, our hike for the day was done. We said our goodbyes and piled back into the cars we came in headed for home. Overall, it was nice to get out with the group again and the trail was interesting enough. It did allow me to confirm that I could bring my car to this trailhead to complete full section of the AT from this point in the future.

Gibbs Gardens - Japanese Maple Walk (Cherokee County, Georgia)

 

It's been a couple of week since I've been able to get my mother out of the house and with the fall colors in full display, I thought it would be a great opportunity to take her back to Gibbs Gardens. The Japanese Maples should be showing off some amazing colors this time of year. I had the pleasure of visiting right after my wife and moved to Georgia, about five years ago, and it was an afternoon well spent. Hopefully, my mother will think so as well.

Though she can walk just fine, I thought this might be a little much for her and so, I loaded up here wheel chair into the back of my Subaru and we hit the road. It's about an hour drive. Once we arrived, we were directed to a parking spot, though I didn't mention the wheel chair and later regretted it, as I had to push her a fair distance on along a gravel road. It all worked out though. 

Once we entered the gardens and paid our admission, we first headed for the cafe and enjoyed a light lunch. Truffled egg salad on a croissant for both of us - quite tasty. I grabbed a bottle of water and we proceeded into the gardens, headed for the Japanese Garden area. The walkway is of a sandy/gravel composition and not very friendly to wheel chairs. It gave me a bit of a workout just pushing her around, but I think she was enjoying herself. 

I was amazed at how many people were here and a little disappointed in the color displays. I think we came a week or so too early this time around. That's not to say that there weren't some beautiful colorations, but there weren't quite as vibrant as I remember for my last trip, which closer to mid-November that year. We strolled around a couple of the lakes taking in all the gardens had to offer. She commented on how pretty everything was.

After about 45 minutes of pushing her around, I suggested that we should probably start making our way towards the exit. Along the way, she was able to see a number of other sections including some late-blooming flowers. The staff allowed me to leave her at the gate while I went to get the car, which made it a lot easier than trying to push that wheel chair uphill on gravel. And with that, we were on our way home.