Sprayberry Rock (Cobb County, Georgia)

On my way home from Chatsworth, GA, I decided to stop and visit what I had originally thought was a rock adorned with a petroglyph panel. The Sprayberry Rock now resides just outside an Optometrist's Office, apparently moved that location from it's original resting place about one hundred feet away. 

Instead of petroglyphs, what I found was perhaps more interesting. The rock itself is a type of soapstone and ancient peoples chiseled away at the soft-ish stone to carve out bowls and other utensils. A couple of works-in-progress can easily be identified on this example. A information plaque near the stone suggests that the work is approximately 4,000 years old. I don't know much about this type of earthen works, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

Tear Drop Half-Marathon (Murray County, Georgia)

 After spending the morning and early afternoon in Helen, GA yesterday, I drove over to Chatsworth and then to Dalton, GA in preparation for running my first half-marathon in about six-months. This morning, I'll be running the Tear Drop Half-Marathon, which starts at the summit of Fort Mountain and heads down into Chatsworth proper. I'm a little nervous as my knees really caused me some problems on my last distance run, but they were okay hiking down to Havasu Falls last week and so, I felt it was worth testing them

Waking up at 4:30 am in my hotel room in Dalton, I dressed and packed my gear. It's about a thirty minute drive back to Chatsworth, but this was a better option than trying to drive there from home, which would have been over two-hours and would have required me to get up even earlier. The drive is uneventful and I quickly find a place to park, before loading up onto one of the provided buses. We'll be transported to the starting line and then run back to our cars. Unfortunately, they organized the bus load order alphabetically by last name, which meant I was on the 6:00 am bus. 

I chat a bit with the other runners on the drive up and once at the top, we unload and then await the start of the race. It's pretty cold up here and we'll be standing around for nearly an hour. We are reward with a beautiful sunrise though and just the general comradery makes it worthwhile.

As 7:30 am approaches, we get in position and with a countdown from ten, we're off. This odd course will require us to run about 2-miles, turn-around, run back to the start, and then repeat that section again before hitting the 5-mile mark and starting the steep downhill. It's fairly easy though and I'm feeling pretty good. The first section does have some slight uphills and I try to conserve some energy as I traverse these sections. Returning to the start line, I pop into one of the port-o-pottys, and then start the first section again. 

I'm towards the back of the pack, but I'm feeling good and my knees seem to be holding, even when the downhill starts. Between mile 6 and mile 12, we loose around 2,000 feet of elevation and by the end my knees are starting to feel it a little bit, but nothing too terrible. The final mile takes us into town and eventually, we get back to the finish line. A cold beer and some barbequed pork over mac 'n' cheese greets us, along with our finisher's medal.

Though the race was mostly downhill, I'm still pretty happy with my performance. I finished in 2:40:47, which is over forty minutes faster than my last half-marathon. My knees were really giving me fits on that one though and even with all the downhill, they are not in too bad of shape after this run. Now the long drive home.

Volkswanderung - Helen to Unicoi (White County, Georgia)

This morning, I'm heading up to the little Bavarian-themed town of Helen, GA to participate in their annual Volkswanderung, or organized walk. This even will include options for a 1k, 5k, or 10k hike in and around town and upon the participant's return to the starting point at Bodensee Restaurant a Bavarian festival complete with music, food, and beer. Including the hike itself, that covers four of my favorite food groups. How could I not engage in this.

After finding a parking spot on the public lots in Helen, I checked in at Bodensee only to find out that the event was cash only. Luckily, there is a bank just a short distance away and I was able to get cash from their ATM. The gentleman checking me asked, which distance I was planning to do and of course, I replied with the 10k. Since I was checking in only a few minutes before registration closed, he expressed some concern that I might not be able to finish in time, but I was able to put his mind at ease. After all, I hiked 10-miles and 3,000 feet of elevation gain in only 4-hours as I climbed out of the western end of the Grand Canyon coming from Havasu Falls. I really don't think it's going to take me much more than 2-hours to hike 6.2 miles over mostly flat ground. 

With that, I was off. The first section traverses town and allowed me to take a slight detour to drop a bag off at my car before continuing into the woods on the Helen to Unicoi trail, which connects town to the Unicoi Lodge. I passed a number of other participants as I made my way through the woods. I've hiked this trail a few times in the past and while nothing spectacular, it is a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the tourist town that Helen has become. 

Along the way, I stopped a couple of times to take a picture of Lower Smith Creek, which pours into the Chattahoochee River that flows through town, though it isn't much of a river until it gets further south. There are some nice views though. As I make my way along the well-traveled trail, I'm felling really strong and I continue to push a very fast pace. 

After about 3.1 miles, I reached Unicoi Lodge and got my stamp. The gentleman manning the check-point offered me water, but I still had plenty left. I made a quick turn and started heading back down towards Helen still at a blazing pace. At his point food and beer are on my mind and the sooner I get back to the restaurant, the sooner, I can enjoy both. 

The trip back is uneventful, though I do stop to chat with a few other hikers along the way. Some are struggling on the uphills and ask me what my secret is. I simply reply with 'persistence'. They laugh and we continue our march back to Helen. I remind them that cold beer is waiting for us, which gets another chuckle.

Getting back to Bodensee, I do my final check-in and I'm pointed towards the food. I grab a cold Paulaner Munich Lager, hot-off-the-grill garlic wurst (which the woman serving it refers to by a different name that I can't remember), and a seat. With the hike complete, I enjoy my well-deserved refreshment and meal. Damn! This thing really has some garlic. It's quite delicious and I finish it pretty quickly, along with my beer. My hike was right about 6.9 miles including the detour to my car and I completed in just about two-hours. This is a cool little event and if we're still living in the area, I'll probably try to do this again next year.

Havasu Falls (Coconino County, Arizona)

A co-worker and his wife backpacked to Havasu Falls last spring before the floods, and after speaking with him about the trip and seeing his pictures, it seemed like something I wanted to do. For months, I watched the Havasupai Nation's website for when the lottery would open up. Havasu Falls is on tribal lands and they strictly regulate visitation. Finally around the first of the year, the lottery opened up and I was able to enter it for the dates I hoped would work out. A few weeks later, I got confirmation and was able to pay the steep camping reservation fees ($455 per person for four days/three nights). That said, I'm thankful for the opportunity to be able to visit such an iconic waterfall and as long as the money helps the tribe, I have no problem paying it. My friend, Nick, had expressed interest and decided to join me for the trip.

Day 1

Flying into Las Vegas yesterday, we drove to the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn, where we had to pick up our permits and had made arrangements to stay the night before our trek started. We enjoyed a quite evening and rose around 4:00 am to drive to the trailhead and start our hike. It's about an hour drive from the Inn to the trailhead and we arrived around 6:00 am. Just as we pulled into our parking spot, I realized that I had forgotten my hiking poles at the Inn. I don't generally like using them, but as we are essentially descending down a steep cliff into the western section of the Grand Canyon, I thought they would ease the burden on my aging knees. That said though, it would take more than 2-hours to drive back and get them and return. I'll go without and just hope my knees hold up.

After using the restrooms at the top, we started the sharp descent into the canyon. I told Nick I wanted to take it very slow until it flattens out to make it easier on my knees. He was fine with that and we began the long descent. The wind is whipping up here though and while the air temperature isn't that cold, it sure feels like it's just a few degrees above freezing.

We descended just over 1,100' in only about a mile-and-a-half. That first section really is steep and it's going to be a bear climbing back out of here in a couple of days. As the trail starts to level out though, we're rewarded with magnificent views of this morning's fresh beams of sunlight just starting to light up the landscape and the mighty canyon before us.

From there, it's mostly flat and unremarkable, though the landscape in general is magnificent with red and orange cliffs in every direction. The occasional sage brush, prickly pear cactus, or small cottonwood tree greets us as we trek deeper into Havasupai lands. My knees didn't really cause me any problems coming down and we're able to hit a good pace as we traverse this middle section of the hike. We pass a few folks on their way out of canyon. This seems to be a very popular hike.

As we round a turn in the dry wash, we here horses in the distance and soon a train of cargo-carrying beasts passes us with a local driving them forward. It seems the tribe offers a luggage service, where hikers can have their gear carried in by horse and then collect it at the campground. That's not for me though, I want the full experience. That almost seems like cheating, but to each their own.

After about 8 miles, we see join another canyon through which Havasu Creek passes and then reach the village of Supai, which doesn't allow any pictures to be taken of the people or the culture. The water of the creek is so blue and crystal clear. We stop here for a short rest. As we pass through the village, I was looking for the well-known Fry-bread stand, but it wasn't yet open. The sign read's something along the lines of "Open and 9:00 am, we should be here by noon-ish". In my experience the first nations of the US keep their own time and this sign just re-enforces that belief. No fry-bread for us . . . at least right now.

With the majority of our miles out of the way, we follow the creek past a couple of more waterfalls and pass a number of other hikers. Both Nick and I keep very fast paces when we hike. Before long, we hear the rumble of the mighty Havasu Falls and are then upon it. As we pass by the top of the falls, we have to walk down another steep, but very short hill into the campground. Along the way, we stop for pictures of the waterfall. It's one of the most magnificent contrast of colors I've ever seen in the natural world. The bluish-green waters of Havasu Creek tumble 90-100 feet over the deep red cliffs. Lush green moss and algae grow where the water droplets hit and the blue sky and white puffy clouds provide a great backdrop for this wonderful scene.

Knowing that we'll return later, we decide to walk on into the campground, select our site, and get our tents erected. As we pass the ranger station, we decide to take the first campsite to the left, as it is near restrooms, the water refill (Fern Spring), and the cliff and trees offers some shelter from the storms we are expecting tomorrow. Also, it will be slightly less distance to hike when we depart on Saturday morning. Though we have four days in the canyon, we're only going to take advantage of three of them. 

We take an hour or so to get our camp set up and eat some lunch. I opted for some re-hydrated pad thai, which was really delicious. After our meal and a little relaxation, we decide to head further north through the campground to visit the next waterfall along the creek, Mooney Falls.

There really are a lot of people camping here and we are both please with our site selection, as we are somewhat isolated while many other groups are packed tightly next to each other like a suburb. The walk to Mooney Falls is only about a mile and we're there in no time. I hike so much faster when I don't have forty-ish pounds of gear on my back.

This waterfall is slightly taller and more narrow than it's brother, though access is more challenging. We get close to the edge and get some pictures and then wander down a steep set of natural steps to another viewpoint. The color contrast here is similar to Havasu Falls, but the views aren't as expansive due to the tight confines of the canyon here. Though we could continue on, I explain that I'm not willing to risk injury and with a storm approaching, I'd rather turn back. Nick agrees and we head back the way we came.

Rather than return to our campsite though, we walk past it and head down to the lower viewing area of Havasu Falls, where dozens of people are wading, swimming, and just admiring this natural wonder. out outlet of the pool below the waterfall, a number of mineral-deposit walls have formed terraces (reminiscent of Mammoth Falls in Yellowstone) and several people are enjoying the cool waters on this warm afternoon. The cold mist coming of the waterfall is enough for me to recognize that I have no desire to go swimming in this cold water. A nearby sign indicates that the lush blue color of the water here is a result of high concentration of lime in the water.

While we're near the falls, we decide to head up top to see if the satellite fry-bread tent is open. We passed this on our way down, but it was closed. To our delight though, it is open now and several hikers have stopped to enjoy this novelty food. Nick mentions that he's never had fry bread, but once he tastes it, he's sold. While the use of lard makes this dish very unhealthy, it's so damn good. I choose the been and cheese version, while Nick orders the full fry-bread taco. I also enjoy a diet coke with my second meal. With many miles traveled and fully bellies, we're in need of rest. We head back to camp and relax the rest of the evening.

Day 2

Through the evening and night, I slept pretty well, though I do remember waking up a couple of times to rain falling on my tent. I was warm and dry inside though. At about 6:00 am, I crawled out of my sleeping bag, put my puffy and hiking shoes on and wandered over to the restroom to take care of morning business. 

Returning, I started boiling some water for breakfast and told Nick through his tent wall, that I was doing so. He joined me a short time later. I ate some blueberries and granola, while enjoying a cup of hot tea. Nick had decided to try the gravy and biscuit pack, which he said was pretty good, though heavy on the black pepper. 

After breakfast, we walked back up to Havasu Falls. When we arrived we were the only ones here and we were able to get some nice pictures without the crowds, though the sky is colored gray in them instead of the vivid blue we had yesterday.

Nick has some papers to sign for some home repairs and decides to walk the two-miles or so back into Supai Village in the hopes of getting enough signal to take care of his business. I return to camp and get comfortable in my camp chair. Dozing off a few times through the morning, it's just nice to relax with no specific obligations.

After a couple of hours Nick returns, and just in time. Thunder heralds the beginning of the storm and we scramble for our tents as the rains begin. I'll end up spending most of the rest of the afternoon in here to avoid getting wet from the soaking rainfall. I'm not concerned with the rain so much, as the being wet part. It's supposed to drop to around 35° degrees overnight tonight and that would be a fine recipe for hypothermia. I'll pass, thank you.

We do get a break in the weather around 4:00 pm though and I take advantage to come out and fix some dinner. Tonight, it will be chicken-pesto with pasta. Not bad, but I put too much water in and the sauce is quite thin. Ah well, it's always hard to judge these things and the directions are so often wrong, that I generally ignore them. 

With the rain starting up again, I crawl back into my tent around 6:00 pm and resolve to spend the rest of the evening in it's confines. I'm warm in here, but my back begins to ache a little and I struggle to get comfortable. The rain continues throughout most of the night and I toss and turn with back pain, never really getting any sound sleep.

Day 3

Super early start this morning, as we want to climb out of the canyon along that steep cliff before the sun raises the temperatures too high. Though it's suppose to be super cold this morning, it feels more like 45° than the predicted 35°. Nick and I break camp and begin packing. We're on the trail by 5:20 am and though I have my headlamp ready to go, the dawning sun provides enough light that's not really necessary.

We push the pace pretty hard, as we pass a few other hikers on their way out. Stopping only for a short water break and to readjust layers in Supai, we continue through gorgeous canyon scenery. Towards the end and shortly before the climb, we're passed by a number of other horse trains, but we're almost there now. 

With the very steep climb in front of us, we slow our pace substantially and just resolve ourselves to the workout that climbing 1,100 feet in just over a mile will be. It's tiring, especially with a full pack on my back, but I manage to keep putting one foot in front of the other. About half-way, I take a pack of Gu for a little energy boost. Soon, the restroom structure comes into view and before we know it, we're at the top once again. 

All the work done, we head back to the car. I check distance and time. We managed to hike almost exactly ten miles this morning, including the steep ascent in only four hours and ten minutes, which is really good. Our total distance for the hike is 21.6 miles, which includes the walk to Mooney Falls, but none of the back and forth between our campsite and Havasu Falls.

Overall, this was a great trip with some spectacular scenery. That said though, the rain yesterday kind of put a damper on the trip. We knew it was coming, but without the ability to change dates, we just suffered through it. With the hike out of the way, we'll return to the Inn to collect my hiking poles and then onto Las Vegas for some fun, food, and rest.

North Avenue Petroglyph Site (Mohave County, Arizona)

 I'm on my way to Havasu Falls in northern Arizona with my long-time friend, Nick for a short backpacking trip. After flying into Las Vegas this morning, we have a three-hour or so drive to get to our accommodations for the night and along the way, I thought it might be good to find a distraction and to stretch our legs. Reviewing our route for possible points of interest, I found some information on the North Avenue Petroglyph Site. Though, the exact location was not obvious from descriptions I found, I was confident I had located it with a little detective work and Google satellite images.

Once we parked the car at the probably location, we had a short walk down a dusty desert road to a pile of volcanic rocks, which I had seen in the satellite images. As soon as we approached, we started identifying petroglyphs scratched into the boulders - first a bird (?), and then an antelope, and then some geometric shapes. All in all, we found roughly a dozen petroglyphs at the site. There may have been more, but there were limits how much time we had available. Still, it was an interesting site and a welcome stroll into the past on the way to our larger adventure.

Mammoth March Alabama - Oak Mountain (Shelby County, Alabama)

 

A couple of years ago, I learned of a annual hiking event held in multiple states called Mammoth March. The idea is to hike twenty miles in a single day. I've accomplished that feat many times over the years, but as I'm training for some big hikes later this year, I thought I would check out one of these events. 

Driving over the Birmingham, AL area last night after work, I spent the night at a hotel and got up early this morning to get to Oak Mountain State Park before my scheduled start time of 8:00 am. There are a lot of people here and I encounter several of them already on the trail, which crosses the entrance road, on my way in. I guess there were some very early start times. After finding parking, I headed to the check-in area. I was surprised at all of the hype around this. It is very similar to a big race, complete with the large inflatable starting arch. I was a little disappointed at having to wait in line to start the hike, but it's not that big of a deal. It did delay my start until about 8:20 am though. 

Once I was moving though, I was really moving. I maintained a pace of nearly 4 miles per hour for the first 8 miles of the hike. During this section, I passed countless hikers with a courteous "passing on your left". Everyone was encouraging each other, which was really nice. The mostly level trail itself was well maintained and followed the contours of Double Oak Lake for the first portion. At one point, I noticed a lady in front of my that I was quickly approaching raising her hands in the air. I asked if her fingers were swelling, which she said they were. I suggested that she should swing her arms more, which would help force the circulation. She said she would try that and thanked me for the tip. It reminded me just how much hiking I've done over the years and how much I've learned.

The next several miles had a slight elevation gain as we climbed towards the southeastern ridgeline. Along the way, we were treated to couple of aid stations fully stocked with snacks and water. I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at one of them and quickly scarfed to down. Through this section, I continued to pass a number of other hikers and maintained a solid pace. 

Reaching the long ridge, we entered a yellow forest, which reminded me of the line from Robert Frost's most famous poem. The trail through this section parallels the ridge and offers the occasional lookout. I took advantage a couple of times and enjoyed the expansive view of the plains to the southeast. My pace slowed a bit through this section as I was getting a little tired, but I was still moving at nearly 3 miles per hour.

The long ridge came to an end at Peavine Falls, which I took a short detour to check out. Even climbing down some rocks though, only the very top of the waterfall was visible, which is kind of unfortunate. Just a short bit after the waterfall, I hit the last aid station and decided to rest for a few minutes. I ate another sandwich and banana, while drinking mandarin orange-flavored energy-hydration drink and chatting with several other participants. 

For the last stretch, I returned to my earlier pace and once again began pacing a lot of other participants. All of them were very nice and gracefully moved to the right to allow me to pass on the left. One lady had a black flag hanging from her backpack. It took me a minute to read what it said as it was flapping with her movement, but eventually, I made out the words "Live a great story!". That is such great advice and something I think about often and try my very best to embody every day. I'm really privileged to have been able to experience all that I have in my years on this planet. 

Nearing the finish line, I could hear a woman over the loud speaker congratulating hikers as they passed the mark. With a quick right turn, I joined them. I think the 19-mile marker was quite a ways off, because that last mile seemed very short and the one before it seemed extremely long. Either way though, the finisher's medal was placed around my neck and I crossed the finish line. My GPS track indicated that I had completed 20.7 miles in about 7:21 hours, which included roughly 30 minutes of break time along the way. I headed back to my car and put on some flip flops and a fresh shirt. Now I have a long drive home. While I'm glad I completed this event, it was a lot more hype than substance for me. The park itself is nice, but not unlike hundreds of other places I've visited in the past. To that those that completed their hike though, congratulations on a job well done.

Currahee Mountain Sunset (Stephens County, Georgia)

 It has been quite a day, but I'm not quite ready to call it quits. I was originally planning to get in about 18 miles on the trail today, but with my knee acting up, I had to change those plans a bit. I'm still shooting for about 15 total, but with much less elevation gain. For my final hike, I decided to join the Atlanta Outdoor Club for a sunset hike to the top of Currahee Mountain, made famous by the 'Band of Brothers' miniseries and the training mantra "three miles up, three miles down".

As I was in the area and had already stopped for some dinner, I got to the trailhead about thirty minutes early. I simply listened to music and relaxed while I waited. I've already hiked 9 or so miles today and my legs didn't complain about the rest. Soon though, the other hikers began arriving and after super-quick round of introductions we were on our way. I did mention to the organizer that I didn't remember there being an unobstructed wester vista from the top, which would make for a nice sunset. She hadn't even thought about that, but I'm mostly here for the miles anyway. The views to the east though are really good.

Though with a listed expected pace of about 3-miles per hour, we were pushing hard and doing nearly 4-miles per hour for the first part of the hike. The entire trail follows a gravel road, which is probably used by the caretakers of the radio towers that sit atop the mountain. Even though my legs were a little tired from the hikes I had completed earlier, I was mostly able to keep up with the group and only started falling a little behind when the steep uphill started near the summit. Without too much trouble though, we all reached the radio towers and began looking for a clear view of the descending sun. We didn't find much though. 

After a little exploration of the top, we started back down maintaining a similar pace. I was feeling good by now though. I and one other nice lady that I was chatting with opened a considerable lead on the others as nigh descended around us. I pulled out my headlamp, but didn't even use it. The half-moon overhead provided more than enough light for us to arrive safely back at our cars. I said my goodbyes and headed home for well-deserved night of sleep. After all, I hiked 5.6 miles on this trail, bringing my grand total to nearly 15 for the day.

Travelers Rest and the Tugaloo Stone (Stephens County, Georgia)

 

I'm out in northeastern Georgia today getting a few hikes in, but with a little bit of downtime before my last one, which is a sunset hike, I decided to visit the nearby Travelers Rest State Historic Site. The main house was built between 1816 and 1825, as one of four facilities to lodge weary stagecoach travelers as they made their way between South Carolina and Tennessee along the newly constructed Unicoi Turnpike. The house was later expanded upon and additionally used as a base of operations for the new owner's various business interests, including a large cotton plantation.

Entering the large house, I'm struck by its size, measuring some 90 feet long with several bedrooms, studies, and a full dining area. After some chatting, the caretaker starts a short ten-minute educational film for me, which covers much of the history. The facility is about 85% original and has only been restored to its original condition to maintain it. It must have been quite a wonderful experience after a long travel day to arrive at such a fine establishment for dinner and rest.

While the house itself and its history are worth learning about, the real draw for me was a petroglyph stone that was supposedly found in 1796 by works constructing a chimney for the owner of the house that previously stood here. They claim to have found it along the nearby Tugaloo River and brought it to the house, where it now rests under a small wooden canopy just outside the large Travelers Rest house.

The stone is a large and volcanic in nature, with deep petroglyphs carved on all visible faces, including the narrow top and sides. Unfortunately, the images have been eroded down to the point of almost disappearing, though I did use the G-stretch app in an attempt to enhance the carved images. As you can see here, the results are somewhat disappointing. The app works much better on pictographs than on petroglyphs.

There seems to be some controversy about the origin of the stone. The informational placard suggests that it may be related to a piece treaty between the Cherokee and the Yuchis, but the exact age and original creators are something of a mystery. I have read one article, which provides some convincing evidence of the stone being of Viking origin. This hypothesis is largely based on detailed studies of the drawings and require the stone to be flipped 180° to allow the images to strongly resemble Viking long boats. We may never know. Whatever the history, this was a great way to spend a little time between hikes.

Tallulah Gorge - Persistent Trillium Hike (Habersham County, Georgia)

 Tallulah Gorge State Park is just a few minutes north of the Panther Creek Falls Trailhead, and I had noticed they were doing another of their Persistent Trillium hikes today, the timing of which worked well with my previous hike. So, I decided to join the rangers for a guide hike to see some rare endemic flowers.

After meeting the group at the visitors center and having a discussion about the appropriate amount of water to bring on this short hike, we headed out. We first hit a couple of view points of the gorge itself overlooking Tempesta Falls, which is currently raging. Earlier today, water was released from the dam and the kayakers were having a marvelous time navigating the river. 

From there, we walked across the highway bridge and to the South Rim Trail. Along the way, the rangers (who are actually the Manager and Assistant Manager of the park) pointed out several plant species. They also mentioned that this area had been a touristy garden in Victorian times and that much of the imported flora remains in one form or another.

Soon though, we reach a side trail that they lead us onto and here we are able to see a few examples of the persistent trillium. This specific species of the small ground flower only grows with a five miles radius of the park. From what we learn from the rangers, it gets its name because the leaves remain throughout the year, while many of its cousins shed theirs. The small flower itself starts white, but soon turns to a lavender color before degrading. We're only able to see a few examples of the flower, but it's nice to experience. 

After seeing the flowers, we head back the way we came. Along the way, the Park Manager has to correct a couple of children dangerously climbing on hand rails. I appreciate the tact with which she does it, but that must be the worst part of the job. Returning to the visitors center, I see we've gotten in about 1.9 miles during this short hike. It's not much, but it adds to the days total, and I still have a couple of stops remaining.

Panther Creek Falls (Habersham County, Georgia)

 

Originally, I was planning on knocking out the northernmost section of the AT today, but my right knee has been giving me some issues and I didn't think 18 miles and nearly 6,000 feet of elevation change would be a good idea (at least the elevation part) and so, I started looking for other options. I noticed that a friend posted a hike to Panther Creek Falls on the Meetup for which we both often hike with. This seemed like a great option, with a combination of reasonable miles, low elevation changes, and a great payoff destination.

Arriving early, I was surprised to see the trailhead parking area gated off with a sign indicating storm damage. I'm not exactly sure how a storm damages a parking lot, but I was able to park alongside the road without issue. This popular trail has been closed by the Forest Service off and on over the past several years, as the bridges have been washed out time and time again. The trail itself is supposed to be open right now though. Anyway, the other hikers joined me a short time later and soon, we hit the trail.

The first section is a pretty standard Georgia hike, as our path takes alongside Panther Creek. It's already getting pretty warm though. Soon, we hit a rocky outcrop section that requires a little maneuvering, but nothing too terrible. I do worry though that some of the trail in this section is not going to last much longer and ten or twenty good storms from now will be washed down the hillside into the creek below.

Soon, we approach the first and widest of the expected water crossings. We are surprised to see a new, sturdy bridge constructed across the creek here. Though, it's been a couple of years since I've hiked here, others in our group have been here as recently as late last year and even they were not expecting this welcome new addition. This is a fairly large and elaborate bridge and it's obvious by the track marks and fashioned road that heavy equipment was brought in for its construction. We wait for everyone to catch up and then proceed across.

We end up following the road made by the heavy equipment for a bit and crossing a couple of other smaller new bridges, before noticing a trail leading off to the left with a plywood sign on the ground with 'water' painted onto it. From past experience, we're confident that this is the right path to the waterfall and begin to head that way. There are some stragglers though and we are concerned that they may not make the turn. To raise confidence, I grab a couple of sticks and fashion an arrow to lay on the ground. We also move the sign to a more visible spot and lay a small log across the road. Honestly, if they can't figure it out from everything we've done there, they probably shouldn't have left their house.

From here, the trail gets a bit more treacherous, with muddy climbs and washed out sections. Steel cables help in some areas, but in others they concrete poles they are attached to have been washed out of the ground. We manage to make it though without incident. From this part of the trail, it's always possible to take in some great views of the raging creek. 

Soon, we are at the mighty waterfall, which I've always thought to be one of the best in the state. After climbing down the natural stone steps, we all find a spot on the sandy bank to stop and rest. Several members of the group strip down to bathing suits and wade out into the waters and even climb up on the cascading waterfall. They say the water is pretty cold, but refreshing. I have other plans after this and didn't really want to go swimming, and so, I just take it all in. There are a few others here in addition to our group and everyone seems to be having a great time.

After thirty minutes or so, we begin to rally the group and start heading back to the cars. The way back is equally challenging with slippery sections, but again, we make it without too much issue. With everyone back at the cars, I say my goodbyes and head for my next destination for the day. This hike was 7.2 miles with only about 650 feet of elevation change - a good start for the day, but I'm going to get more miles in.