Fort Yargo Super Moon Hike (Barrow County, Georgia)

Fort Yargo State Park is only a few miles from my house and knowing that tonight would not only be a full moon, but a super moon (when the moon is at it's closest point to the Earth), I decided to schedule a hike for the Meetup to for an evening event at the park. Why not get some miles in while enjoy the lunar show. That said, it had been drizzling off and on all day and while the forecast for this evening looks to be partly cloudy with no call for rain, I'm going to prepare just in case. I had called the park office before scheduling this hike to confirm that the gates didn't close until 10:00pm, by which time we need to be out of there.

Once at the park and after wrapping a work conference call, I met up with the hikers that had signed up for my event. Nine of us in all. We did a quick round of introductions and I explained the plan, which was to hike the loop trail around the lake, which should give us multiple angles to see the moon, which was set to rise about twenty minutes after our planned start time. With all of that out of the way, we crossed the long wooden bridge departing the visitors center and entered the woods. 

Joros, joros, and more joros. That is the theme of the first part of this hike. Very large, but harmless joro spiders seemed to have colonized this part of the park. We pass by hundreds of them waiting for prey in their large, sticky webs. We stop to take a better look at a couple of the larger specimen before continuing on. 

The cloud cover doesn't seem to be easing up and I'm beginning to doubt if we actually get any views of the moon. We continue on though, as there are two objectives to tonight's event and the moon viewing is only one of them. We make pretty good time as we round the northern end of the lake and by this time darkness is beginning to set in. The kudzu tunnels offer a season-appropriate vibe as we pass through them in the twilight. 

Shortly after this section, we begin to feel some rain drops and when it finally starts raining harder, I stop the group and those that prepared properly put on their rain gear. The rain is coming down pretty good now and we are almost exactly halfway across the lake from where we left our cars. We're going to get soaked, but ah well. It's still nice to be outside, though our chances of seeing the moon have shrunk to near zero. 

As we tromp through the wet and somewhat muddy trail, I point out a few things to my comrades, including the ground spider eyes which sparkle back at us when our headlights hit them. I also catch sight of a tiny little snake on the trail and we stop to examine him, as he slithers around in the mud trying to escape us. He's a tiny little thing, only about eight inches long and with a body-diameter of no more than a quarter-inch. Later, I will find out this is called a smooth worm snake and is common in this environment. 

Finally getting back to the parking area and fairly wet, we say our goodbyes and head to our respective homes. I use the restroom and speak with another ranger who very nicely informs that the trail actually close at sundown. I explain that I had gotten conflicting information from the park office and he doesn't make a fuss about it, but just wishes me well. Total distance for the hike was about 6.4 miles, which isn't bad for a Monday evening. On my way home, the rain stops and the clouds part just a bit to allow me to get a picture of the moon from my driveway. So, I guess it was mission accomplished.

Caesars Head - Devils Kitchen (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

I was thinking I was done with hiking and site-seeing for the day and was content to finish the drive home from Asheville, NC to my home, outside Atlanta, GA. Nature had other ideas though. After departing the trailhead where I got two different hikes in, I passed Caesars Head Overlook. I decided to turn around and check it out and I'm glad I did. 

Caesars Head State Park is apparently named for a large outcropping that someone at some point in time thought looked like the head of Julius Caesar. After having seen it myself, I'm not sure I see the resemblance, but to each their own. The overlook itself though is pretty impressive as it opens up south towards Table Mountain, exposing all of the lush greenness and very beginning of fall colors in the valley between. 

Walking around just a bit, I see a sign at the top of steel staircase that seems to descend into the rock itself. The sign says Devils Kitchen, and with I name like that, you just know I had to explore it. There isn't a lot to it, but what is there is a large fracture of one of the building-sized boulders that make up this outcropping. Though at an roughly 30° angle, the crack is perfectly flat and the staircase descends into it. After about forty feet, I pop out the other side and look back at what I just walked through. It's in impressive crack to be sure. 

The trail from here offers a view of the other side of Caesars Head, which doesn't look any more to me like the famous general than the first side did. I follow the path around and back up the other side, which returns me to the parking area. This wasn't really a hike, but the overlook and interesting geology made it worth a stop.

Raven Cliff Falls at Caesars Head Mountain (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

I'm headed home from a craft beer festival in Asheville, NC and wanted to get in a couple of hikes along the way. Departing from the same trailhead as my previous hike, I headed the opposite direction and followed a small connector trail to a second parking lot, from which the Raven Cliff Falls Trail departs. This short trail leads to what I'm told is a spectacular waterfall. There is another waterfall by this same name in Northern Georgia, which I have hiked to a few times, but it's only real claim to uniqueness is that it has carved out a trench in a large cliffside and now flows behind the scenes. It's pretty and a nice hike, but I've always been curious about it's South Carolina counterpart. Today, we'll see how they compare. 

As I make way downhill on a gravel path, I see a few other hikers and realize that this route actually shares trail with two much longer trails, the Foothills Trail and the Palmetto Trail, both of which I would like to backpack at some point in the future. So, there is a good chance that I will pass this way again.

Soon, the gravel ends and the trail passes over tree roots and dirt as it flows mostly downhill towards the vantage point for the waterfall. There are a few junctions and I pass a number of other hikers, but overall, it's a pretty easy hike. That said though, there does appear to be some indicators of coming rains in the cloud cover and I push my pace a bit more. I don't mind getting wet, but if I can avoid it, I will.

Eventually, I come to a T-intersection and having reviewed the trail map, I know I need to turn left while the option to the right is a continuance of the much longer trails mentioned previously. After only a short distance, I come to a covered observation deck which has been built on the side of the opposing cliff from Raven Cliff Falls. 

The waterfall is quite impressive and while I can't get anywhere near it from here, I am rewarded with a great view for my trouble. Several small falls cascade into small pools towards the top of the cliff, while the main highlight is the primary vertical drop of roughly 300 feet. I'm kind of glad we got that moisture overnight, as I'm sure it's contributing to the current impressive flow over the falls. 

Having seen what I came to see and with the threat of more rain, I turn around and head back the way I came. I make really good time and end up back at the trailhead where I left my car after only about 45-minutes. My distance for this little adventure was about 4.5 miles. When added to my earlier hike along the Silver Steps Trail, it's not a bad day at all. 

Silver Steps Trail (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

Returning home from a Craft Beer Festival in Asheville, NC, I decided to get a few trail miles. My first stop was to hike the Silver Steps Trail near Caesars Head State Park just across the border in South Carolina. When I pulled in, the trailhead only had a couple of cars and I quickly put on my pack and after getting my bearings, headed into the woods. 

I think we got just a little rain overnight as the trees and ground appear to be a bit wet. No matter, that shouldn't stop me. This trail leads to junction with another trail in the park's system and towards a couple of waterfalls. I make good time along the well traveled path as it undulates through the forest.

Crossing over a small, rickety bridge, I find the junction with the other trail and begin down that path with the intention of reaching at least one of those waterfalls. However, as I continue I'm confronted with wet, slick rocks as far as I can see down the trail. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but I feel my ankles rolling occasionally as I try to traverse this terrain. The last thing I need is a sprained ankle and after some internal debate, I decide to head back the way I came. There are other options in this park. Arriving back at the trailhead, I check my tracking app and see that I got in about 2.6 miles on this short hike. More to come.