Sweetwater Creek - All Trails except Blue (Douglas County, Georgia)

I'm feeling great! I ran a 5k last night and performed better than expected. I ran my fastest race in over five years and even took second place in my age group. That said though, these legs need more exercise and so, I decided to join the Atlanta Outdoor Club for an extended hike at Sweetwater Creek State Park. The park has a number of different interconnected trails and the plan is to hike all of them (each designated by a different color) except the Blue Trail.

After meeting up with the group, we did the standard round of introductions and were soon on the trail, seven of us in total. We notice that there is another event going on and later discover it to be the Yeti 7-11 Endurance Race, which is not about time, but about how much distance you can run in either seven hours or eleven hours, depending on which option you registered for. We encounter a number of runners and hikers participating in the race. In some cases, we will see them multiple times throughout the day. 

Our first section takes northeast crossing the sturdy steel bridge over Sweetwater Creek and into the eastern side of the park, which is full of hills. All of the trails here are well maintained and at this time of year, we can occasionally sneak a view of the creek below us. One of the ladies in the group even mentions that there is a lookout from this side where we can look back over the ruins of the Manchester Manufacturing Company on the western shore of the creek. Unfortunately, she mentioned this well after we had already past the point. I will have to look for this spur trail on my next visit. 

We complete the 4ish mile loop on this side of the creek and then head back across the bridge and pass by the visitor's center once more, where we stop for a quick restroom break and snack. Once everyone is ready, we head south through the woods above the ruins. Once we reach the designated point (as defined by the gentleman that originally planned this event), we turn around at what seems like a strange point by the creek and then head back along the rushing waters of Sweetwater Creek. 

This section is a little gnarly with lots of rock scrambling and a few stairs involved. I enjoy this section the most. However, at one point, I grab onto a vine to steady myself over some slippery rocks only to feel a sharp stabbing pain in my thumb from the thorns attached to the vine. I guess it suits me right for not looking first. Regardless, once we close out this section with a short stop at the observation deck directly over the ruins. 

All along the way, we've been discussing various topics, but mostly focused on past and future hiking trips. It seems one of the ladies is headed to Tanzania, where I was a few months ago. Another is planning to hike the Camino Portuguese in a few weeks, which I will be hiking about a month after her. It never ceases to amaze me how many people in these groups share such common interests of travel.

From here, we head southwest along the White Trail, which eventually becomes the brown trail and climb some of the steepest inclines in the park, though they still aren't much by comparison. It's great to be outside though this time of year. While the temperatures are warm, the humidity for which Georgia is famous, hasn't quite kicked in yet. That fact along with the occasional cool breeze makes it a beautiful day to be doing this.

Finishing this section of the Brown Trail, we begin to make our way back to the visitors center. We see many more runners continuing their torturous multi-hour march. Once we arrive, we say our goodbyes and head our separate ways. For me, I'm planning to go home and fire up the grill. We hiked about 12.7 miles here today, which isn't bad at all.