Hiking in the Fall

I know this seems like a long flashback since we jumped from Thanksgiving into the Christmas season in the blink of an eye, but in reality, it's only been two weeks.

The day after Thanksgiving, Dave an I went for a hike. That was just before the weather turned from "brisk" to "freezing my buns off". Our wanderings in North Georgia took us out to Duke's Creek...
I apologize for the tiny low-resolution pictures, but my ancient digital camera has been having battery issues lately, and this was one of the days that it chose not to work. But never fear, there is always the cell phone camera that works as back-up!

Waterfall Hunting: Glenn Falls, Part II

Glenn Falls has several stops on the trail down. This is the lower portion of the falls. Dave had fun watching the little creatures thriving in the puddles.

We trekked all the way down to the very bottom of the falls. I joked that this was where all of the bad trees go when they die because there were logs and uprooted trees everywhere.

Dave found a salamander chilling on a branch, and I was impressed that my camera took a clear picture zoomed in that far.

Then the came hard part... hiking all the way back up.

At least there was a nice mountain view once we were back on level ground!

Waterfall Hunting: Glenn Falls, Part I

On our way out of town, Dave and I stopped to hike at Glenn Falls. According to a website dedicated to the waterfalls of the Nantahala National Forest, several injuries have occurred this year as a result of disobeying signs and guard rails at the top of the falls.

Below is a picture of Dave watching me from the *wrong* side of the guard rail. I got the shot above seated behind the guard rail on the *correct* side...

A short hike later, we were at the upper portion of Glenn Falls. See the guard rail at the top of the falls in the upper right corner of this picture?

Waterfall Hunting: B&B Falls

Dave treated me to a lovely weekend in the North Carolina mountains. We stayed at this nice bed & breakfast in the Nantahala National Forest, and for fun, we went waterfall hunting!

The first waterfall was on the B&B property. We saw the warning, but we figured it couldn't be too bad...

We lost the trail once, Dave busted his butt when he slipped on some wet leaves, and I skinned my palms making sure I didn't fall down the waterfall when we finally reached the top of it.


It was pretty, but we weren't feeling brave enough to try to uncover the even steeper trail to the bottom of the falls... maybe next trip!

Birthday B&B

For my birthday back in May, Dave promised me a weekend vacation--we just had to wait until we both had an open weekend to go out of town.

He may have procrastinated making the reservation till this past Wednesday when I asked him what I should pack, but we leave after work today for a quiet weekend at a bed & breakfast in the mountains... there are no definite plans, but hiking, waterfalls, and swimming at the B&B pool will all probably be included.

Outdoors Again!

I may have gone hiking at Amicalola Falls with a couple of co-workers and a couple of student interns on Tuesday, but I am always up for another hike!

I planned another excursion into the great outdoors at the prompting of my college friend/hiking buddy, Robin. This time we would be hiking at a public park in Forsyth County. I had heard good things about Sawnee Mountain Park, especially about the view from the top of the Indian Seats Trail.

So Saturday morning, Robin, Julie and I met at the park and prayed that the overcast weather would hold. Neither of my hiking companions gave the impression of impending mutiny (see previous hiking excursion), which always helps with the enjoyment factor during the hike. Actually, we all looked pretty darn happy when we made it up to the top!

If you look at the trail map on the Sawnee Mountain homepage, you can see where we started our trek at the Spot Road entrance to the park. We then hiked the Laurel Trail to the Indian Seats Trail. After a break at the top of the mountain, we came down and traveled the Yucca Trail until it connected back onto the other half of the Laurel Trail (which is complete, though the online trail map has not been updated to reflect it). While on this last stretch, we met a couple with their three young children. They asked us how much farther till they reached the Indian Seat lookout. The three of us kinda looked at each other, knowing that it would take us (without children) at least 20-25 minutes to get back. Sympathizing with the parents' plight, we volunteered that there was a playground about 10 minutes up the path that would be a lot closer and a lot less uphill climb for the little ones.

At the end of the trail, we stopped in at the Visitor's Center and spent a while on the deck overlooking the beginning of the trail. We saw the father of the hiking family come back through to get the car (presumably to drive to the other entrance, where his family was waiting at the playground).

On the Vistior Center deck were at least a half dozen wooden rocking chairs with small tables between every pair of chairs. I thought it was funny that all of the tables and chairs had cable (think bike lock cable) through the legs so that no one could steal them, though we could still rock in them. These are solidly built wooden rocking chairs, but I must admit, if I were strong enough to manage one by myself, and my car had slightly more trunk space, they might have been missing a chair after our visit...

The Great Outdoors

Saturday, the weather was absolutely *perfect* for hiking--the temperature was in the 70's with a nice breeze. Allison and Melba joined me for a road trip to hike the Bear Hair Gap Trail at Vogel State Park. Less than a mile into the 4.1 mile hike, Allison and Melba were still smiling. About a mile (uphill) later I was worrying about a mutiny however. Luckily, halfway through our hike, the trail evened out, and we could *all* enjoy the scenery.


There was a small loop at the top of the mountain, and while Allison held up the sign pointing the way to the 0.2 mile uphill climb, Melba and I trudged our way to the top. The view made it all worth it... SPECTACULAR! The lake is called Trahlyta after a Cherokee princess for all of you history buffs out there (thanks to the hiking guide book for additional random facts about the location).

Probably the most fun was when we came to a creek crossing with no bridge... I bravely crossed first so I could take pictures of the Wolf Creek crossing (another name gleaned from the hiking book). Melba came after me, soaking one shoe in the process. She claims that the water was cold, but that it felt pretty good. Allison followed, using a magnolia tree to help her balance her way across. Since they both had their pictures taken, I had to retrace my rock-hopping path so that I could come back and have my crossing documented photographically as well.

The hike took roughly three hours, and when we were finished, we all piled back in my car for the twisty roads back to Cleveland, then on to Gainesville. The drive was nice, thanks to the weather, and since the passengers were tired from all of their physical exertion, I wasn't too surprised when I heard a little snoring coming from the back seat. I am already trying to figure out when I can make a return trip because there is supposed to be a trail to a waterfall behind Lake Trahlyta. It's only about a mile or so long, so maybe I'll be able to talk my new hiking buddies into a return trip...