My original plan for the day was to finally scale Blood Mountain, approaching via the Slaughter Creek Trail. With the missing hiker and the “person of interest” in that area however, I thought it best to alter my plan. I elected to hike in Unicoi State Park outside of Helen as an alternative. I started the day a bit on the grumpy side however at having to alter my original plans.
I began with the Unicoi to Helen Trail (3.0 mi one way, Climb: **, Terrain: **, Interest: ***). The Bottoms Loop trail detours off of the main trail, and I took that detour on the way down. The first part of the trail was very nondescript, with a good bit of deforestation due to pine beetles (I had to remind myself of rule #1: “It’s about the hike, stupid”), but when the trail joined Smith Creek, it quickly became more interesting.
I had timed my trip so I hit the town of Helen about lunch time. The schedule did not work quite as well as intended however, making me a bit grumpier. The trail comes into a nice park right behind the main business district, making it very convenient. I did accomplish lunch, and began back immediately thereafter, retracing my steps. I detoured around the short nature trail on the way back, which unfortunately was not very interesting this time of year.
During the reverse trip, I was thinking about having been grumpy as a result of the world not conforming to my plans or schedules, and I could not help but wonder if God finds my insistence that he conform to my plans a bit amusing, in the way a parent is somewhat amused by the antics of a misbehaving child. I finished the day with some conviction about being more flexible and sensitive to God’s leading. (As I write this, I now know that the missing hiker was most likely murdered, and in an area I was very close to on the same day. I am thankful for God’s protection, but my thoughts constantly turned to the missing hiker and her family the entire weekend).
After a brief stop at the Lodge for a restroom break, I decided to head the short distance to Anna Ruby Falls. I have visited Anna Ruby Falls previously. While it is a beautiful waterfall, I would not have made the trip for that alone. I was more interested in the Smith Creek Trail (4.8 mi one way, Climb: ****, Terrain: *****, Interest: ****). I did not have time for a round trip, nor did I have transportation to get from the end back to my car. As such, I decided to hike in as far as I had time for, to get a feel for it in preparation for a later visit.
Surprisingly, I found the hike up the paved road to the falls (0.8 mi, Climb: ****, Terrain: **, Interest: ****) to be the most difficult. I do not walk well on steep pavement, and the asphalt path is very steep at a few points.
While the Smith Creek Trail is considered very challenging, I felt far more at home there. It is very narrow, and runs along a steep ridge. At one point, I literally had to hug a tree to let a group of hikers going the opposite direction pass me. The section I did really wet my appetite to hike the entire trail.
The hike down from the falls on the pavement was quite a bit easier going down. I found my car and headed back to Norcross, quite tired, and hopefully a bit wiser and more flexible.
I began with the Unicoi to Helen Trail (3.0 mi one way, Climb: **, Terrain: **, Interest: ***). The Bottoms Loop trail detours off of the main trail, and I took that detour on the way down. The first part of the trail was very nondescript, with a good bit of deforestation due to pine beetles (I had to remind myself of rule #1: “It’s about the hike, stupid”), but when the trail joined Smith Creek, it quickly became more interesting.
I had timed my trip so I hit the town of Helen about lunch time. The schedule did not work quite as well as intended however, making me a bit grumpier. The trail comes into a nice park right behind the main business district, making it very convenient. I did accomplish lunch, and began back immediately thereafter, retracing my steps. I detoured around the short nature trail on the way back, which unfortunately was not very interesting this time of year.
During the reverse trip, I was thinking about having been grumpy as a result of the world not conforming to my plans or schedules, and I could not help but wonder if God finds my insistence that he conform to my plans a bit amusing, in the way a parent is somewhat amused by the antics of a misbehaving child. I finished the day with some conviction about being more flexible and sensitive to God’s leading. (As I write this, I now know that the missing hiker was most likely murdered, and in an area I was very close to on the same day. I am thankful for God’s protection, but my thoughts constantly turned to the missing hiker and her family the entire weekend).
After a brief stop at the Lodge for a restroom break, I decided to head the short distance to Anna Ruby Falls. I have visited Anna Ruby Falls previously. While it is a beautiful waterfall, I would not have made the trip for that alone. I was more interested in the Smith Creek Trail (4.8 mi one way, Climb: ****, Terrain: *****, Interest: ****). I did not have time for a round trip, nor did I have transportation to get from the end back to my car. As such, I decided to hike in as far as I had time for, to get a feel for it in preparation for a later visit.
Surprisingly, I found the hike up the paved road to the falls (0.8 mi, Climb: ****, Terrain: **, Interest: ****) to be the most difficult. I do not walk well on steep pavement, and the asphalt path is very steep at a few points.While the Smith Creek Trail is considered very challenging, I felt far more at home there. It is very narrow, and runs along a steep ridge. At one point, I literally had to hug a tree to let a group of hikers going the opposite direction pass me. The section I did really wet my appetite to hike the entire trail.
The hike down from the falls on the pavement was quite a bit easier going down. I found my car and headed back to Norcross, quite tired, and hopefully a bit wiser and more flexible.
1 comment:
Looks like you were Providentially altered to a very beautiful place!
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