Long Leaf Loop at Pine Mountain

I confess to not being very ambitious when I woke up this morning. I had planned to go on a hike with my brother’s father-in-law M. (does that make him my cousin-in law or something?) and my nephew C. (11). We had to postpone that plan until March because M., who is clearly more dedicated than me, headed back to Nashville earlier than planned to get some work done. As such, I had no definite plan going into the morning. To further complicate matters, I had been fighting a cold all week (I won, it lost, thank the Lord), and I was out late last night watching my nephew S’s (age 13) virtuoso performance in the Pirates of Penzance. It was a blast, but my energy reserves were low. Little did I know at the time that this would be one of my longer hikes at 13.2 miles.

Since my sinuses are not fully recovered, I did not want to fight ear pain and go to the mountains, so I went South, and made a return visit to Pine Mountain. I was planning to do the one defined loop I had never done before – the Long Leaf Loop.

After a late start, I arrived and was ready to hike at 10:45. I have never gotten lost during a hike, but at times I have been know to have trouble finding the trailhead, and today was such a day. I even asked directions when I paid the parking fee, and still had trouble. I finally found a sign I had ignored before, and found that the trail was below the visitor center, and had to be accessed via a connector trail. I began the loop headed north.

Hikers are a strange lot. The last time I was here, the ground was covered with 4 inches of snow, and the wind chill was quite frigid. On that visit, I ran into an abundance of other hikers. Today was beautiful, spring-like, sunny, and warm, and I nearly had the place to myself. Go figure.

The trail description for this loop recommends the use of a map, given that there are more than 7 road/trail crossings during the 6.9 mile loop. I guess the writer of that description is directionally challenged, as this loop (along with all trails in the park) was marked with surprisingly descriptive signage. I had my map, but never needed it.

The first couple of miles were relatively uneventful, other than two crossings of Highway 354, which connects the park to downtown Pine Mountain (don’t blink when you drive through). The first major landmark was the historic Liberty Bell Pool. This pool was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1940. It is the largest rock, spring-fed pool in existence, holding more than 550,000 gallons. The pool is still in operation today.

Following that, the loop took me down to what is referred to as the nature trail area, a wetland near the campground. This section includes numerous stream crossings, and walks through some very tight woods. After this area, the trail climbs back up to the ridge, and connects back to the Pine Mountain Trail (PMT), for the return trip to the visitor center. This is where my plans changed. The hike had not been quite as long as I wanted at this point, so I decided to go south for a short distance, to see the fish hatchery pond area. This is a series of ponds built by the CCC, but abandoned during WW II.

I was getting really hungry at this point, given that it was pushing 2 PM. There are not many eating options in the area, outside of the Country Store at the extreme Southern end of the park. According to my map, I was less than 2.5 miles from there via the PMT. My stomach overruled my feet, and I went south. Due in part to hunger, along with the fact that this is one of the flattest sections of the PMT, I made really good time, and was seated for lunch by 3 PM.

The Country Store, run by Callaway Gardens, is not known (at least by me) for its cuisine, but the view is incomparable. The store sits on the edge of the ridge, with the picture windows in the dining room overlooking the valley, with a view for miles. I finished my veggie plate, a gallon of tea (I was a bit dehydrated due to my runny nose), and headed back for the car.

I have done a bit of this section of the PMT before. While it is relatively flat, it is the rockiest section in the park, with numerous boulders, often sitting right on the edge of the cliff. It is a really beautiful section.

I found my thoughts turning once again to my marketing plan. I am happy to say I have already implemented all of the ideas from the last hike. That being said, I began to be concerned given the situation at work that we would be gone before they had a chance to pay off. I soon heard a little voice in my head saying “that is my problem, so just keep at it.” Enough said.

The trip back to the car went by fast, with a total elapsed time of 4 hours 57 minutes. While I had no intention of going that long, I am happy I did. I have now segment-hiked all of the PMT from the visitor center to the Southern end, and a number of other sections.