Big Canoe Hikefest

I have a friend with a “spare” house in Big Canoe, a wonderful mountain development near Jasper, GA. I have a standing invitation to use it, but it is really hard to break away and do so. This past weekend, the opportunity presented itself for myself and my brother’s family. My sister-in-law Jennifer was anticipating the hiking opportunity as much as I was. With one minor blip on Saturday morning, the weather was ideal.

Big Canoe has extensive hiking trails, and although we introduced ourselves to a number of them, we did not scratch the surface (can you say return visit?). There are a number of streams, waterfalls, and lakes along the trails, making for very attractive hiking.

We began the hike-fest on Friday after our arrival with the relatively short Waterford Lakes Trail. This hike took us in a figure 8 pattern around two small lakes. The kids had a blast throwing rocks into the lakes, and looking at the various insects and birds in the area.

The next morning, my hiking buddy C. (age 11) and I set off on a more challenging hike. We intended to finish the Lower Falls trail, which we started on a prior Thanksgiving trip. I credit this hike with getting me interested in hiking. The hike began by a swimming area that included a rock slide. The kids want to go back in warm weather and try this. We retraced our steps from the last hike, and continued on to the lower falls. The waterfall was quite nice, but not nearly as nice as the time with my nephew, who is an excellent conversationalist. The Lower Falls trail is 1.7 miles one way, so when we arrived, I asked C. if he wanted to continue to the Upper Falls, which he did.

We headed on, beginning the hike with a fairly steep climb, but completed the .7 miles fairly quickly. The Upper Fall is less impressive than the Lower Fall, but the water flows through a narrow crevasse that is part of a large rock outcropping, so it is quite interesting.

There is a Jeep Trail that crosses and parallels the Falls trail. Since C. was getting tired at this point, I decided it would be quicker and easier to take that back. We hit the parking lot just over 2.5 hours after we began.

That evening, we decided to do the Covered Bridge trail as a family, despite the fact that darkness was setting in. This trail runs under a reproduction covered bridge that is part of the main road into the development. It was surprisingly difficult in places, especially for Jennifer who had K. (almost 2) in a back carrier (I took a turn at this Saturday and believe me, it ain’t for cowards). We managed to finish right before dark.

On Sunday morning, I left early to do the Nancy Womac Falls trail, which is beyond the Upper Falls. I did this alone because it was suppose to be fairly difficult, which it was. The entire .8 miles there is quite steep, and involves numerous stream crossings, most without the means to cross without getting wet. This was the most beautiful of the three falls, but because of the slope, there was no way to get close to it.

Upon my return, we decided to do a family hike/picnic, and having seen picnic tables near the Upper Falls, I suggested that we hike a short distance to there down the Jeep trail. I made the mistake of taking my GPS to get us there, so it took close to 25 minutes. We could have done it in 10 without the technology (or perhaps it is ESO – Equipment Smarter than Operator). We finally arrived and did the short hike, followed by a very good lunch assembled by Jennifer. We then hiked a short distance to the Upper Falls. Not withstanding some consternation with the kids getting wet and being less than careful, we had a good time.

We could not resist leaving to return to Atlanta without one more outdoor adventure, so we decided to do the Lake Petit trail. This trail runs besides a number of rock heaps, thought to have been built by Indians for an unknown purpose, and dead-ends into the large Lake Petit. Jennifer, ever the teacher, had arranged a scavenger hunt for the kids, asking them to pickup a number of items (leaves, rocks, etc), and had given them paper bags for that purpose. They had a blast.

After cleaning up and packing up, we headed back to the mundanity of the city, tired but exhilarated by our experience.