I went into the weekend with the prospect of rain for the third Saturday in a row. As such, and with the cooperation of my family, I decided to switch this week to Sunday. I left right after church, and headed north. Since I am a good 30 minutes closer to the northwest part of the state when I leave from church, I decided to visit a trail in the Chickamauga National Forest, southwest of Dalton. This is a lightly-used trail I found in the book 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains, kindly given as a Christmas gift by my family.
The start of this trail is approximately 2 miles beyond the boonies. I exited I-75 at Highway 136, a winding road that heads toward Alabama and Cloudland Canyon. After 18 miles, I turned off onto a single-lane paved road, which turned into a kidney-killer of a dirt road. I arrived at a very rustic gravel parking lot. There was one other car in the parking lot, but I never saw anyone during the entire 6.3 mile hike.
The distinguishing feature of this trail is that it has no distinguishing feature. It is a trail for people who like to hike, not those who demand scenery. Perfect for me.
The loop began with a good climb up to a ridge, affording some views to the East, if a bit blocked by trees. The trail continued along the ridge, switching back and forth from a single trail to an old roadbed. I was surprised by how dry the trail was given the 2 inches of rain in the past two days. Little did I realize that I was on the dry side of the ridge.
After following the ridge for some time, I came across the one remotely interesting feature of
this trail – Preaching Rock. It is a natural rock formation that sticks up in the air, like a platform for preaching. The trail continued along the ridge for a bit longer, and then began a descent. The terrain suddenly changed from dry forest to lush vegetation, and I knew I had arrived at the wet side of the ridge. The trail crossed one of a few streams and tributaries more than 10 times in this area. There were also numerous puddles and wet areas, leaving my shoes as wet as they have ever been on a hike.
I got back to the car after approximately 2.5 hours, and headed to a nearby country convenience store to refuel my car and myself. Since I had a bit more time, I decided to get a taste of the Pinhoti Trail. This trail, running over 100 miles in Georgia, connects the Pinhoti trail in Alabama to the Benton MacKaye Trail in Northeast Georgia. I started at the Snake Creek Gap on Highway 136, and went north for approximately 2 miles before turning around. This is a multi-use trail for hikers, bikers, and horses. Within the first few minutes, I came across two riders on horses coming south. It has been a long time since I have ridden a horse, but I look forward to doing some trail riding in the future when (if ever) I have more time to spare.
The start of this trail is approximately 2 miles beyond the boonies. I exited I-75 at Highway 136, a winding road that heads toward Alabama and Cloudland Canyon. After 18 miles, I turned off onto a single-lane paved road, which turned into a kidney-killer of a dirt road. I arrived at a very rustic gravel parking lot. There was one other car in the parking lot, but I never saw anyone during the entire 6.3 mile hike.
The distinguishing feature of this trail is that it has no distinguishing feature. It is a trail for people who like to hike, not those who demand scenery. Perfect for me.
The loop began with a good climb up to a ridge, affording some views to the East, if a bit blocked by trees. The trail continued along the ridge, switching back and forth from a single trail to an old roadbed. I was surprised by how dry the trail was given the 2 inches of rain in the past two days. Little did I realize that I was on the dry side of the ridge.
After following the ridge for some time, I came across the one remotely interesting feature of
this trail – Preaching Rock. It is a natural rock formation that sticks up in the air, like a platform for preaching. The trail continued along the ridge for a bit longer, and then began a descent. The terrain suddenly changed from dry forest to lush vegetation, and I knew I had arrived at the wet side of the ridge. The trail crossed one of a few streams and tributaries more than 10 times in this area. There were also numerous puddles and wet areas, leaving my shoes as wet as they have ever been on a hike.I got back to the car after approximately 2.5 hours, and headed to a nearby country convenience store to refuel my car and myself. Since I had a bit more time, I decided to get a taste of the Pinhoti Trail. This trail, running over 100 miles in Georgia, connects the Pinhoti trail in Alabama to the Benton MacKaye Trail in Northeast Georgia. I started at the Snake Creek Gap on Highway 136, and went north for approximately 2 miles before turning around. This is a multi-use trail for hikers, bikers, and horses. Within the first few minutes, I came across two riders on horses coming south. It has been a long time since I have ridden a horse, but I look forward to doing some trail riding in the future when (if ever) I have more time to spare.
The Pinhoti trail is distinguished by its metal blazes with the imprint of a wild turkey footprint. I understood this, having encountered two wild turkies on the earlier part of the hike.After doing just enough of the Pinhoti trail to wet my appetite, I headed for the car, and the trip back to Atlanta a bit wiser, having added two items to my list of hiking rules:
5) No hair, no hat, sunny day – sunburned head!
6) If there is a stepping stone in the middle of the creek, assume it is loose!
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