Thanksgiving Hike Redux

After an unavoidable change in plans, I found myself with a free day for Hiking. I decided to check another trail off my list by hiking the Keown Falls and John's Mountain Loop trails between LaFayette and Dalton. Both trails are in the Pocket Recreation Area in the John's Mountain wilderness area. The parking area are completely deserted when I arrived, although I had seen a pickup truck (presumably hunters) every quarter mile on the drive through the park.

This hike is done as a double look. You climb to Keown Falls on the west side, pickup the John's Mountain loop, and come back on the east side of the falls. The initial hike to the falls (more like a strong drip this time of year) is reasonably easy until you get near the top. At this point, I encountered a long set of irregular stone steps which required caution. I stayed on the observation desk briefly viewing the drip, and proceeded with John's Mountain Loop.

I started the loop counterclockwise, and encountered a steep climb early in the hike. It was difficult because of the heavy leaf cover over large rocks, but I managed without too much trouble. Near the top, I encountered a family on their way down.

There is an observation platform at the top of John's Mountain affording a beautiful view to the west. I encountered the only other family I would see the whole day at the top. The loop was fairly easy to follow from this point, although footing was treacherous at times.

I finally got back to the falls loop, and proceeded back to the parking lot on via the east trail. This trail is poorly defined, and very difficuly to hike because of footing/traction issues. Definitely not a trail for the kids.

After a lunch break (and a challange finding anything open on Thanksgiving), I still has time available, so I did a 2.5 mile section of the Pinhoti Trail, which connects the AT in Georgia to Northern Alabama. I hiked west from the trailhead along Highway 136. The first part of the hike involves climbing to the ridge, after which the hike gets easier since the trail follows the ridge for some time. This is a nice section, but not as nice as the east section from the same trailhead. This is a multi-use trail allowing horses and mountain bikes, although I cannot imagine the latter using this trail. Horses are a different story however, as I dodged their calling cards all through the hike.

Other than a brief and ticketless (thank God and Officer Bennett) encounter with one of Marietta's finest, I returned home safely, but quite tired.