Kennesaw Mountain Hike

Saturday January 30, 2016. Noon, a bad time to go to the mountain with the wonderful weather. It looked like the park was packed the regular parking area and the overflow where overflowing. Oh, the humanity.

Kennesaw Mountain, just a short drive from my home and is almost visible from my front door. I had to park some distance from the park and walk in adding a few extra miles to my hike. Crossing Barrett Parkway I hiked a mile and a quarter to the park entrance. Putting it in gear I quickly climbed the mountain stopping at the summit to eat an energy bar and take a picture.

The weather was wonderful, take a look at that sky! Back in gear and down the mountain across the access road and over to the summit of Little Kennesaw Mountain. I was passed here for the first time by a runner in the rocky switchback area. The pace was good and I was almost running, 4+ miles per hour the smaller summit approached quickly.

The whole area is rock/boulder strewn and as indicated by the plaque an intense battle was faught here. Down the other side and Burnt Hickory Road soon came into view. A banana was scarfed down quickly followed by some cold water from a fountain. 

The walk over to Cheatham Hill and the Illinois Monument began. The trail here is gentle  with a few minor hills thrown in. Dallas Hiway was reached and the halfway point was close.

Cheatham Hill, Illinois Monument the halfway point.The return walk was uneventful with the exception of assisting a wrong way couple trying to find the main park parking area.

A quick picture of a bridge and creek and the return walk was began in earnest.

A wonderful day out 14 miles lotsa smiles and hello passed from person to person, all kinds of people old young all kinds of races black white asian hispanic middle eastern. All kinds of dogs in tow. Great to be out and about in this great nation of ours.

The End.

Pinhoti trail, maps.

The Highpoint Trailhead and the initial climb up to Taylor Ridge.

Taylor Ridge.

Dropping into Mack-White Gap and continuing along Taylor Ridge.

Taylor Ridge dropping down into Hammonds Gap and the beginning of the long road walk. We passed a few farms and saw a coyote cross the road a hundred yards ahead of us. We also saw a dozen or so wild turkeys.

The end of the road hike and the beginning of the hike up Strawberry Mountain. End of day one a half mile or so after we reentered the forest. Day two began and we dropped into the West Amuchee Creek area. We saw deer sign and possible coyote scat along this section of trail. We began another road section here just after the creek crossing.

The end of the road hike here we reentered the woods down to East Armuchee Creek and the climb up Johns Mountain and the summit view, note the non highlited trail to the Keown Falls here we did not follow the highlighted trail until the Furnace Valley area on the next map.

We rejoined the trail at the lower point after hiking by Pilchers Pond. The slog up Fort Mountain began here. Note point 505, the summit with the cairn and the drop into Snake Creek Gap.

I hope you have enjoyed the journey.

Pinhoti trail day 2

Awakening at around 5 am we boiled some water and drank some delicious coffee a quick breakfast and it was time to break camp. Finishing our climb up and over Strawberry Mountain we dropped into the West Armuchee Creek area where we encountered some hunters who seemed to not be real happy with our appearance. We filled up with water at a nearby creek and got our feet throughly wet in the crossing of W. Armuchee Creek.

Another long road walk and we finally reentered the woods at the horse riding stables. The long slog up John's mountain began in earnest, (Photo).

Evan getting ready to don his backpack and cross East Armuchee Creek. After the long climb up John's mountain, this would be Evans second trip and my third. Twice on a mountain bike for me and once running for Evan. We decide to follow the forest road all the way to the top and check out the view of the forest below. We asked a couple to take our photo. All the exercise has yet to minimize my belly and the hip belt has exaggerated it. Lol...

We followed the trail from the summit down to the Keown falls. Areas of the trail had 

been damaged and we had to actually go under the falls.

We worked our way off the mountain and did a short road hop back into the woods near Pilchers Pond. It was here that my energy began to flag just as the long climb up Horn mountain began. My pace suffered greatly and the groans began in earnest. I pushed on and finally the last rock cairn came into view.

I bent down and tried to pick up a rock to place on the cairn and I was amazed as I watched my leg "shimmer". Hallucinations? I gathered my reserves and got the rock and placed on the cairn. We could almost see my truck off in the distance at the Snake Creek Gap trailhead. A long downhill was in front of us but the reward was not that far away. Driving to Evans car we stopped at a family style restaurant I gorged on a dinner of two pork chops baked sweet potato and a salad. Evan enjoyed a chicken dinner. We drove to the car loaded Evans pack exchanged thanks a hearty handshake and we both headed home. Just after leaving the parking area we ran into rain, just showing how close we came to having a two day hike in the rain.

The mileage varied, 42 by the maps my gps said 43 and my pedometer said close to 46. It was a great hike and our friendship grew tremendously, trust in one another and knowing that no matter what we had each other's back was a great feeling. The next page will be a series of maps showing the route with the exception of the hike by the Keown Falls. Enjoy!

Official day 2 AT

It was dark as Evan woke me up. 4am as we had agreed. Up and out of the shelter ahead of the sleeping crowd. We had figured to be at my truck by 1pm. Ready by 4:30 we gathered our supplies hanging from the cables in the trees. It is wise being in bear country to stow your food off the ground and at distance from where you sleep.Appalachian trail safety
Evan had his headlight on and mine was in hand, headband and ratchet mechanism having failed during Friday nights initial walk in. We had at least 3 hours of walking in the dark, caution was the word. Rocks and roots everywhere ready to catch an unsuspecting footfall. All went well until about two hours in I took a tumble. Sleeping pad catching a overhanging rock and down I went. Bruising my knee and scraping my wrist, mostly my ego though. The sky began to lighten and morning hunger pangs began to remind us that we had no breakfast and coffee. Passing a mountain stream we stopped and fixed breakfast and coffee, the day's was beginning to turn colder, hot oatmeal and coffee where really welcome. Later we stopped and a lady hiker approached and we chatted for a few she was from North Carolina and doing some section hiking (breaking the trail into manageable chunks) preparing for a thru hike (doing the entire AT) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail all approximately 2200 miles of it. Continuing onward we started to notice light sleet and snow at higher elevations. As began our assent of Blood mountain the cold increased and so did the amount of snow/sleet.

As witnessed here, Rhine frost was present showing the direction of the blowing sleet. The snow began to gather on the ground and the real assent began in earnest.

We passed several people on the trail headed south bound with a pleasent hello. Passing the Freeman trail we continued upward. Here we passed a young man who was traveling light and was about to finish his SOBO, he was from Boston, Massachusetts. Passing through an area of Rhododendrons we saw the Blood Mountain Shelter.

This is the oldest shelter on the entire AT, constructed of rock it would be a very cold place to stay. We explored the area for a few minutes and began our decent to Neels Gap. After seemed a very long 2 miles the gap came into view. Entering the store we obtained a cup of coffee and chatted with the salesman. Leaving the store we walked the short distance to my truck and started our journey back to Springer mountain and Evans car. Stopping at the Roadkill Cafe we some BBQ sweet potato fries and a mug of coffee. We drove through Dalonega and up to the parking area. As we approached the parking area the whole area was white with hoar frost.

Exchanging some pleasentries we departed Evan leading the way back home. He stopped a few hundred yards and stated that it appeared his rear brakes were frozen, we investigated and found the left rear was stuck on after some prying we was able to continue our way home.

The end...

Official day 1 AT

As the sky began to break in the East we prepared breakfast. Oatmeal with snickers snack size bars and a cup of pour through coffee. Pack the backpack and let the day begin. Here is a video link to show some of the trail in Georgia. The first ten minutes are a highlight of our 32 mile hike from Springer Mtn. to Neels Gap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZd07QuvYw

A short walk and you arrive at Three Forks the  joining of Stover and Chester creeks forming the Noontoola creek.

Looking south along the Noontoola creek the area is lush with ferns and Rhododendrons.

Crossing the Noontoola creek.

Here you cross the forest service road 58 and begin a long uphill section paralleling the Long Creek. Off to the left is the Long Creek falls we saw glimpses and heard the roar of the water. The creek is home to a trout stream. Here we made a minor mistake that resulted in a half mile back track. The AT is intermingled with the Benton MacKaye trail. (BMT) in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benton_MacKaye_Trail

We saw a white diamond slash mark but no white rectangle slash mark panicked and retraced our steps only to discover our error and a return up the hill to continue our journey. Shortly the BMT heads out on it's own way.

After a few miles we came to the abandoned community of Hickory Flats there is an old graveyard and a plaque indicating the location of the old school.

We hiked onward through some rocky and root strewn sections past the hawk mountain shelter at the 8 mile mark. Shortly thereafter the trail became easier and here we met "carpenter" from New Hampshire. We chatted for several minutes discovering that he was about to finish his SOBO tomorrow. We departed and headed for the Devil's Kitchen and Justus Creek. It was here that I got my feet wet for the first and only time of our two day trip. Evan was able to jump at a relatively narrow spot, thinking of the consequences of my age and ability to jump I choose to just ford the creek and avoid a serious situation if I was to fall in. A little embarrassment is the better part of getting soaked in 40 degree weather. We continued on our way and finished our day at Gooch Mountain Shelter. Settling in Evan refilled our water containers we climbed up to the second level decide that we should stay at the shelter instead of pushing on for a few more hours and promptly fell asleep only to be woken up by voices approaching the shelter. Four guys from Chattanooga, Tennessee. A little after dark was setting in three other young guys from Ohio joined us. We cooked supper and readied for the day ahead of us. Evan and myself planned an early start for the next day. Around 7:30 the sky's opened up and rain began in earnest it continued through the night and was very heavy at times. We awoke very glad to had stayed at the shelter. We awoke at 4 am packed up and began our final day in the dark and facing a day that was to get colder as the day wore on.

To be continued...

Beginning AT

Let's begin this this thing. As the day at work came to an end we changed into our hiking clothes and readied for the drive to Neels Gap to leave a return vehicle. Oh, by the way the "we" currently consists of myself and fellow engineer Evan. As others join in the adventure they will join the "we". It was a quick drive of an hour and fortyfive minutes parking the truck at the Byron Reece Trailhead. http://www.georgiatrails.com/gt/byron_herbert_reece_access_trail. We drove in Evans car over to the Springer Mountain parking area, after a 10 mile ride down a semi rough dirt road we arrived at the parking area in the dark and a very thick fog. Springer mountain. Note these underlined sections they are www links to provide a more in depth look at the areas we visit.

Here's the sign at the parking area indicating the direction to the Springer Mountain terminus of the Appalachian trail. The trail is marked with white rectangular blazes painted on trees all along the way.

This is the bronze plaque at the official starting point of the AT. The first blaze also here just to the upper left of the picture. This is located approximately 1 mile from the parking area and it has to be retraced as you head northward. I almost forgot my trekking poles here, Evan saved me by noticing them as we officially departed. We signed the log book and began our 32 mile journey to Neels Gap.

As you can read "Sunflower", a trail name, just finished a SOBO southbound journey from Maine as opposed to a NOBO northbound from Georgia. We met two other hikers on the trail who where about to finish their SOBO. Carpenter from New Hampshire and another from Boston. The hike usually takes approx. six months. We departed and hiked almost 4 miles to the Stover Creek Shelter to ready ourselves for the two upcoming days. It was here that we met our fiercest wildlife in the form of 2 brown mice. One crawled into the sleeping bag with Evan and the other proceeded to attack my backpack and earned my wrath. We slept until daylight ate breakfast slipped camp and headed north.

To be continued...

Appalachian trail

I hope to figure this out and make it worthy of following my adventures. As this goes forward it will journal my adventures on the Appalachian Trail and other trails in the north Georgia mountains.