ANOTHER ROMP
ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL-- The southern end of the Appalachian Trail (AT) is atop Springer Mountain in north Georgia and we stopped there recently to do some hiking on our way home from wintering in Florida.
We were joined by Mansfield square dancing friends Don and Roberta Karger who were on their way south for a business meeting in Orlando.
Amazingly, we arrived at the state park lodge within an hour of each other. Our arrivals would have been nearly simultaneous if it wasn't for our horrid experience in Atlanta area traffic.
We spent the night of our arrival in the mountain-top lodge of Amicalola State Park nestled in the Chattahoochee National Forest. A 729 foot, cascading waterfall, the highest east of the Mississippi River, is within walking distance from the lodge.
That's Don pictured above with his camera seemingly attracted by something more interesting than the falls roaring behind him. Actually, he was about half-way through a 360 degree pan shot with his video recording.
The southern terminus of the AT is just 8 miles from the lodge but it is about a 45 minute drive away along state highways, county roads, and a tortuous climb, winding up a 6 mile forest service, gravel road to a small parking area.
From there you are hiking on the AT but have to trek almost a mile to a monument on the mountain's peak that is the trail's official southern end. We didn't find the monument because we were being pressed for time and later learned from evaluating Don's GPS we had turned around at the 8/10 mile point--just short of the monument.
Regardless, we enjoyed a romp of 1.6 AT miles along a nice mountain path and crossed a stream swollen by its springtime flow.
That gave the four of us our 5th state of AT hiking experience. Now, we are looking at the area in the Smokey Mountain National Park generally southeast of Gatlinburg, TN where the trail runs along a mountain ridge straddling the borders of TN and North Carolina--which would be our 6th and 7th states.
The photo (right) is a typical scene along our Georgia hike and shows a white blaze on the tree which marks the trail's 2,100+ mile route to Maine.
In the lower photo Roberta is about to "ford" a slightly rambunctious stream while Don is prepared to record--whatever happens.
Being the hiking veterans we are becoming, we all kept our feet dry despite the slippery footing.
So, another of life's memorable experiences is in the record book.
And, our first eye contact and welcoming hugs with the Kargers was a splendid celebration of our being homeward bound from our first-ever snowbirding experience.
We were joined by Mansfield square dancing friends Don and Roberta Karger who were on their way south for a business meeting in Orlando.
Amazingly, we arrived at the state park lodge within an hour of each other. Our arrivals would have been nearly simultaneous if it wasn't for our horrid experience in Atlanta area traffic.
We spent the night of our arrival in the mountain-top lodge of Amicalola State Park nestled in the Chattahoochee National Forest. A 729 foot, cascading waterfall, the highest east of the Mississippi River, is within walking distance from the lodge.
That's Don pictured above with his camera seemingly attracted by something more interesting than the falls roaring behind him. Actually, he was about half-way through a 360 degree pan shot with his video recording.
The southern terminus of the AT is just 8 miles from the lodge but it is about a 45 minute drive away along state highways, county roads, and a tortuous climb, winding up a 6 mile forest service, gravel road to a small parking area.
From there you are hiking on the AT but have to trek almost a mile to a monument on the mountain's peak that is the trail's official southern end. We didn't find the monument because we were being pressed for time and later learned from evaluating Don's GPS we had turned around at the 8/10 mile point--just short of the monument.
Regardless, we enjoyed a romp of 1.6 AT miles along a nice mountain path and crossed a stream swollen by its springtime flow.
The photo (right) is a typical scene along our Georgia hike and shows a white blaze on the tree which marks the trail's 2,100+ mile route to Maine.
In the lower photo Roberta is about to "ford" a slightly rambunctious stream while Don is prepared to record--whatever happens.
Being the hiking veterans we are becoming, we all kept our feet dry despite the slippery footing.
So, another of life's memorable experiences is in the record book.
And, our first eye contact and welcoming hugs with the Kargers was a splendid celebration of our being homeward bound from our first-ever snowbirding experience.
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