High Point Hike

We ventured back to High Point Trailhead (the Alabama one, not the Georgia one) of the Pinhoti this morning, and were amazed at all the spring flowers.  See?

I told you they were pretty!  8-)

And because most of the trees were still bare, you could see the ridgeline across the valley.

And yes, the philosopher finally managed to get a photo of me near the end of the hike (usually I'm quick enough to avoid him!).  But this time I'd found a comfy spot to rest, so rather than move, I just decided to grin and bear it. (But rest assured, no bears were harmed in the making of this photograph!)

I can get used to 70 degrees in March, because the humidity is still low.  Yay for Low Humidity!!!  We managed about 6 miles altogether.  We stopped for lunch near the place we saw the snake last time (we call it Rattlesnake Ridge, though the USGS calls it Wolf Ridge.  Hmph.  What do they know??) Then we headed back in order to avoid the forecasted showers/thunderstorms. Maybe we'll have another good weekend soon and head out for yet another adventure!

The Pinhoti Trail: Georgia Edition

A couple of weekends ago the philosopher and I trekked to our beloved Pinhoti trail - this time in Georgia, between Rome and Summerville.  We went to Taylor's Ridge, and parked at the Mack White Gap trailhead.  Unlike many of the other trailheads we've visited, this one required no forest service road nightmares, or muddy bogs, or other things most unfriendly to small compact cars.  Yay!

From the trailhead we headed south towards a side trail that goes to Sloppy Floyd state park.  We didn't *quite* make it that far, but it was still a six mile hike in the back country!

We saw wild turkeys (though we weren't fast enough to get out the camera) and some rather creepy fungi:

Of course this one reminds me of Alice in Wonderland...

Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, `One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.'
`One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to herself. `Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.
Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. 

I could relate to you the adventures we shared when we were three inches tall and descended into the rabbit hole, but I'd bet you wouldn't believe for One Second that we actually nibbled on a wild mushroom.  My husband was a boy scout - he knows better!  ::grin::

There were also some very cheerful late fall flowers, which were quite encouraging after the mushroom encounter!

But the ground did not hold a monopoly on beautiful things - late fall in the Georgia mountains is a gorgeous sight to see.  Who needs New England foliage when we have the Blue Ridge Mountains and Piedmont?

The trail took us along a ridgeline, and we came across a mountain meadow .  We stepped out from the trees and walked into this clearing.  If the ground hadn't been wet from yesterday's rain, I would have stretched out on the grass in the sun!

So that's our first "real" hiking adventure since we moved to Georgia in the spring.  (State park trails just aren't the same, somehow.)  But I've added a new list to our hiking log, and on those warm winter weekends you may just find us venturing forth to find another trailhead!

What Do Julie Andrews and Hiking Have in Common?

"Do, a deer, a female deer"
While hiking at Red Top Mountain last weekend, we saw a doe!  Our new camera allows us to take a much better picture of far-away things, but she wasn't *that* far away.  And we didn't even faze her a bit!

"Re, a drop of golden sun"
The trail took us to the banks of the Etowah river, and the sun glistening off the water made a very pretty picture.

"Mi, a name I call myself"
Well, obviously it wasn't just me that went hiking - the philosopher went too.  It was our first Georgia hike, and we had a great time.

"Fa, a long, long way to run"
Five-and-a-half miles, at least.  So not a *long* hike. And really, it was a much easier hike than the Pinhoti.  When I get my "hiking legs" stretched out, we'd like to try a longer run on the Benton-Mackaye Trail up near Ellijay.

"So, a needle pulling thread"
How about, erm, threading a needle?  (Is there some way I can really stretch the metaphor here?)  While on our hike the philosopher's cell phone rang.  That was a surprise in itself - we usually don't have cell phone service when we hiked in Alabama!  He's been trying to thread that "job needle" for a while, looking for a teaching position.  So the phone call?  An offer of two philosophy classes in the spring.  Score!

"La, a note that follows so"
Hm. I don't actually sing when I hike (disturbing the wildlife is a no-no in state parks, you know)!  But we do TALK when we hike.  Most recently it's been about his book project, with subjects like transformation, classical philosophy, contemplation, liberal arts, and Werner Jaeger's Paideia.  Erm... I do a lot of nodding.  And sometimes I get distracted and say things like "Oooh - look at that tiny frog!"  or "MmMMmm - do you smell that?  It must be a sassafras tree!" or "Did you hear that - that was a bird, right?"  But my completely random, distracted interjections keeps the philosopher on his toes, and that's just fine.  ::heh::

"Ti, a drink with jam and bread"
And to top off the afternoon, we had a cold glass of good, old fashioned, southern iced tea when we got home!

Hiking in February

It's a great idea when it's 70 degrees!  Hurrah for a warm weekend!

For Saturday's adventure, we first had to actually gain access to the trailhead.  This involved no mean feat - traversing 10 miles of rather alarming forest service roads in a small sedan.  (In our defense, the Alabama Atlas and Gazetteer, as well as Google, said these roads were COUNTY roads.  Not so much, I say!)  Fortunately, we've been rain-free for a while so the roads, while terribly dusty and completely frightening to drive on, were passable. We ended up at the Pine Glen Campground, deep in the heart of the Talladega National Forest.  It's actually a nice place, with toilet facilities and such.  We parked next to another small sedan and noticed it had a flat tire - "A-ha, we proclaimed - they must have came the same way we did!"

The campground is sited next to Shoal Creek, a wide and deep waterway that is filled with fish and turtles.

We started out on the trail, headed for our turnaround spot at the Laurel Shelter, some 4 1/2 miles north.

Along the way, we hiked around the western edge of Sweetwater Lake.  Folks were out fishing, and there was a boy scout troop setting up camp for an overnight. 

The shelter was built by a small creek, and there were some really cool rock formations.  As you can see, though, I was too tired to really appreciate the scenery!  ::grin::

 

 

This marks our longest hike ever, over nine miles!  And I just did the math based on our hiking log (I'm a librarian, remember - I keep notes of this kind of stuff!) and discovered we've hiked over 68 miles of the Pinhoti Trail.  That's pretty darn good for someone who didn't own a pair of hiking boots until three years ago!

Hiking at Camp Sumatanga

I've lived back in my hometown now for going on four years.  It's been a wierd time, in some ways, seeing things that have changed so dramatically since I was in high school.  (But it's been good, too, being able to watch college football with my dad on lazy fall Saturdays!)  The philosopher and I have visited parks and other places I used to haunt as a child, and he patiently put up with my never-ending stream of reminisces.

Once place we hadn't been, until a couple of weeks ago, was the Methodist church camp where I spent many an afternoon and weekend attending church picnics, retreats, and 4-H summer camps.  (Yes, I was in 4-H.  Please pick your jaw up off the floor!)

In general, things hadn't changed much.  Some paved paths where they used to be stone, and upgrades to the cabin and lodge.  The camp is on top of Chandler Mountain, and sits in a little valley below the peak.  There's a steep, mile-long trail to the top, where there is a lighted cross that shines out over the valley.  As a kid, I only made that arduous trek once - I always opted for the much easier stroll to the far side of the lake - so the route through the trees was less clear in my memory.  We finally hit the upward trail (after doing a little accidental trailblazing of our own) and the steep climb began.  We met a group of weekend campers coming down, full of enthusiasm after having defeated the mountain, giving us high-fives and saying "you can do it - it's awesome!" (Sigh.  I didn't think I felt that bad, but we must've appeared weary and exhausted to the kids!)

When we arrived at the summit's cross, we looked down into the valley:

 Alabama is a beautiful state and being atop a mountain, even in the early throes of winter, keenly reminds me of that.  I have to say I was disappointed by the cross - it was probably the Coolest Thing Ever when I was 13, but after attending college at Sewanee and walking to this every weekend, a metal structure covered with neon lights doesn't do it for me.  Still, the view was incredible.

We continued our trek back down the mountain, and instead of following our original trail we turned north so we would end up by the lake.  Ahhh, the lake.  I was permanently scarred on that lake when I fell out of a canoe.  It took me decades before I would willingly paddle a boat again!  The camp has created a paved walking path with benches and swings since I was there last, and it was a welcome relief from the slippery leaf-and-needle covered trail.  We had our lunch on a swing, and the philosopher went to investigate the lakeshore.

 So it was a good day, full of memories and philosophical discussion.  It's getting too cold to go hiking these days, so we're planning our next foray for 2011, when Spring returns to these southern climes.

A Trip to Charleston

I went to a library conference last week in Charleston, South Carolina.  Never been there before.  Definitely want to go back and take the philosopher, and do nothing but walk around town admiring the architecture!  Now, I could regal you all (all two of you) with amazing conference anecdotes, and recaps of some of the amazing sessions like Scholarly Communication!  Google Books!  Bibliographic Instruction! e-Readers in the library! Database Management! Patron-Driven Acquisitions!

But I won't.

Instead I'll share with you some pictures I took during a brief walking tour.  I decided to skip out on one afternoon session, and try to see as much of the city as I could.  I wanted to walk down to the Battery.  I wanted to see some of the amazing historic churches.  I wanted to walk right up and touch some of the buildings that were standing 200 years ago.  So I did.. and this is some of what I saw:

Citadel Square Baptist Church: established 1854.  It was actually across Marion Square from the conference hotel, and we could hear it (and many others around town) toll the hours.

On the other side of the square was St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, established 1874.  You can't really tell in this photo because it was a cloudy day, but the edifice is a beautiful terra cotta color, and it had some wonderful stained glass.  It's also interesting that for all the churches, the stained glass is protected by what appears to be lexan or some other sturdy outer layer.  I suppose it makes sense.. you know, hurricanes could really do some damage.

Next was the French Huguenot Church, established 1845.  The architectural detail was stunning.

This is the First Baptist Church.  It is the oldest Baptist church in the south - the congregation was formed in 1682, and this building was constructed in 1822. 

 These are two of the Episcopal churches.  The one on the left is St. Michael's (1752), and the one on the right is St. Philip's (founded in 1680).  St. Michael's has the distinction of being one of the only churches that has not had significant changes made to its facade, so it looks today just like it looked 250 years ago.

 And then of course I headed down to the coastline.  The US Custom House and the USS Yorktown are visible from an awesome waterfront park and pier off of East Bay Street (on the Cooper River).  When I walked down to Battery Park, there was a sailing ship out in the bay.  I tried to get a decent shot, and the best one I could get also had Ft. Sumter just inside the frame on the left.  Bonus!

I still may bore you with a post about some of the conference proceedings - we had a senior Google engineer talk about the Google Books project which was Just Absolutely Amazing. I also enjoyed some delicious food at Slightly North of Broad, Chai's Lounge and Tapas, and the Swamp Fox Restaurant.  But I'll save that for later....  ::grin::

Fall Colors on the Mountain

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  

~John Muir 

This past weekend the philosopher and I went on a hike in the Talladega National Forest.  The Pinhoti, as I've mentioned before, is a really long trail extending from south of Birmingham to the Georgia state line near Cedartown.  We're hiking all the parts of it nearby, bit by bit.  This time we went from the County Road 94 crossing about 3 1/2 miles up the mountain and along Augusta Mine Ridge.  It was a perfect day - upper 70s with a nice breeze and low humidity.

Wilson Ridge

This is looking east from Rocky Top, elevation @ 1850'

The trail cut through an ancient grove of cedars and pines - I kept thinking of Tolkien, for some reason.

Looking down into Piedmont Valley

Looking back to Oakey Mountain

It was a frabjulous day, all in all.  And the best part?  We didn't talk deep philosophy, or make plans about what we might do if the philosopher doesn't find a full time job.  Instead we talked about where we might move to be closer to the (soon-to-be-his-we-hope-and-pray) job he will have next year.  So we talked about houses, and where we'd like to live.  And where we might live if we BOTH got a job at the Happy Southern School, and where we might live if I stay where I am.  My friends, I have to say, that was the most hopeful and encouraging Hiking Talk we've had... ever.  So keep up the prayers.  We know for sure that one way or another things will be settled by Christmas.  And ... hopefully! ... our yearly Christmas letter will bear happy tidings for us at last!

Late Summer Hiking Adventure (and a bit of an update)

We braved the heat and humidity last weekend to go hiking again. This time we went north on the Pinhoti Trail, from the Salem Church Road crossing to the 1500' overlook (about five miles round trip, all told). It was great to get back on the trail again after our long, hot Alabama summer. Yes, I know it's still summer, but you know, September 1 is the first day of meteorological Fall so I'm sticking by my story!

This is Hawkins Hollow Creek, which had some beautiful red flowers.



And this is the view from the overlook on Indian Mountain.



In the foreground is Davis Mountain, then you see the Augusta Mine Ridge, then Oakey Mountain, then waaaaaaaay in the distance is Dugger Mountain. We've been to all four! How cool is that?

We still have our sights set on going up to the Walls of Jericho, if the fall doesn't get away from us too quickly. But given our schedules, we'll have to see. What with jobs, and yard reclamation, and other house projects, and college football games, sometimes it's hard to carve out the time.

A brief update on Other Things:
The philosopher had yet another phone interview with the Far-Away School, and he is encouraged. I think he would fit in intellectually very well there, but the whole Big City thing is a tough sell. We are also fairly confident that he'll get an interview for the full time job at the Happy Southern School, where he's already teaching adjunct. It may come to a decision between Two Cities (could that be the best of times and the worst of times?) so prayers for wisdom, and guidance, and patience are always appreciated. You know, it's funny - we talk about these deep things when we're hiking quite often. Maybe it's easier to listen for the still small voice of God when you're in the wilderness?

Another Hiking Adventure

This weekend we trekked back to Cheaha State Park for an eight-mile loop hike. We started at the Cheaha Trailhead and took the Cave Creek Trail south to the Pinhoti Trail connector, then came back to the trailhead via the Pinhoti. It was a glorious day, a bit windy, but beautiful nonetheless. What's really cool is that we've hiked from a southern trailhead north to the same connector, so bit by bit we're visiting entire trails!

We had lunch at McDill Point, an absolutely stunning overlook about a quarter mile off the main trail. And even more interesting, there are the remains of a plane crash there. Being the librarian, of course I wanted to know the details. Surprisingly enough, there have been at least a dozen crashes that have happened near Cheaha since the 1940s. There was one in 1991, one in 1986, one in 1967... and the list keeps going. After researching on the NTSB site with the small bits of info I had, I believe this (2003) is the crash. It's in the right place (near Hernandez Peak) and it's a two-seater. So, my prayers go out to the families of the two men who lost their lives. I took a photo of the debris, but I don't think I'll post it... and actually, I'm surprised that the park left the debris on the mountainside. There's a forest road not too far away, and what's left is mostly aluminum.

Anyway, back to our hike. Here are some photos from McDill Point...



There was a pair of hawks riding the thermals just below us, and that was amazing to watch. We hiked the Pinhoti part of the trail back last November, and the difference in the landscape is something to behold. Six months ago it was barren rock and leafless trees, and this weekend it was lush with spring flowers and all kinds of green undergrowth. My favorite is by far the many, many sassafras saplings. You can't transplant them worth a darn (and I speak from personal experience), but they smell So Good!

I'm hoping for at least one more spring-like weekend, because once summer rolls around in Alabama, it's just too hot and humid to hike!

Snow and Hiking

No, not at the same time. Two weekends ago, we had snow. This past weekend, it was almost 70 degrees and warm enough for a hike. That's life in the deep south - if you don't like the weather, just wait until tomorrow!

SNOW

We did get a dusting of some snow several weeks ago, but this most recent storm was a little more serious about sticking to the ground.


The day after the snow, the sun came up over the house and I snapped the first pic through the living room window. It was beautiful, but I commented to the philosopher that I was SO READY for spring. (This global warming stuff really stinks, huh?)

SUN

Then this weekend was absolutely glorious - truly an answer to prayers! Highs in the 60s, beautiful blue sky and sunshine. AAAAAHHHhhhhhh.

We decided to head off to the Pinhoti trail once more, this time driving north to the Burns Trailhead and hiking south towards the Choccolocco Watershed and the Choccolocco WMA. We heard a couple of hunters (but since deer season ended in January, we had to wonder what they were shooting at), and met several other couples out on the trail enjoying the day.


The philosopher is standing at the edge of "20 Foot Creek" in the first shot - posing diligently while I tried to get a good picture. The middle photo is Choccolocco Watershed, taken from the dam looking back east. The final one is also at the watershed (taken from the far right corner of the lake if you're looking at the middle pic). The wind was perfectly still, allowing me to get a decent shot of the sky and trees reflecting in the water.

All in all it was a fabulous journey! Many of the plants - especially the oak leaf hydrangeas and the dogwoods - were starting to bud out, and we saw a few stray flowers growing through the leaf debris. So take heart, my friends. Spring is coming!