Tag: Georgia

One night backpack from Amicalola Falls

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 25.7 miles
Elevation gain:5,580 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)
AllTrails Day 1: map 10.3 miles
AllTrails Day 2: map 15.4 miles

It’s thru hiker season on the Appalachian Trail and I always enjoy staying at a shelter on the AT so I can meet and talk to the folks who are just starting their hike northward. This year an overnight stay at a shelter was not a good idea due to norovirus. According to the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, the virus is very widespread on the trail throughout the Georgia section. To make matters worse, hand sanitizer doesn’t kill the virus, only diligent hand washing will protect you from the awful stomach bug. Of course, running water on the trail is difficult to find, making proper cleanliness all but impossible.

There is a really pretty campsite that I’ve seen before that was a prefect distance for me, so I decided to give that site a try instead of staying at a shelter. The site was great, right next to a small stream and somewhat protected from the strong winds that blew overnight.

Continue reading “One night backpack from Amicalola Falls” →

Carters Lake – Doll Mountain to Coosawattee River

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 12.2 miles round trip
Put in: Paved lot, parking fee credit card only (map)
AllTrails map: (here)

I’ve wanted to paddle on Carters Lake for quite a while and finally made time to go. We had beautiful fall weather that made a perfect day on the water. Anne paddled her NDK Sportive, a 16 foot boat, and I paddled a 17 foot Necky Chatham. The wind kicked up late in the day so we were happy to have longer boats to handle the waves. We were pleasantly surprised at how few boats were on the lake, and all the boats we did see were fairly small fishing boats that did not have large wakes.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we hadn’t done this trip before; our goal was to paddle to where the Coosawattee flows into the lake. The scenery was absolutely beautiful with the hills displaying fall colors. There were quite a few small beaches on the lake shore. We found a small waterfall that was one of the highlights of the day. It’s located on “river right” just before we got to the flowing water.

Continue reading “Carters Lake – Doll Mountain to Coosawattee River” →

Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 15.5 miles
Elevation gain: 3,490 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Paved lot, state park parking fee. (map)
AllTrails map here

It has been a while since I’ve been able to get up to the mountains for a hike, so I chose something that I’m familiar with to see how I’d do. I also wanted to test a new pair of shoes, a zero drop trail runner from Topo Athletic, called Pursuit. This hike has a few pretty solid climbs, so I thought it would be a good test of my fitness and the shoes. As it turned out, I’m in better shape than I expected, and had a fun, fast hike. The Pursuits performed well. The vibram soles have great traction, and I appreciated the thickness of the soles in comparison to some other zero drop shoes.

Continue reading “Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain” →

Bike Ride – Smynra, GA to Piedmont, AL

~ steve houghton ~ 1 Comment

Summary
Distance: 152 miles
Elevation gain: 3,800 feet
Type: Out and back
Trailhead: Paved lot. (map)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a birthday ride, and, given the work I put in getting fit for the Georgia Loop, this seemed like a good year for a long ride. My previous birthday rides were in 2007 and 2008. Those rides were 200 miles long. I’m fit this year, but not as fast as I was back then, so I set a goal of 150 miles.

I did this ride, and the previous rides, on the Silver Comet trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga trail in Alabama. The trails meet at the border.

These trails are rails-to-trails projects, and it’s really nice not having to deal with cars. Another benefit is that there are water stops available every 15 to 25 miles. While most of the ride is on an abandoned rail bed, some of the Silver Comet needed to be constructed on other property. The result is a few pretty steep hills which can be challenging.

This year, the weather was really hot and the humidity was high too. I struggled to be able to pedal at my normal pace, and ended up accepting what I could do for the conditions at hand. Instead of 15 or 16 mph, I was at 12 or 13 mph for some of the day. The heat just sapped my strength.

In spite of my issues with the heat, it was a good day. 150 is a lot of miles, and, for me, spending that much time on a bike takes the ability to get into a certain frame of mind. I need to be able to get into the moment, and just pedal. It’s kind of a meditative state. I am totally relaxed while enjoying the rhythm of pedaling.

Continue reading “Bike Ride – Smynra, GA to Piedmont, AL” →

Georgia Loop 3-day Backpacking Trip

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Day 1: 18.8 miles / 4,843 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Day 2: 19.9 miles / 4,656 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Day 3: 22.2 miles / 4,616 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Total: 60.9 miles / 14,115 feet elevation gain
Type: Loop
Start/End: Paved lot. (map)

The Georgia Loop is a hike that combines parts of three trails, the Appalachian Trail, Duncan Ridge Trail and Benton MacKaye Trail, to make a loop. The terrain is rugged in places, water can be scarce in certain sections and campsites can be hard to find too. In other words, perfect for an adventure, and one that I’ve wanted to do for a while.

We hiked the loop in a counter-clockwise direction over Memorial Day weekend. By starting at Woody Gap and hiking counter-clockwise, we would be Duncan Ridge out of the way while we were fresh.

One of the more interesting aspects of the hike was how I came about hiking with a partner. I answered a question on a Reddit post and my answer mentioned that I was scouting Duncan Ridge for a future Georgia Loop hike. Someone replied to my post asking when I planned to hike and suggested Memorial Day weekend. After a few emails, we decided to do the hike together in four days. I didn’t know it at the time I started emailing them, but my hiking partner turned out to be a woman. My father-in-law had the best question about my plan to hike with a woman I had never met in person — “Does Anne know?”. As it turned out, our hiking preferences matched perfectly. We both liked to start hiking early, stop rarely and briefly when we do, and we hike at the same speed.

We did two things to make the hike easier. First, we left a car near the mid point of the loop, the spot where Benton MacKaye crosses Hwy 60. This allowed us to keep two days of food in the car making our packs lighter. Secondly, we stashed 10 liters of water in Mulky Gap a week before the hike in case water has hard to get. As it turned out, the water source was flowing at that location, but it was still easier to get water from our containers. It was very comforting to have certainty about water when hiking a long first day.

Continue reading “Georgia Loop 3-day Backpacking Trip” →

Etowah River mile 72 to 86.5

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 14.5 miles
Put in: Dirt lot, (carefully) passenger car accessible. (map)
Take out: Paved lot (map)
Gauge level: 5.2 feet
Relevant gauge: (here)
AllTrails map: (here)

This was the first time we’ve been on a river when the water level was way higher than normal. I was watching the gauge the day before we did our paddle, and the water level was above the 75th percentile for the date using 12 years of history. I’ll admit that I was nervous given that we didn’t have experience in those conditions. But, I decided to face my fear and head up for a paddle.

We took a look at the river when we dropped off the car at the take out site, and the water was high, muddy, and fast. We were both concerned now. I was wondering if there would be big waves at the fish weirs, Anne was concerned about fallen trees causing problems, and we both were thinking about high e-coli levels. But, I really wanted to overcome my concerns, and convinced Anne that we’d be fine.

Continue reading “Etowah River mile 72 to 86.5” →

Ocmulgee River Pope’s Ferry to Amerson Park

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 11.9 miles
Put in: Gravel parking lot. (map)
Take out: Paved parking lot. (map)
Gauge level: 3.7 feet
Relevant gauge: (here)
AllTrails map: (here)
Guide book: (here)

This was our first paddle on the Ocmulgee River as we make our way to the Atlantic Ocean. The whole trip will be close to 350 miles.

Today’s section was a lot of fun. There were shoals in the first half of the day that provided very interesting navigation challenges. It was possible to make it through the rocks, but you might have to zig zag your way from one side of the river to the other to find a way through the rocks. Below the shoals, when the river smoothed out, you could see the mostly sandy bottom clearly.

Continue reading “Ocmulgee River Pope’s Ferry to Amerson Park” →

Ocmulgee River to the Atlantic

~ steve houghton ~ 2 Comments

I recently learned that it is possible to paddle from just above Macon, Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean, a trip of almost 350 miles. The paddle will start on the Ocmulgee River and continue onto the Altamaha River. The most amazing thing is that you can do the trip without encountering a lake.

We’re planning to start our adventure from Pope’s Ferry Landing at mile 215 of the Ocmulgee. The Ocmulgee River ends at the confluence with the Oconee River a few miles south of Lumber City. From that point, it is another 130 or so miles on the Altamaha River that ends at the Atlantic near Darien, Georgia.

Our current plan is to divide the trip into three efforts:

  • Ocmulgee mile 215 to mile 100 (115 miles)
  • Ocmulgee mile 100 to Altamaha mile 132 (102 miles)
  • Altamaha mile 132 to the Atlantic (132 miles)

This is a map of our first effort from Pope’s Ferry Landing to Ochise Landing. It will take 8 days of paddling to cover the distance, and each of the days will be a separate trip, no camping for this part of the river.

Appalachian Trail 3-day backpacking trip

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Amicalola Falls State Park to Woody Gap

Summary
Distance: 28.3 miles over 3 days
Elevation gain: 6,873 feet
Type: One way with shuttle
Start: Gravel road, passenger car accessible, parking permit required. (map)
End: Paved parking lot. (map)

This was my first solo backpacking trip and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know how I would feel about walking alone during the day or sleeping without anyone around at night. I knew that I would be hiking the approach trail from Amicalola State Park and the Appalachian Trail (AT), so I expected that I’d see some people, especially because through hikers (those going all the way to Maine) are still starting out. I planned to camp next to AT shelters, so I expected to have company in the evenings. I was even wondering if the shelter areas would be crowded. As it turned out, some of my expectations were accurate and others were not. I ended up having a great trip, and learned some things about backpacking and some things about myself too.

Day 1
Amicalola Falls State Park to Stover Creek shelter
Distance: 10.8 miles
Elevation gain: 3,130 ft
AllTrails map (here)

Day 2
Stover Creek shelter to Gooch Mountain shelter
Distance: 12.7 miles
Elevation gain: 2,677 ft
AllTrails map (here)

Day 3
Gooch Mountain shelter to Woody Gap
Distance: 4.8 miles
Elevation gain: 1,066 ft
AllTrails map (here)

Continue reading “Appalachian Trail 3-day backpacking trip” →

Benton MacKaye Trail Dyer Gap to Watson Gap

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 12.1 miles
Elevation gain: 1,970 feet
Type: Loop
Trailhead: Watson Gap. Dirt road, passenger car accessible (map)
AllTrails map (here)

We wanted to finish this part of the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT), which is only 4.5 miles, to set up a 20 mile BMT backpacking trip that will take us to the Ocoee River in Tennessee. So, we put together a loop hike that used the South Fork Trail and the Pinhoti Trail as well as about 4 miles of Forest Service roads.

Overall, we both enjoyed the hike. It was a beautiful sunny Spring day, wildflowers were great, we found an intriguing historical marker, there are nice waterfalls on the South Fork of Jacks River, and we even took a quick dip in the river to cool off. Another plus is that we saw very few other people on the trail — a group of 3 horseback riders on Pinhoti, a group of 3 hikers on BMT near Dyer Gap, and a single hiker on South Fork.

But, you need to balance that against the rest of the hike. The Forest Service roads were pretty lightly traveled, but there was an occasional car or truck that passed. I think the biggest consideration about our loop is that the South Fork Trail and Pinhoti trails are old roads that see a fair amount of horse use. It was a dry day for our hike, but there were areas where the trails would have had a lot of mud on a wet day.

Continue reading “Benton MacKaye Trail Dyer Gap to Watson Gap” →