The list

I first came upon the idea of hiking 31 mountains when I was on the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club website and they described a new challenge they are launching- the GA4000, in which participants hike 31 "qualifying" peaks over 4000 feet in Georgia. So no, this was not my idea, but I found it very fitting to stumble upon it two weeks before my 31st birthday. There are limited details on the GATC website and it seems the program is planned to launch in 2016. The GATC has not listed the qualifying peaks yet, but here are a list of the mountains in Georgia over 4000 feet. Obviously there are more than 31, so I'm not sure which ones will not qualify. I have already visited Brasstown Bald and Blood Mountain several years ago and may have hiked others without paying attention to the names but am looking forward to starting the challenge fresh. 

1.            Brasstown Bald                          

2.            Rabun Bald                                

3.            Dicks Knob                                 

4.            Hightower Bald                           

5.            South Wolfpen Ridge          

6.            Blood Mountain                          

7.            Tray Mountain                                           

8.            Grassy Ridge                             

9.            Little Bald Mountain                                  

10.          Flint Knob East                                         

11.          Slaughter Mountain                   

12.          Shooting Creek Bald                 

13.          Chimneytop Mountain               

14.          Coosa Bald                                

15.          Double Spring Knob                  

16.          Eagle Mountain                                        

17.          Flint Knob                                                 

18.          Chimney Top                             

19.          Brier Creek Bald                        

20.          Cowpen Mountain                                    

21.          Slaughter Mt-North            

22.          Rich Knob                                 

23.          Sassafras Knob                        

24.          Flat Top                                                   

25.          Locust Log Ridge                     

26.          Alex Mountain                                         

27.          Big Bald Mountain                    

28.          Mayapple Knob                        

29.          Horsetrough Mountain             

30.          Rich Mountain                   

31.          Double Knob South                  

32.          Rocky Mountain                

33.          Bald Mountain                   

34.          Spaniards Knob                

35.          Blue Mountain                   

36.          Rattlesnake Knob                    

Cloudland Canyon Day Trip 10-24-15

Cloudland Canyon State Park does not have a 4000+ peak but it is probably the most beautiful place I have been in Georgia. The last time we took a hike specifically to look at fall foliage was for my birthday in 2011. We went to Amicalola Falls and unfortunately, the foliage really wasn't that great that year. 

Cloudland Canyon, however, was stunning. We were seriously stopping every 2 minutes to take pictures and just enjoy the scenery. The dogs had a wonderful time also. They may have short legs but had absolutely no problem keeping up. 

Cloudland Canyon is about a 2 hour drive northwest from where we live in the north metro of Atlanta. It is not difficult to reach from 1-75. The bulk of the non-highway driving is on SR-136, which goes through the Chattahoochee National Forest and passes other hiking areas such as a Pinhoti Trail stop and Johns Mountain Wildlife Management area. It is a scenic drive with many farms, pastures, etc. 

The park was very crowded this weekend, because it is reportedly the peak weekend for fall foliage in north Georgia. There are several trail options and the Cloudland Canyon website clearly lines these out. We did the waterfalls trail first, which is only 2 miles long, but has thousands of stair steps. While the views of the waterfalls were lovely, I would not recommend this trail for dogs. The stairs are open metal grate type material and little Nova could not even walk on them due to her feet slipping through. Therefore, I carried her up and down. She only weighs ~8 lbs but it was not very fun for either of us. Tennille could handle the steps but was hesitant and we had to coax her up and down, with many stops along the way. It seemed most of the visitors wanted to do the waterfalls trail, so the steps were crowded with people going in both   directions. Not good to have dogs underfoot....

               

After the waterfalls trail, we went on to the West Rim Loop Trail, which is about 5 miles long, and provided the best views of the surrounding scenery. This trail features large, rocky outcroppings with many observation areas, panoramic views of the canyon cliff faces covered in various color leaves, a stretch of peaceful, relatively flat woodlands, and several hike in campsites. It is not a strenuous trail and has very little incline. The dogs had a blast on this trail and Nova literally bounced over all the roots and rocks. There was not a lot of traffic on this trail at all, especially the second half once we looped around.

         

These are just a fraction of the photos I took. It was hard to choose which ones were best, considering each and every tree had such unique colors. The weather also varied quite a bit throughout the afternoon which changed the ways things looked. It started out cloudy but then rained a bit and humidity rose, causing some haze over the mountains. Once the rain cleared up, the sun came out but by then was around 5 pm. Regardless, the changing sunlight created many different "filters" on the leaves and rock. 

In summary, our visit to Cloudland Canyon was a fantastic day trip. Honestly, we got a pretty late start and did not actually begin hiking until about 2 pm. We started the West Rim trail at about 4 pm, so even if you only have a few hours to spare, a hike around Cloudland Canyon is within reach. We got back to the parking area around 6:30 pm with daylight to spare. We did 7 miles total, with many stops for pictures and doggy water breaks. We easily could have spent the whole day or even the night here, but we do have other obligations today. Our niece is being baptized and and sadly, I have some work to do. But there is always next weekend...

The beginning of the trail

First of all, let me introduce myself. I am 30 year old social worker living north of Atlanta (where the Metro meets the Mountains, if you know what I mean). I am married to an insurance man, James, and we have a silly dog named Tennille. We also foster dogs for a local animal welfare organization and currently have a sweet girl named Nova.

As my husband and I both approach our 31st birthdays, we have set a goal for ourselves: to hike the 31 mountains in Georgia higher than 4000 feet in elevation. After spending most of our twenties working 60 hours weeks, it's time for a change. I am fortunately in a position where I don't work on the weekends (as much) anymore and my husband is blessed with a pretty straight 9-5 job. We are also interested in getting in better shape and doing activities we can engage our very active dog in.

We've been lucky enough to live near the Chattahoochee river and National Recreation Area for several years and we always enjoy frequent outings there during the summer, but that has been the extent of our exploration in North Georgia, for the most part.

When I moved to Georgia over 7 years ago, I did excitedly hike as much as I could before starting grad school. Coming from the coast of Florida, living anywhere remotely near mountains was fascinating. But once real life started up, I never got up to the mountains very frequently. 

Strangely enough though, work did play a part in motivating me to get outside and explore. See, after I started working in Cherokee County in late 2014, I began to notice exactly what was around me. I started looking at maps and realized, Ellijay is just a short drive north, then Blue Ridge beyond that. Northwest is the Cohutta Wilderness and Fort Mountain. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the amount of mountains and trails nearby. 

So this blog will be an opportunity for us to document and share our explorations of North Georgia, with our main goal being 31 peaks for our 31 years. My birthday is November 7th and my husband's is December 3- perfect timing to enjoy the fall leaves and work on our goals. 

As for the name of the blog, coincidentally, we all have green daypacks. Papa Bear's is the biggest, Mama Bear's in the middle and Baby Bear even has her own little harness/backpack. So we are a totally cute, matching family on the trail. 

I will leave you with a picture of us from last summer at the Chattahoochee.