Hiking, travel, and life in general

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Tallulah Gorge and Clayton 11-5-17


For my birthday, we finally went somewhere I'd been wanting to go for several years- Tallulah Gorge State Park. I'm not really sure why it took us so long to get up there. It's not even that far from our house (about 1.5 hours). I think part of it had been me focusing on actual hiking (for a while) and then not really doing anything substantial for the better part of 2016. 

So on November 5, 2017 it was an unseasonably warm (but overcast) day and just happened to be a whitewater release as well. I'm a dum dum and have not learned from previously planning issues, so I didn't even look at the release schedule. We were lucky to snag a parking spot but found the park really didn't seem that crowded. We left the dogs at home during this trip so we could explore at our leisure. Dogs are also not allowed in some areas of Tallulah Gorge, but of course those areas are also off limits to people during the dam releases as well. Do as I say, not as I do and actually read the Tallulah Gorge website before making a trip!!
We spent about 2 hours in the park and walked along the mainly the north rim trail (again, some trails are closed during dam releases). We did take the stairs down to the suspension bridge, which was quite a work out but very cool. The overcast/misty fog combined with the beautiful fall leaf color created a serene landscape. The diversity of scenery in Georgia never fails to amaze me. 

After visiting the park, we drove up into Clayton (about a half an hour north) to have lunch and walk around. I'd never been to Clayton before either and it is a cool little town. We ate at a placed called the Universal Joint and watched part of the Falcons game and then browsed around. Of course, we went to Wander North Georgia and bough an awesome Ryan Gosling coloring book for a friend's Christmas present and some items for ourselves. Then we happened upon an antique store called Lulu and Tully's and James bought some antique woodworking tools for his dad's birthday (he is a woodworker). Overall, quite the eclectic mix of places to go in Clayton. I just love mountain towns and wish I lived in one. 

So happy 33 to me. I've got a few more posts to catch up on about other places we went in 2017 and then it's on to 2018 and our next trip out west!!

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