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!!

Toccoa Falls 9-17-17

Ahhh, football season in the South. The most wonderful time of the year. It's also the best time of the year for hiking. While I really do enjoy watching college football, I feel guilty wasting weekends when the leaves are changing colors and the weather is usually quite nice. So I make up for it by trying to hike on Sundays, when pro football is on. Just don't really have any interest in the Falcons or any other pro team, except for sporadic moments when former UGA players are doing well on whatever team they happen to be playing on at the moment. This is a win/win because James loves pro ball and tries to avoid hiking whenever possible hah. 

So the week of September 11 we had, well, an issue with a tropical storm (Irma- die b*tch) and it rained for several days. We lost power. Lots of trees down. Overall a bad week. By the weekend, I was completely stressed from work and really wanted to get outside. Learning opportunity- I was so wrapped up in my own world, I didn't realize how extensive the storm damage was in the mountains and I didn't think to check. I planned to hike the section of the Appalachian Trail that crosses Blue Mountain and drove up there and started hiking only to find huge sections of the trail were completely blocked by trees and washed out. I don't hike by myself very often and while I am not afraid to, I am clumsy. I started climbing over trees and roots and fell, so I decided to turn back. I drove around aimlessly for a while enjoying the scenery but ultimately wanted to do something. So I took quite a detour and went to Toccoa Falls. 

There's really no hiking required to see Toccoa Falls, just a nice stroll down a gravel path. Park near the bookstore and pay admission (I think it was $5) at the bookstore cashier. Dogs are allowed but I left mine at home. Even though it was a beautiful afternoon, there were only a handful of people there. It was very peaceful and pretty. We don't live very far away so I'm ashamed we haven't been here before. So even though my initial plan to hike a 4000+ mountain off my list didn't happen, I had an enjoyable afternoon sitting next to a pretty waterfall.