We left Cherokee Campground in the rain. We generally don't travel in the rain, but we had reservations at Tallulah Gorge State Park. Mark has been driving these narrow and winding mountain roads in our car, and this day he maneuvered our 35-foot motor home over those same roads. We have a special GPS made for trucks and big RVs, and it sounds alerts to warn the driver about sharp curves in the road. We couldn't even count the number of those alerts we heard as we moved to our next destination. It was as if the GPS was giving us the subliminal message, "You big dummies--you shouldn't have a vehicle like this on a road like that!"
We also have to include a picture of the mowing process in this part of the mountains. In addition to horizontal mowers for the grass, they have vertical mowers that trim the brush and trees that are always trying to encroach over those narrow roads.
We got the motor home snugged into a long pull-through site in the state campground and waited out the rain. We would continue to get rain showers for the three nights of our stay. So that elusive permit to hike to the bottom of Tallulah Gorge that we tried to get during Blake's visit, never would materialize for three more days. The rocks could never dry out to make scrambling over the boulders at the bottom safe.
The good news is that all that rain is very good for the plants and waterfalls. We finally saw our first blooming wild hydrangea.
Since we had already seen most of Tallulah Gorge State Park with our son Blake, we explored another state park just 15 miles away--Black Mountain State Park. We would have camped there, but the approach road is filled with hair-pin turns and 25% grades that make driving a sizable motor home almost impossible. We could only imagine the subliminal message our GPS would have given us on that road! Therefore, they don't have camping sites big enough for us at Black Mountain. But it made a great place to drive our little car for a day trip.
At 3,446 feet, it is the highest state park in Georgia, and there is a beautiful view of the Appalachian Mountains from the visitor center. The rhododendrons are in full bloom at this elevation!
Denisa has determined that Black Rock Mountain has the most beautiful flowers of any state park we have visited on this journey to the east. The wild purple irises where at peak bloom, and she just happened to wear the same color today.
Even the mountain daisies are at full bloom, and we haven't seen them anywhere else. All these flowers, and we haven't even left the visitor center's parking lot! We also learned that the eastern continental divide is right at the entrance of the park. We were familiar with the continental divide in the mountains of Colorado, and didn't know that there was an eastern divide as well.
Following the advice from the ranger, we headed out on the 2.2 mile Tennessee Rock Trail loop. We were walking completely in the shade again this day. Wet and shaded is the perfect environment for ferns to grow, and they were everywhere. As Blake would say, this trail was completely fern-ished.
We love learning new things about this new (to us) part of the country. We had never heard of the tulip tree before, but they grow all over these Georgia mountains. They have the most interesting lyre-shaped leaves.
Mark likes to call them canoe trees, because the Native Americans found them to be the best trees to hollow out into a boat. Denisa prefers to call them tulip trees because they produce a tulip-like flower in the spring. We had never seen these flowers because it is a brief blooming period and it is almost impossible to see the blooms that are 100 feet off the ground in these tall trees. But this day we found some blooms on the trail that had just fallen out of the tulip tree. Denisa was pretty excited to see those flowers!
Mark just plays along with Denisa's excitement, still muttering that knowing that a tree would make a good canoe is more important should we ever be stranded on a remote Georgian island. Unique tree flowers won't float you off that island!
This hike was a good reminder that we are wandering God's wonders. It would be easy to see a simple plant like this from the top and dismiss it as plain.
But if we take the time to look carefully, there is a perfect line of dainty bell-shaped flowers hidden underneath. That is one of God's wonders to Denisa.
This hike was like that, and Denisa spent half of her time upside down looking under leaves. From the top, we could see little glimpses of pink . . .
But it took almost standing on our heads to see a delicate flower of beauty almost completely hidden from the top. There is a life lesson for us there.
In a few weeks this will also be a delicious walk in the woods. The blackberry bushes were huge and white with blooms.
We made it to the summit of Black Rock Mountain at 3,640 feet. Georgia mountains are about 10,000 feet shorter than the mountains we were hiking about a year ago in Colorado. But the hikes in Colorado also started at much higher elevations. Another difference is that summiting Colorado mountains means hiking above tree line, while all of our hikes here have been in the shade.
Close to that peak of Black Rock Mountain we came to a break in the trees so we could look out over the landscape that surrounds us. In the valleys we see patches of white and black that stretch on for acres. Those are plastic coverings over the soil on farms that are beginning to plant spring vegetables. The plastic will control the weeds around the plants and make them easier to harvest and care for.
We met a delightful couple at the observation point. We all agreed that hikers are some of the nicest people, and we exchanged taking pictures for each other with that dramatic back drop.
We are already impressed with Black Rock Mountain State Park. But then we discovered more beautiful flowers near its campgrounds. We had never seen these bright red rhododendrons before, nestled among the purple, pink and white blooms.
Mark has pointed out that Denisa used to get so excited at the sight of a mountain laurel. But after ten days of seeing so many, she can walk right by one without even gasping now. But she is once again gasping, because after all those white mountain laurels, we found a dark pink one at this state park.
That deserves a close up picture. How beautiful to find a new color!
Denisa is all smiles with her new flower discoveries. This is another new one--red and white mountain laurel that is so full of blooms the branches are bending to the ground.
One last picture of the rhododendrons just to show the quantities of blooms, and that those bushes can grow to ten feet tall. Mountain flowers are spectacular!
Denisa was on flower-overload, but we had one more stop to make before we left this state park. There is another trail that circles Black Rock Lake, and we drove the gravel road to get there. We found a teal green mountain lake nestled among the Appalachian foot hills.
The last picture of the day is proof of why Black Rock Mountain is now one of our favorite state parks. A trip here in May is stunning!
At our Cherokee campground in the woods, we hear that a black bear has been visiting most evenings. It seems that bird feeders are the bear's favorite target, and feeders that have been torn down are the best evidence that another night-time visit has been made. Part of us (Mark) would really like to see that bear, while the other part (Denisa) is content to be safe inside the motor home when a bear is roaming right outside.
But the only bear picture we have is from the visitor center's taxidermied display. We are enjoying very nice weather here in the North Georgia Mountains, and we had time for one more hike before we left our week-long stay in the area. We drove a few miles to Unicoi State Park, where we visited with the very knowledgeable park ranger. We were expecting to take a walk at the state park, but he started describing his favorite trail in the area. Actually on U.S. Forest Service land, he described it as the best trail in the southeast United States, and he couldn't say enough good things about Raven Cliff Falls Trail. All-righty, it sounds like our plans for the day have changed. We drove the 8 miles to the trail head and headed into the forest. Not far into the trail we got a heart-felt welcome from this old tree.
It is 2.5 miles to the main waterfall, but there is plenty to see on the way. There are four different waterfalls along the way, and Mark is standing beside one of them.
We heard this trail can be very crowded on the weekend, but there were around 20 cars in the parking lot even on a week day. We like visiting with hikers we meet on the trail, and today we met a very interesting man. We didn't get his picture, but we did get his hiking companion. He takes his pet bird with him on hikes! This cage is close to two feet tall, and must give him quite an arm work-out! He had also replaced the bars with plexiglass on one side of the cage so his fine feathered friend could get a clear view on these hikes. He also has a bird leash that he uses for some hikes.
The entire hike is canopied by forest, and runs beside the clear water of Dodd Creek. Even in the heat of summer, this must be a cool hike, as we explored another waterfall on the way.
But the star of the trail is the final destination--Raven Cliff Falls.
One of the most unique waterfalls we have ever seen, the falls emerge from a fracture in the side of a massive granite slab. We have wandered into another of God's wonders.
If we back away from the waterfall, we can get an idea of the size of the 100-foot granite slab that houses the waterfall. Of course, Mark wonders if we could get to the top of that rock. So off we go on a scramble over rocks and roots at a 45 degree angle.
We made it, but it was a tough scramble. It's hard to get a picture from the top, but Mark jumped up to a ledge to try to show the edge of the mountain.
Mark took a picture straight down from our perch. The bright orange dot is a person viewing the waterfall. They have no idea they are posing for a picture from above.
The only thing harder than climbing up a steep cliff, is coming back down. Mark is smiling because he has long legs and strong arms to help with the down hill trip. But he is really worried about how he is going to get Denisa down.
We eventually made it down, but Mark had to make some artificial steps with his hands for Denisa to step down at places.
Denisa made it back to the falls, not sure if she should be following a mountain climber like Mark. She's not sure if the "Whither thou goest I will go" vow should include waterfall trails!
On our way home from this hike, Denisa spotted a bear by the edge of the forest on the side of the road. Mark was concentrating on the road and the never-ending curves, so he missed it. By the time we whipped a u-turn, the bear had already ambled into the woods. But we do now have visual proof that Georgia bears are alive and well.
It's been a great stay here in North Georgia, and this was a great hike for our last day in this area. But we are on a bit of a schedule. So we will be moving down the road to a new adventure.
We were sad to make the trip back to Atlanta to return our son, Blake, to the airport. We went to church on the way, then stopped in for lunch at Big Daddy's Dish in Atlanta. The line to get our soul food lunch was longer than we expected, so we had to eat fast to make it to the airport on time. We've been hearing about long security lines at big airports, and we were planning to get Blake there 2.5 hours before his flight. Denisa was eating fast, and our server noticed that her plate was almost empty. He worried that she didn't get enough food, so he brought her another big serving of both the entrees! We have never gotten service like that, and we highly recommend Big Daddy's now!
It was a fast good-bye at the airport, and we already miss Blake! (Incidentally, it only took him 30 minutes to get through security, so we didn't have to rush after all.)
Since we were in Atlanta, we decided to do some sight-seeing before we headed home to the north Georgia mountains. Our destination was the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in downtown Atlanta--a well-done museum that is free to the public.
MLK was born and spent his first 12 years in this neighborhood on Auburn Street in Atlanta. There are tours of his boyhood home, but all the tickets were already reserved for this day. His grandparents lived on the bottom floor, and MLK's parents and their three children lived on the top floor.
Even if we couldn't go inside, we could still get a picture on the front porch.
Just down the street from the house is the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where MLK's Father was a pastor. MLK would also co-pastor here in the 1960's with his Father. It was also here that his Mother was shot and killed in 1974.
The Historical Ebenezer Church was replaced by a new, larger facility across the street in 1999.
The whole neighborhood was a great place to stroll on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. There is an interesting national park visitor center, complete with historic displays. There was also a rose garden in the neighborhood, and Denisa has a weakness for beautiful flowers.
Also in the Auburn neighborhood is The King Center, with a small museum and timelines of the lives of both Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. They are both buried in the middle of a reflecting pool in the courtyard of the King Center.
There were more pretty flowers here, and the pictures turned out too clear to not include them.
We have to say that Atlanta won't rank high on our list of favorite cities. We looked hard to find interesting things to do while we were in town. We found some--but few of them fit into our thrifty travel budget. We could list some of the things we didn't do: Coca-Cola World ($16/person), CNN Tour ($20/person), College Football Hall of Fame ($20/person), Stone Mountain ($15 parking plus cost of activities), Atlanta History Center ($16.50/person). Even the Chick-fil-a headquarter tour is $10/person or $20/person for the deluxe tour. Add in the terrible traffic and expensive parking, and we won't probably be visiting here again.
But we discovered the Freedom Trail outside the visitor center, and took a nice urban walk to enjoy the nice weather. The trail took us all the way to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, but it was already closed for the day. We also walked through Inman Park, home of the "King of Pops" kitchen. This small company makes "handcrafted all natural" popsicles, and Denisa had read how good they are.
We had a hard time deciding between yummy flavors like "pomegranate lemonade" and "raspberry lime." But a regular customer convinced of us of the joys of "farm strawberry." It was a joyful snack! The package reads, "We started a farm a couple of years ago called King of Crops to grow the very best ingredients for our pops. We're proud to have planted, picked, mixed and frozen the strawberries in this pop just for you." That certainly made us feel special.
We walked on the Freedom Trail until it intercepted the Beltline Trail, where most of Atlanta was walking or biking this beautiful weather weekend. We watched as a group of street artists used spray paint cans to outline a new piece of graffiti on the underpass. We tried to figure out what they were spelling, or what was in the picture, but we were baffled. When Mark asked one of the spray painters, the answer was simply, "It's art."
At the same underpass was another piece of art that was big and interesting to look at.
If we looked closely, we saw that it was made up of trashed items like a bicycle helmet, a fan cover, wagon wheels, chair legs . . .
We found out that Morehouse College (where MLK went to school) was celebrating graduation this weekend. Some people thought we were also celebrating since Denisa was wearing their school colors. She was also wearing the same color as some of the shrubbery at the park.
We walked for miles along the urban trails, so we got some good exercise. It's definitely a change from all the forest hiking we have been doing! We have visited the state capitol in the last four states we have traveled in, so we wanted to also see Georgia's. It was closed on a Sunday afternoon, but we still got a picture of its glittering dome on this beautiful blue sky afternoon.
It was late by the time we made the two-hour trip home to the mountains. We'd make the trip to Atlanta to pick up Blake any day, but we must say we prefer our rural forest to the urban jungle any day.
