Day 216, Year 6 Amicalola Falls
Date: Saturday, May 28, 2011
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day
Location: “Down the Road” Cabin near Blue Ridge, Georgia
Amicalola Falls State Park is about a 45 minute drive from the “Down the Road” cabin and it is one of the most popular state parks because of the spectacular falls. Some say it is it highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, but other sources say that at 728 feet, it is the tallest in the Southeast. Whichever, it is a beautiful water fall. And access has been made really easy. You can take a staircase down for 175 steps to look back up at the cascading falls, or you can walk up 425 steps and see the falls from the top. We chose to walk down 175 steps and then back up and enjoyed the views at every level, then Mark walked up the 425 steps where Mary Ellen, Lee, and I met him with the car. He had to agree that the best views were definitely from the steps down. After the falls, we visited the Visitor Center. This park is a jumping off point for the Appalachian Trail and Teresa, Lee and Mary Ellen’s daughter who walked the trail from Georgia to Maine, says the first 8.5 miles of the trail from Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain is definitely one of the most challenging parts of the Appalachian Trail. Springer Mountain is the southern end of the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail, but we were satisfied with our 350 steps, and in Mark’s case 745 steps.
I spent my afternoon working on a presentation of our five and half years of sailing around the world while Lee and Mary Ellen went to a 4 pm mass and Mark used the weed eater to cut the grass around the cabin. Tonight we will play another couple of rounds of pool, but we will probably all turn in early. These hikes are getting to us! Last night Mary Ellen lost one pool round for her and Lee by sinking the 8 ball and I lost one for Mark and me by doing the same. Maybe we’ll have better luck tonight.
Tomorrow we will start our day in Blue Ridge and will go to the craft’s fair for an hour or so. Lee and Mark aren’t so hot on the idea, but ME and I would just like to check things out. Then we will drive to the highest point in Georgia, Brasstown Bald at 5,784 feet. I think we have to hike to the top, so that will be tomorrow’s adventure.
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| 110528 Day 216 North Georgia–Amicalola Falls |
