April 28 - Moccasin Creek 11/47

I decided to go up to Moccasin Creek State Park having forgotten everything about it from last time. Got there and went, "Oh right, this place." It's the oddest park, being little more than an RV campground and fish hatchery on Lake Burton. Here's the thing, if you wanna go hiking at Moccasin Creek, you actually have to leave the park.

But Hemlock Falls is worth it.

The trail is across the highway on USFS land. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the trail is... unfortunate. Garbage is everywhere. People camp where they like. And flies, at least when I went, were in abundance. Once you get past the yuck part, the trail becomes a real gem.

 This snake was so still, I feared he was dead! But he was more afraid of me than I was of him.

 Not sure on the type of snake here. I didn't hang around to find out and neither did he.

 The CCC ruins are barely there. I can only guess where the buildings were placed in the clearings.

April 25 - Tallulah Gorge 10/47

Wasn't feeling so spectacular today, but I still wanted to take advantage of the nice weather so I headed up to Tallulah Gorge State Park, one of my favorite spots in Georgia. I quickly realized I wasn't up for doing the stairs so instead ventured down the road to the south side of the gorge, an area I haven't spent much time at. It's definitely a different perspective on the place!

 I walked under the old bridge and looked at the graffiti and kind of abandoned atmosphere the area had. It was a bit surreal.

Christmas tradition

I want to take a moment to talk a little about a tradition I've had for the past handful of years.

My birthday is ON Christmas Day and is usually one spent in isolation as all the family and friend gatherings are over and done with by that point. Everything's closed on that day but for places like gas stations and Waffle House (and THANK Y'ALL for being there for folks like me.)

Because it's such a lonely and quiet, contemplative (for me) sort of day, I've taken to going somewhere every Christmas and hiking a bit. I usually start up at Neels Gap and take a video of their wind chimes blowing in the chilly wind. Bit of a weird tradition, but the place is devoid of people on that day and it's really beautiful.

This past year, a bit unsure where to go besides Neels Gap, I ended up at Track Rock Archaeological Site. This place was completely unknown to me! No idea we had such a thing in Georgia. Even with the diagrams and guides posted nearby, I had to squint a bit to make out anything carved onto the rocks beyond a few images. It occurred to me that carvings like this could be hidden anywhere and how fun it would be to find others.

I also walked up a bit of the Arkaquah trail across the road. It leads (straight up! I swear) to Brasstown Bald, which I had visited not long before. I'm hoping to work up to being able to tackle the Arkaquah Trail someday soon.