Nothing Says Summer Like Cook-Outs, Hiking & Old Friends.

Since I got back into the outdoors and hiking in particular, a large swath of my hikes have been solo. While I like hiking on my own, there is something even cooler about hiking with friends and family. My most frequent hiking partners are my wife Deb and my old friend Glen, whom I hike with when I am Tennessee. However, recently I got to hike the trail with some more old friends of mine Matt and his wife Jeannie.

July, 2014: Deb & I at Grassy Ridge Bald.

Nov, 2013: Glen & I at Rich Mountain Fire Tower.

March, 2005: Matt & Jeannie with us in Asheville.

Recently (Aug. 16-24) they were in from Idaho to visit family and friends here in Atlanta and Asheville. It was the first time I got to see them since they left in November for a new life in the potato state. I guess I should flash back to the last time I saw them, which was also the last time we hike the trail together.

Grand Tetons are in Idaho so an excuse to use this photo (QT Luong / www.terragalleria.com).

Back in the fall, they told me that they were moving to Idaho. I knew that they had a desire to move out west and their original plan was Colorado, but Jeannie ended up getting a job in Boise. So just before they headed west I made an overnight trip to Asheville. On the drive up I stopped at the Foxfire Museum in Mountain City GA (more about that in a future blog) and the Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, NC.

Foxfire Museum in Mountain City, GA.

Church at Foxfire Museum.

The Tasty Weasel Tap Room...

...at Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, NC.

What this has to do with hiking with Matt and Jeannie, nothing really, but it is my blog. So when I arrived in Asheville, and after Matt got his car serviced, we headed for a hike on Town Mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).

Western Terminus of MST.

MST near Mt. Pisgah.

MST at the Folk Art Center.

Town Mountain Road...

...& start of our hike at Cravens Gap.

Our starting point was the parking area at Cravens Gap and Matt, Jeannie, their dog Hermey and I headed out on a section of the Mountain-to-Sea Trail (MST). I have mentioned this before but the trail's Western Terminus is at Clingmans Dome and the MST cross the state of North Carolina and ends at Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks. I have hiked bits and pieces of the MST because it shadows the BRP from Black Balsam Knob to Mount Mitchell. Another interesting fact about the section we hiked is it’s the same one President Obama and the First Lady hiked when they visited Asheville in 2010.

Stairs on the MST.

MST blaze is white circle.

Ox Creek Road.

Headed back up the MST.

Anyway, the hike is a nice oneabout three-mile out and back trail (turn around is Ox Creek Road). I would describe it as moderate hike but I should add that the most difficulty part was the pace Matt set. At the start Matt told Jeannie to take Hermey and go on ahead as I got my knee braces and gaiters on. I asked if he was afraid they would get too far ahead and Matt said no we will catch-up. On most hikes I usually set the pace but not when you were out with Matt. It had been a while since I had hike with him and forgot how he could go. Also, unlike me he didn’t have trekking poles or even a hiking stick. 

Matt waiting for my slow ass.

Hermey!

Nov, 2013: Matt & I on the MST.

Oh, it didn’t take us too long to catch Jeannie and Hermey, but all and all it was an excellent hike. After hiking we spent the rest of the evening eating and drinking some adult beverages (Glen and Donna even came over from Greeneville).

It wasn't all hiking here we are at Altamont Brewing.

Well, that brings us to our latest get together. We met at Sweetwater Creek State Park over in Douglas County near Lithia Springs (west of Atlanta). This was my first visit here and overall it is a nice state park. I think Matt and his brother Nathan picked this park because their Mom and Dad (Richard and Ruth) were coming up from Alabama. When Deb and I arrived we were the first ones o our party at the park so we got to look at the lake, called the George Sparks Reservoir, and then got to tour the visitor center.

George Sparks Reservoir.

Visitor center.

It was a nice visitor center and was surprisingly built in 2006. It was constructed to LEED Platinum standards which is the highest environmentally friendly level attainable. Inside there were a number of exhibits, including some about the Civil War which was fought in the park including one of the parks highlights, the old New Manchester & Sweetwater Manufacturing Company cotton mill ruins, left that way by the Union Army (more about that later). Oh, like every Georgia State Park Visitor Center there was a Black Bear.

I think ever visitor center has a Black Bear.

White Tail Deer.

Fox pouncing on a rabbit.

Great Horned Owl (not alive like the ones at Amicalola Falls).

General store exhibit.

Confederate uniform...

...& pistols.

Story of African Slaves & cotton.

Model of the cotton mill.

Anyway, when everyone arrived at the picnic shelter, after dodging a religious conversation with Matt’s Dad, it was time for a nice cook-out. We had the normal fair, steak, hamburgers, hot dogs and chips. Also there was some really good pasta salad.

Our picnic pavilion.

Jeannie & Deb catch up.

Matt shows his culinary skills to Nathan & their Dad.

After that it was time for a hike. We decided to hike the White Trail and connect with the Red Trail and on to the mill ruins. Nathan’s wife, Chrissy, decided to stay with Matt’s Mom while the rest of us hit the trail. After finding the White Trail it decided to start raining. As I have already written about here was another example of the weather report saying one thing (partly cloudy 10% chance of rain) and it doing something else.

White Trail.

Matt explaining something to his Dad.

Deb enjoying the trail.

White blazes, white trail.

Another reason it called the white trail.

Still, it only sprinkled and it was a nice hike to the point of a trail junction. It is here that I must comment on the Georgia State Park Maps. I have been to I think eight state parks here in Georgia (that and includes the Dahlonega Gold Museum) and the ones where I have used the park map it

Vogel map.

Sweetwater map.

never seems to quite fit the trail you are on. I never really noticed at Amicalola Falls State Park, because let be honest the trails are so well marked it is hard to get lost. No, the first time I noticed this about the map was on the Tennessee Overlook Trail at Black Rock Mountain State Park. However, when I really noticed that the
map didn’t correspond to the trail was at Vogel State Park on the Bear Hair Trail back in December.

Well, with the way the Sweetwater map read it said we should go right (Deb said we should go left) and we did. At about 2/10 of a mile in I figured we had gone the wrong way. We decided to turn back but before we did, Matt decided to do some tree surfing…it was funny, you had to be there. Anyway, we should have listen to Deb as the trail left took us past the visitor center and to the junction with the Red Trail.

Matt tree surfing.

Deb led us back to the visitor center...

...& the Red Trail.

On our way we came to a junction at Sweetwater Creek. It was here it started raining again and we started to hear the rumble of thunder. Deb flat-out said she was heading back to the visitor center and think it crossed Jeannie’s mind too, but she and the rest of the party decided to push on. Well, I would be lying if I didn’t have a flashback to my hike at Watauga Lake, but after checking the weather on my phone I decided it was safe to move ahead.

Sweetwater Creek.

It didn’t rain and the mill ruins were not that far up the trail. I will say they were pretty cool. The history of the mill was an interesting one. It was originally called just the Sweetwater Manufacturing Company. Construction on the five-story factory was started in 1846 and finished in 1849 and was built by African Slaves. By 1860 the mill was producing 700 pounds per day, and by this time the name had been changed to the New Manchester Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, in honor of the textile capital of Britain, Manchester.

Map of the New Manchester site.

Ruins of New Manchester Sweetwater Manufacturing Factory.

Sign tells the story of the cotton mill.

However, the factory was on borrowed time as four years later when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman was, literately, burning a path into Georgia the Confederate Army decided it was best and retreated across the Chattahoochee River leaving the factory exposed. On July 2, 1964 Sherman sent two Union Calvary divisions under the command of Colonel Silas Adams and Major Havilland Thompkins with orders to close the mill and arrest all workers. Seven days later Sherman ordered the factory destroyed. The ruins still stand today.

Another shot of the mill ruins.

The creek that once powered the mill.

These old Confederate guns were found in the creek near the mill site.

Three generations of Aloisios

Matt & I.

Matt showing everyone his stone skipping skills.

After a second round of a stone skipping contest between Matt and Nathan it was time to return. We made a stop at the visitor center to pick-up Deb and take a quick break. Since we had been there earlier we decided to show Matt’s nephew Dillon around the exhibits which included a snake room I missed on my first visit.

Back to the visitors center.

Albino corn snake.

Well, it was back to the White Trail with Nathan’s other son, Ian, leading the way. While going the wrong way was the biggest problem coming in, coming back it was Dillon getting stung by a Yellow Jacket. I know it hurts because I have been popped many times by these stripped devils, but besides the sting hurting I think it scared him more (I know I have a bee phobia most of my life).

Great way to end the day.

When we got back it was time to say our goodbyes. Deb and I had to get back to Dawsonville and Matt and Jeannie were bugging out for Asheville that evening. I have to say it was great to see my "Idaho Family" but it was also sad because they live too far away these days. But there will be other days on the trail with them, maybe in Idaho...Grand Tetons?