Snake On The Trail!...My Day At Lake Zwerner

Well, I have quick blogged about this hike from the lake parking lot on Wednesday, but I decided to write a little more about the first part of my day out yesterday at Lake Zwerner. 

Lake Zwerner in May.

Picnic area with spring foliage.

I have might have said before that this is a small lake is in Dahlonega, GA. Back in the spring I wanted to hike the trail around the lake after Deb and I was returning from a day hike at Woody Gap. We made it to where the picnic pavilion is, but Deb did not want to go any farther…and we didn’t. So, I put this hike on the back-burner.

Car, backpack...

...& I at Sawnee Mountain.

Move ahead four months as chronicled on a trip last week to Sawnee Mountain Preserve I was not only testing my big back, but also my car. As I have already went over in a previous blog I had done some maintenance on my car and wanted to have another test run, so going to Dahlonega was going to give me about a 50-mile round-trip. So, I thought this was the perfect time to hike the Lake Zwerner Trail.

The lake maker on Wednesday.

I will say that the hike was different than I expected. Most hikes I have been on around lakes have not been the most difficult. These hikes are usually on relatively flat, well maintained trails. Now I will say it was a nice trail, but the trail itself turned out to be a little more difficult. Because of my feelings about lake trails I didn’t take my trekking poles. It always seems that when you don’t take them, you will undoubtable need them.  Also, I had read that it was two-and-half miles around, but it turned out to be over a mile longer.

Lake Trahlyta at Vogel State Park.

The gate on the road bed part of the trail.

The road bed trail.

Fishing pond off the trail...

...& bench facing it.

The winding trail.

 

Steps leading down to Yahoola Creek.

The trail itself was more like a hiking trail than your run of the mill lake one. Even though it had only around 400 feet in elevation, about the same as the Laurel Lake Trail at Buford Dam, some of these spots were surprisingly steep…which is a good thing. I don’t want any to think I am disappointed actually it was a pleasant surprise.

The trekking poles I left in the car.

The tree fungus.

It just wasn’t the trail difficulty where I would find that I might have needed my trekking poles. At around the mile-mark of the trail I stopped to take a photo of some tree fungus and when I turned around looked just ahead of me there was a copperhead stretched across the trail. It was a good size one I think close to three feet. All the time I took pictures of him he never moved. Luckily the trail was wide where it was laying so I was able to step around it. While watching him I said to myself “Luckily I don’t need to move him, because I am missing my sticks.” From now on I will be taking my sticks…period!

This Copperhead was laying across the trail.

Close-up of his copper head.

As I moved past him he never moved.

Here he is from the other side.

You can see the pits on his head.

Another thing maybe I ought to have brought was my bear spay. I did pass a number of people, so I never felt like I was alone on the trail. But, at the picnic area the trash cans are those bear proof ones. Later on the backside of the trail I found some bear scat. It shouldn’t be surprising since we are right at the foot of the North Georgia Mountains. Another cool thing I spotted was what I believe to be a beaver dam.

From May, the bear proof trash can...

...& bear scat shows I maybe should have brought...

...this.

Looks like a beaver dam.

That might be a bass.

It is known from these pages that I like to take pictures of wild flowers (so much so a future blog will just be wild flower pics) and mushrooms. While there were a good number of wild flowers I have never seen on any trail more mushrooms. They seemed to be growing everywhere and in an assortment of colors.

As I mentioned above the trail was more difficult than I first imagined, but I need to add that it is mostly well maintained.  Yesterday there were people mowing and it seems that the trail is wide and clear of trees. One thing I didn’t care for was the stretch to the boat ramp is gravel, but that is personal preference. There are some gullies in spots, but they did put in a bridge where there is a creek crossing (but they also left the creek crossing, guess which way I went). My biggest problem is that the last half-mile, from the boat ramp to the dam parking area, really isn’t a defined trail. There is a path and plenty of room to cross the bridge on US 19, but it would be nice that there was a maintained trail, just for safety sake.

The bridge they added...

...& the old creek crossing, guess which way I went.

The gravel part of the trail.

The boat landing.

The lake from at the actually ramp.

This is where the trail became dodgy.

Looking back at lake & bridge over US 19.

One thing you can’t deny is that there are some wonderful vistas of the water from a number of spots around the lake. My personal favorite was a side path to a swing facing the lake, on the north end, with an amazing view of the water. One of the cool things here was how the clouds reflected off the water..nice! So if you need a quick hike and you want to see nice lake that is not hard to get to then a trip to Lake Zwerner might fill the bill.

Lake near the bridge over the spillway.

Panorama from the picnic area.

The dam & spillway bridge.

From the east bank.

The trail down to the swing...

...this is the view from it.

At the swing vista.

The clouds on the lake...

...made for awesome view.

From the west side.

From the US 19 bridge.

Trail Rating

My Take:

For Difficulty – 2 ½  Stars

For Trail Conditions – 3 ½  Stars

For Views – 4 Stars

For Solitude – 2 Stars

Overall – I gave my opinion above.

Pete’s Take :

For Difficulty – 2 Rabbits Paws

For Trail Conditions – 3 Rabbits Paws

For Views – 3 Rabbits Paws

For Solitude – 2 Rabbits Paws

Overall – The trail was better than most lake trails, but I had to hear the Lummox complain about how much tougher it was and how I forgot my hiking poles...geez! As for the snake he better know he was inches from being a belt. Trail was wide, but I didn't like the road. Cars and rabbits don't mix! It is a nice lake and the clouds were cool. There were a few people on the trail, but best thing no kids!