Well, it is Memorial Day weekend and that means a hike, last year it was at Sawnee Mountain, but today Deb wanted to do Blood Mountain, so we did. I will never turn down an opportunity to summit my favorite spot in Georgia, this was my seventh time up (Deb's third). So, we did the Blood Mountain Loop today, which is a six-mile hike around the mountain and then taking the Appalachian Trail (AT) north up to the top then back down. When we arrived, around 9:15am, we were surprised to find the lot at the Byron Reese Memorial was almost full. Anyway, the first part is seven-tenths of a mile on the Byron Reese Trail to Flatrock Gap, oh Byron Reese Trail got a new sign. The next part was on the Freeman Trail which travels 1.8 miles from Flatrock Gap to Bird Gap. This was not Deb's favorite part of the hike. It is rocky, very rocky and not as much maintenance is done on it. Deb described it as "boogery." It was more summer than spring. One cool thing we spotted on this trail was plenty of Mountain Laurel. Once you get to Bird Gap and head up north on the AT it was easy to see that the main trail is better cared for than the Freeman. While the eastside of the mountain had Laurel the westside was mostly Flaming Azaleas. When we neared the top we were greeted by plenty of blooming Catawba Rhododendrons. I was hoping to see some and I wasn't disappointed. Once at the top the views were wonderful as always and except for Picnic Rock the crowds were spread out, which was nice. Also at the top, besides Rhododendrons there was Mountain Laurel. But not just any Laurel but Blood Mountain Laurel. So, after soaking in the summit, we headed down and we ran into a family who came off the Freeman. The first thing they said was "man that trail was rocky." They then asked us which way to the lake? I had to break the bad news that, the place they started from, Lake Winfield Scott, was about five miles either back the way the came or up over Blood Mountain. They elected to go to Neel Gap and get a shuttle back. After pointing them the right way we headed back down to the trailhead and the car. We finished the day at Mountain Crossing at Neel Gap. That lost family got their shuttle. I will be doing a photo blog...soon.
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