On June 6th, the Creation Care Team and friends used the Church van to drive to the north Georgia mountains for a visit with Leanne's parents and a hike into the nearby mountain to waterfalls.
Our team plans both social actions and social outings related to care of God's creation.
We're off!
The day started by gathering at the church, packing into the church van, then riding to the Eton area of north Georgia, which is near Chatsworth. Leanne's parents have a gorgeous house with a spacious front porch, which Frank proudly showed off. The porch wraps around three sides of the house, so there's always a shaded part. It also sports several ceiling fans, potted plants, and chairs and swings for a crowd. The porch gives a view of nearby mountains, including Fort Mountain.
After a delicious light lunch of stack-it-yourself sandwiches and iced tea, Frank pulled up in, and showed off, his 1953 Willys Jeep. With his wide-brimmed hat and big carved walking stick, Stacey said he looked like a forest ranger. And so the "Ranger Frank" moniker was born.
The summer cabin
The jeep and church van hauled the team up the narrow, winding mountain dirt road to the family's summer cabin. Then Frank began shuttling the group further up to where the walking trail started. It was a warm, sunny summer day with an ever-so-slight breeze — the perfect day for a mountain hike!
The group waiting at the cabin got to explore a bit more — the cabin itself, the footbridge, the outhouse. Yes, outhouse! We were privy to the joys of viewing "outdoor plumbing". A unique item off to the side of the cabin was a meat smoker — made out of an old refrigerator.
Walking sticks
At Frank's suggestion, we all picked out a "walking stick". Though some poked fun at Bruce for the taller, thicker branch he selected, he would find it quite handy at the stream crossings that lay ahead. "Ranger Frank" then gave us the "caution" lecture — the forest does contain venomous snakes, poison ivy (or oak), and even wild boars — one of which had even charged Frank in the past. And be careful crossing the stream so you don't slip on the rocks. Leanne added a warning about Giardia and a tip to not drink the mountain stream water "just in case". Sideways looks and nervous chuckles spread through the assembled group.
Forest hike
Then we were off. Frank set a pretty good pace ... those who kept a more leisurely pace were "left in the dust". But that also gave the "lead" group periodic short rest breaks and time to really soak in the beauty of the mountain surroundings.
The forest canopy lent plenty of shade and the very slight breeze also helped keep the insects down to a bare minimum, which pleasantly surprised us all. As we hiked along, the trail varied from a one-lane hard dirt road to a narrow trail. Hikers chatted in small groups as they relished the beautiful forest. Along the way, moss-covered downed tree trunks, flowers, fungi, and butterflies brought smiles to the faces of all. Of course, "Ranger Frank" and Leanne pointed out some poison ivy (or oak — we were never quite sure, but we avoided the plants ... whatever they were).
Stream crossings
When we reached the first of three shallow stream crossings, Leanne pulled up one hiking boot at a time and ... removed the soles! It seems that her unique low-top hiking boots came with interchangeable soles. She put on one specially designed for stream crossings. The bottom looked like it had tiny white "hairs". Leanne said that despite the looks, they gripped the rocks very well.
At each stream crossing "Ranger Frank" and Leanne positioned themselves in the stream and helped people cross as they walked in the stream. Bruce's long, thick walking stick let him cross by stepping on exposed rocks and using the walking stick to position his weight. He plunked a foot in the stream only twice, total; and even then his well-laced Army boots kept his feet dry.
Emery Falls
People kidded Leanne about her calling it a "short hike", but we finally reached the foot of Emery Falls. Since the falls cascaded down over several "stairs" of rock, everyone slowly meandered up the hill, stopping to take in the falls at every angle. It was a rest break, water break, and scene of wonder all at the same time. The rushing, splashing water of the falls had a very calming effect. Stacey took several photos here, some using a slow exposure to capture the smooth look of flowing water. [I'm not sure if this is the waterfalls listed as being on Emery Creek Trail by Georgia Trails.]
It was here that "Ranger Frank" educated the group on Yellowroot's reported medicinal properties in relieving stomach distress. Stacey and Jen even volunteered to chew on some, which they pronounced bitter. We mused that perhaps the bitterness prevented people from complaining about a stomach distress in order to avoid getting the "cure" — sort of like kids and Cod Liver Oil.
What goes up ...
After a time that was refreshing both physically and spiritually, we retraced our steps. Where the dirt road started again, "Ranger Frank" began shuttling people down to the summer cabin — Bob and Jann first. Bruce, in a moment of temporary insanity, encouraged the group he was with to keep walking down toward the cabin — "Frank will pick us up as he comes back up". Oh, yeah. Great plan. After several minutes of walking down the steeper part of the dirt road, everyone's muscles around their kneecaps began to hurt. A few minutes after they halted the downward plodding, the welcome sound of the Jeep reached our ears.
The Sheriff!
At the cabin, those who had come in the van chose the Jeep as their return vehicle. But there was one more surprise adventure in store for us. At the foot of the mountain where the dirt road meets the paved one, there were several Sheriff's cars. Everyone was being stopped ... here in rural north Georgia! A mystery!
After locking the dirt road's swing gate and getting back on paved road, Frank decided to give us Jeep-riders the "special tour" and pointed the Jeep across the field toward "Blue hole", the swimming hole near their house. There he met a relative, who filled us in about the Sheriff's cars. They were dealing with the report of several gunshots heard near the swimming hole and road area.
Back at the house, we met up again with Julia, who had stayed at the house. Everyone took off their shoes and socks. Most changed into dry ones. Everyone but Peggy, that is. It seems she had not read that very last email from Leanne that recommended bring spares. We all enjoyed more iced tea and cookies as well as more conversation.
Back to Atlanta
As we packed back into the van for the return trip, Bruce helped Peggy gingerly walk barefoot across the large crushed gravel driveway.
People were more observant of roadside businesses as the return trip started. Among the unusual ones we saw:
- Curl Up and Dye hair salon
- Dee Dee's Roadkill Cafe
- Dirty Dave's, which stocked everything from "adult" items to tomatoes, it seems. We laughed at the "Dave's" connection.
Though this had been billed as an afternoon trip (we kidded Leanne again), it was after 7 pm when the van was a bit below Chatsworth, so we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. Yum! Comfort food and more fellowship!
As we reached Atlanta in the late evening and slowed to a crawl in the freeway traffic, we came upon an odd sight that got everyone laughing — a large RV with an exercise cycle on the back. We wondered at the mindset of people headed to a vacation in an RV and yet planning to "exercise in place" once they got there. Stacey asked driver Leanne to get close so she could take a photo of the exercise cycle strapped to the RV.
A tired group in great spirits arrived at the church about 10:30pm, thanked Leanne profusely for her idea and invitation to her parents and the wonderful mountain hike, and then headed home.
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