Autumn Vacation Part One: Vogel State Park & Preaching Rock

October 26, 2015

Chestatee Overlook (Suches, GA)

He (AKA Barbara) and I (AKA George) left the work week behind on a Wednesday afternoon to disappear deep in the forest of Vogel State Park in Blairsville, GA. This trip was in the making for weeks -- we knew we were going to be in for the long haul. The Camry was loaded down with four days' worth of clothes, food and supplies. Though we only had two nights reserved at Vogel, we knew there would be another special camping spot for us somewhere in the mountainside to complete our vacation.

Upon our arrival at Vogel, it was dark, and I was legitimately spooked by some of the Halloween decorations that a few of the park's more long-term guests donned at their RV sites. Someone also strung red and green lights up and down the trees at the RV sites, which looked magical, and eased the images of Twisty the clown from American Horror Story that those creepy Halloween decorations invoked. What a poor choice of TV shows to begin watching right before a 4-night long camping excursion in the woods... one week before Halloween. Little did Barbara or I know what nightmare was in store for us...death lurked in the shadows.

We were the only campers getting walk-in sites that night (i.e., sites you have to walk a short ways to that don't have water or electricity), so we picked our favorite site which has a wooden platform off the ground to set tents on -- (most of the sites require you set up on ground, which is no fun if it rains) and set up.

May our air mattress rest in peace. We tried to fix it with the best tools we had, but it took its last breath as we laid on it in denial that it wasn't gonna make it. In no more than 20 seconds after getting under the covers to go to sleep, it was flat... so we slept on the hard, cold wood that night.

Night One at Vogel State Park

Our hiking companion Lily, sweetly snuggled in her bed night one. At least someone in our crew was comfy.

Shrouded by autumn colored tree canopies from the campsite

Day 1 at Vogel: Recovery from a sleepless night.

I'm ashamed to say that our first day of vacation was spent eating... and drinking... and sitting around the fire. After more delicious barbeque from Jim's Smoking Cue than I could ever dream of (mmm -- it was SO good) and a stop at Habersham Winery, there was nothing productive left to be done that day, except rest up for the next one, when we must pack up and leave Vogel by 11am.

It's a new day after some good sleep thanks to our new air mattress we grabbed from Wal-Mart in Blairsville.

On day two, we woke up at daylight, packed up our stuff, drove to Dockery Lake in Suches, GA, and found a campsite for $8 a night (included ammenities: water and pit toilets). The lake provided serene views of autumn beauty and houses a 3.7 mile approach trail to the Appalachian Trail. Dockery Lake was an amazing place to stay.

Finally... after all that camping hooplah, we get to our first hike of the trip: Preaching Rock via the AT from Woody Gap. This is a 2.1 mile out-and-back climb to a flat rock outcrop that overlooks Dahlonega and the southwest.

Lily leads the way

One step at a time.

White blazes assure we are still on the Appalachian Trail.

The trail rolls gently along for the first 0.5 mile, but becomes a heart-pounder between 0.5 and 1.0 mile.

Lily works hard for her views.

The breathtaking view from the top of Preaching Rock. Not pictured: Group of yoga students with their butts in the air practicing Downward-Facing dog.