Gadget, Lily & I hopped in the car on a cool, clear Sunday and drove up to Clayton, Georgia for some pre-Christmas hiking. Holcomb Creek Falls Trail is on a rough & bumpy forest service road, so if you're in a car, count on a slow, enjoyable ride through the forest. FS-86 gets closed to vehicles sometimes when the road washes out -- something Gadget & I discovered a few months ago when we planned to hike Three Forks Trail in the same area, but the road was closed, so we had to turn around. Folks, a map is impearative when you're riding these forest service roads in the North Georgia mountains. Phone service is non-existent out in these stickes, and a good ol' paper map can help get you where you're going if you hit a road closing and need to take a detour. Of course, my map reading skills are that of a fourth grader, so if all else fails, bring along a human GPS -- I bring my Gadget.
 |
| A bridge across Holcomb Creek serves as a viewing platform for the first falls on the trail, about 0.5 mile in. |
 |
Approaching the bridge through the hemlock tunnel. This picture does not give justice to the way the water looked ahead of us as it flowed over the rocks.
 |
 |
| The falls were just a' choochin'. |
 |
| The view of the first waterfall from the bridge was spectacular, but in Goose & Gadget fashion, we climbed over some slippery rocks to get down to the base of the falls to really experience it. |
 |
| Okay, maybe they're more like "boulders" than "rocks". See the falls crashing at the top left corner. |
 |
| Wicked little spot. |
 |
| Just a' choochin'. |
 |
| The glorious blue mountains were peeking through the gaps in the bare winter trees. |
 |
| Hemlock forest |
 |
| Second falls at about 1.0 mile. There were ICESICKLES! We were walking in a winter wonderland. |
 |
| I took one of the shirts off my back for my sweet girl, who was shivering in the 40 degree weather. I think I'll get her some doggie booties for Christmas. |
 |
| The third falls at 1.5 mile. |
 |
| ICE DAGGERS! Nature can be a murderess and slice one's brain open with one of these (or so one would assume). |
 |
| Crystal clear water at the bottom of the falls. You can see every rock, but not a single trout. |
|
| ICE DAGGERS! Nature can be a murderess and slice one's brain open with one of these (or so one would assume). |
The last 0.5 mile was downhill on Forest Service Road 86.
 |
She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes....
|
Mt. Zion Baptist Church on FS 86... we found a bible verse written on a piece of paper at the preaching stand thingy last time we were in this area, and it was kind of appreciable, in a way. But this time, the same bible verse was there but it had been burned around the edges and rained on but unmoved, as if there's been no visitors since we explored it several months ago.
So today, we added another two miles to the count for 2015. It's been a great year with many hours spent out in the places that make us feel whole and at peace. In 2016, we'll be documenting our travels on the GoPro camera I gifted Gadget for Christmas, and we are aboslutely STOKED to have our adventures on video! Stay tuned, everybody, and thanks for looking. May you all have a merry Christmas!
Comments
Post a Comment