Winter is Dying: Testnatee Gap to Cowrock Mountain via the AT
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Our adventures began on the Appalachian Trail at Testnatee Gap off Highway 348, a few miles northwest of Helen, Georgia. Gadget & I, along with our friends Paul, Alissa and their pup Cachi, got to see the last remnants of this harsh winter fading away into spring in the bare wilderness. We navigated through slushy snow in the parts of the trail covered in shadows, and watched each step for rocks covered in layers of ice. This 2.25 mile out-and-back hike is a good climb to the top of Cowrock Mountain any time of year, but the ice and snow certainly adds to the difficulty in winter.
Cowrock Level Up: Ice & Snow
Gadget smiles (?) for the camera. I love this beardo weirdo!
I'm not sure where the 'Cow' part of the name comes from, but there's no doubt about 'Rock'. The summit is one giant rock, which makes for a wonderful spot to rest, and of course CARB UP! You don't want to do all that hiking on anything less than a full stomach, do you? #HealthyAtEverySize
Amazing view from the Cowrock summit - not a cloud in the sky.
It was our buddies' first time on the Appalachian Trail, and they loved it! Cachi enjoyed stretching out his legs, too, and was a fun hiking partner for our Lily.
A quick "Where Are They Now?" update on Alissa & Paul: Since this hike, these lovebirds have gotten engaged! Congrats, guys.
Goose, Gadget & Lily
Chilling, like we do.
Lily would give anything for us to let her off the leash so she could explore.
Walking sticks were mandatory for the steep hike down the mountain.
Estimated time reaching the summit: 1 Hour Estimated time reaching the bottom: 20 Minutes
Another beautiful day in the North Georgia Mountains comes to an end.
Every weekend, if not sooner, the urge hits to be away from people and into quiet bliss. On the weekend, I want to be out exploring nature, running my hands over the trees, smelling the wildflowers, feeling the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. Most particularly, on the weekends, I crave mountain vistas -- to the point that my loved ones likely think I'm shady because I visit the mountains more than I visit them. But sometimes, our adult lives milk us dry of the want to travel long distances by the time Friday rolls around, so... we explore locally. Lucky for us, we live in a college town that has quite a few options for hiking. Granted, there's a lot of give and take for me and Gadget when we hike locally -- there's no two-hour drive involved as with our mountain hiking, but obviously, solitude and silence are harder to find in a park that lies smack dab in the middle of a city nicknamed "Little Atlanta". Despite the contstant reminder that we weren...
The icicles (look behind our heads) lined the rocks the whole way up the trail. On New Year's Day, we cooked up a fantastically delicious lunch of cubed steak with black-eyed peas, collards, and other fine Southern staples. 'They' say that every leafy green eaten on New Year's Day is a dollar earned in the new year, with every pea equating to one cent. We packed up our winter gear and headed north, blissfully hoping that each layer of clothing we wore would follow the old peas & greens New Year's superstition and bring something prosperous into 2016. Wagon Train Trail spurs off the summit trail for the highest peak in Georgia, Brasstown Bald (elevation 4,784 feet). I wish we would have discovered this trail much sooner. All the times over the years that Gadget and I have walked the summit trail (and paid the $5/person entrance fee at the parking lot), we were fools for not checking out this section of the park. I feel an undeniab...
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