After spending a week on the other side of the country, and then pulling off 40 hours of work on the weekend, a sane person spends the Monday relaxing. Right?
Well… perhaps it is insanity, but Monday I was up early to go hiking an hour or two out of town at Red Top Mountain. Why? Well – why not?
In Retrospect
I’ve heard great things about Red Top Mountain for a while now, and passed the park quite a few times on my way to other Georgia trails. So when the opportunity arose for me to see it in the flesh, saying no was not an option.
Really, none of you should be surprised. If it’s one thing anyone should learn from my trip out west is that I will gladly give up sleep for adventure!
A Long Trek
It was a long way, and the longer I walked, the more I began to wonder if I was on the right path. I had passed a big lake on the way in, but for all I knew, I could be going in the wrong direction.
The Water
Finally, the water appeared through the trees, and after another half mile or so, I had arrived. Our rivers in Jamaica are usually clear with sandy bottoms, but this was green and murky with a muddy bottom. Needless to say, I was skeptical to go in, but eventually worked up the nerve.
There were a lot of other people out in the water – boats, tubes, kayaks, and swimmers – but not so many that it felt crowded.
After a quick swim, I changed back into my hiking gear and explored the surrounding areas. There wasn’t much else to see but more and more green, but it was good to be near the water again.
Twilight
Soon, the sunlight began to fade and it was time to start the long walk back to the car, and then the long drive back into Atlanta.
Final Thoughts
Red Top Mountain is a great trail, but is best done when not in a hurry, because it really is a long one. To add to this – at least when I visited – the trail was poorly maintained.
There were often huge trees felled on the trail. On the way back, there was a point where I had to go about 15 feet off the trail and navigate my way through a muddy swamp, to get back onto the main trail.
It was all fun and games for me, but I could have easily hurt myself, fallen into the mud, and come in contact with the creatures that love the swamp on a warm summer’s day: ie snakes.
But.. who’s complaining when there are adventures to be had?
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What hiking trips have you taken lately? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
I love poorly maintained trails! Hiking is more fun when you have to work out how to navigate obstacles. Trails back home were often so muddy that I had to balance on tree roots/fallen logs to continue onwards. Fun!
But alas, I haven’t done any hiking in the past two weeks. Too busy now that school has resumed 🙁
They can be fun sometimes, yes. But these trees were not your standard trees. They were about the width of 4 morbidly obese men.
How delightful! Seriously though, that does sound challenging. I can imagine how navigating around those trees might get annoying.
Haha, very delightful. Not just annoying but also a little dangerous with the swamp to the left, and bad for the environment. Going off the trails isn’t good for the rest of the flora. The trails are there to give us just enough space to enjoy nature without destroying it. If we’re veering off the path to get around big trees, then they’re defeating the purpose.
What a beautiful place!
It really is. Thank you! The pictures really didn’t do it justice.
I like the final thoughts part.
I like the final thoughts part!
Haha, thanks! Why though?
I like a good summary
Interesting! Well, thank you! 😊
Love how you tell the story!
Thank you! It looks like you get a decent amount of hiking done, as well!
Yeah I do! I love it and the pictures I get while out there as well lol
Same here! What’s your favourite spot, so far?
So far lake Bourgeau, Harvey Pass in Banff !
Never heard of that. Where is it?