A dirt road is always an interesting start to a hiking trail, especially in the city. East Palisades is just inside the city limits of Atlanta, GA; located in an affluent neighbourhood, south of Sandy Springs and north-west of Brookhaven.
Despite being inside the city perimeter, however, there weren’t many hikers about when I showed up in the early afternoon. This was probably due in part to the weather.
The sky was overcast, and we had a bit of drizzle here and there, but I was not about to let a few sprinkles and a bit of mud stop me from a hiking trip I had looked forward to all week.
Early Spring?
My very first photo-find was just beyond that Jeep, and my second, was just a few steps onto the trail. In fact, with the rain and the warm temperatures in late February, you would almost think spring was just around the corner.
Of all my finds, however, my favourite were the water droplets I caught, trapped on spider webs throughout the park.
The Hiking Trail
Beautiful as these were, the true mark of a trail’s beauty is the trail itself. The woods were thicker than I imagined they would be, and deceivingly littered with fall colours; made all the more bright, by the dark, brooding sky overhead.
It became even more interesting when we chanced upon what may or may not have been a trail, that took us up a hill. The climb was a great break from the flat monotony, though there wasn’t much to see.
Frog Pond
While following the trail, I also came across a frog pond much larger than the one I had seen at Cascade Springs. And this one had no end of ribbits to be heard.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a very good spot to take a picture, and with the cloud cover overhead, lighting wasn’t on my side either. But… you get the general idea. Lots of greenery, and frogs ribbitty-ribbittying away!
The River
But the real reason I wanted to hike the East Palisades was the Chattahoochee River that roared by it. It wasn’t much of a roar when we first started; more like a large creek flowing by, and minding its business.
Further along the trail, however, that changed. That was also where people did their fishing, canoeing, and maybe a bit of swimming. With all the muck, I didn’t go into the water, but I got close enough.
I was beautiful in its own way, though I was told the river had no end of pollution poured into it — a not so pleasant reminder that we were still very much in the city.
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I would love to revisit this trail on a dry day in the spring, but I have no regrets about hiking in the muck. Have you ever hiked in the rain or mud? What trail was it? Did it ruin the hike for you? Share your stories in the comments below.
