Nature – Page 22 – NealEnJoy

12/18/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 18, 2021December 18, 2021 by Neal Saye

For this blog category, “Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks,” each day between December 1 and 25, I take a pic of a state park ornament on our Travel Tree and briefly highlight that park.

At 3,640 feet above sea level on the Eastern Continental Divide, Georgia’s Appalachian Black Rock Mountain State Park near Mountain City is our state’s highest state park and “encompasses some of the most outstanding scenery in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Roadside overlooks provide spectacular 80-mile vistas, and four hiking trails lead visitors past wildflowers, streams, small waterfalls and lush forests.” (Park website)

One very neat feature of this park is that once you walk out the door of the visitors center with your trail maps (and snack and Travel Tree ornament, of course), you are right at the Black Rock Overlook.

One not-so-neat aspect is Robert backing closer and closer to the 3446 feet drop. JUST TO TAKE A SELFIE.

Somehow he cajoled and pressured me into coming down from the safe snack machine at the visitor center to take another life-risking selfie.

Glorious hiking at the Eastern Continental Divide.

And here’s Robert at pier’s end … and obviously very happy! (Robert’s happiness barometer is set fairly low.)

Countdown to Christmas

12/17/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 17, 2021December 19, 2021 by Neal Saye

Vogel State Park in North Georgia near Blairsville, “established in 1931, is the second oldest state park in Georgia. Located at 2500 feet above sea level, Vogel sits at the base of Blood Mountain, the highest summit on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, and is surrounded by Chattahoochee National Forest. The North Georgia Mountains around Vogel were linked to Native American people for generations before European settlement.” (Park website)

We arrived on a rainy day and mainly kept inside or on the porch of our tiny cabin situated on a bubbling creek.

Totems in the water are a good sign, right?

Yes, beautiful weather gifted us soon.

But state park hiking can wear you out! Sometimes you gotta just sit.

Here’s a one-minute “pause-in-the-hike video” (I’ll call it) I enjoyed (and filmed) on the Vogel’s Trahlyta Falls hike. Click below to see it.

I’m too tired to finish this post, so here’s Robert. He says, “Thanks for stopping by Neal’s blog. Hope things are falling your way today.”

Countdown to Christmas

12/12/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 12, 2021December 12, 2021 by Neal Saye

Panola Mountain State Park near Stockbridge in metro Atlanta is a unique park. Because of its protected status, the park is considered the crown jewel of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, one of just three National Heritage Areas in the state. It’s also a National Natural Landmark.

And “Why is Panola so protected?” you’re undoubtedly asking. Oh come on, you know. Of course you do. Because there’s a MONADNOCK there! And you don’t just find a monadnock in every nook and cranny. What? You don’t know what a monadnock is? Well, my goodness, let me define it for you then. Take out a pen and a piece of paper. It’s like I’m back in the classroom teaching again. Here I go: “Monadnock, students, is an isolated hill of bedrock standing conspicuously above the general level of the surrounding area. Monadnocks are left as erosional remnants because of their more resistant rock composition; commonly they consist of quartzite or less jointed massive volcanic rocks… Do I need to repeat any of that?”

[Robert is annoyingly INSISTING that I tell you I was reading the definition—while mispronouncing many of the words—straight from Brittanica.com.]

It was wet the day we visited.

To keep one foot from getting so wet, I should have stood on one leg, like the ducks. Or as I started calling them, the monaducks.

More info: “Panola Mountain is a 100-acre granite outcrop similar to Stone Mountain, but smaller and much more pristine. Park visitors see the outcrop and its rare ecosystem just as Native Americans did centuries ago.” (Park website)

We hiked along a boardwalk perched above the granite outcroppings.

The granite looks bleak at first glance but is covered with a variety of lichen species, resurrection moss and other rare plants.

We are so lucky to have such an enchanted environment in our state.

If you are interested, here is a link to a fascinating article about the entire Arabia Mountain area:

Reclaiming Nature and a Sense of Wonder: The Story of Arabia Mountain

Countdown to Christmas

12/11/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 11, 2021December 24, 2021 by Neal Saye

Red Top Mountain State Park is a lovely densely forested park located on 12,000 acre Lake Allatoona north of Atlanta. The name “Red Top” comes from the high iron-ore content which causes the soil to have a rich red color.

Our cabin (with me trying my very best to figure out how to open the door) followed by the cottage we rejected …

Kidding … t’s the 1869 Vaughn Log Cabin behind the park’s visitors center.

We stayed at Red Top during the height of the pandemic, so we laid low around the cabin for most of our visit. Joyful quietness.

Here I am, looking slightly crazed, but adding to the already existing totems in our cabin’s back area leading down to the lake. Sending healthy thoughts and energy to all.

May we be Happy. May we be Healthy. May we be Safe. May we be at Peace and live our lives with Ease.

And here are some beautiful images Robert captured. (I thought about claiming that I had taken them. But you know my impeccable standards with TIB—Truth in Blogging.)

A perfectly peaceable park.

See you tomorrow.

Countdown to Christmas

12/9/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 9, 2021December 9, 2021 by Neal Saye

Yesterday, I wrote about Fort Mountain State Park. Cloudland Canyon is just a short drive away, so we took a day trip over. This state park, just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee and on the western edge of Lookout Mountain, boasts stunning views of craggy hills and waterfalls along three beautiful trails.

Two features are especially memorable at Cloudland Canyon: waterfalls and lots of steps.

Sometimes there’s a price for beauty. Imminent danger awaited me at every turn …

For some reason (the high altitude?), Robert wanted perfect strangers to take his picture at this state park.

“Robert, look at all the steps up this way! Come on up, slow poke!”

Robert’s response …

Thank you, State of Georgia, for establishing and preserving our Sensational State Parks!

Countdown to Christmas

12/7/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree and Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 by Neal Saye

We stopped by Reed Bingham, just north of Valdosta, on our way back home from a trip to west Georgia. Named after the man responsible for securing the land to establish the park, it is a feast for nature lovers, with hiking trails meandering down sandy paths and through seemingly never ending waves of saw palmetto and wire grass, all underneath my beloved, scattered Longleaf.

We actually saw a gopher tortoise, but he scooted down his hole before we could take a picture.

Quiet and peaceful.

Countdown to Christmas

12/6/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 6, 2021December 6, 2021 by Neal Saye

Our first pandemic Georgia State Park trip, back in March of 2020, was a simple weekday excursion an hour and a half up the road to Magnolia Springs State Park near Millen. We reasoned that few people would be around during the week, and we were right. We had the park almost to ourselves.

We liked the park (and getting out of the house) so much that this short venture started our recurring overnight pattern of heading to a park on Monday, renting a cabin and returning before the weekend crowd arrived.

TIB (Truth in Blogging): Today’s countdown post is sorta long, so you might want to grab a snack and change into comfortable shoes. I’m incorporating three Magnolia Springs trips into one post.

The park website: “Beautiful Magnolia Springs State Park is known for its crystal clear springs flowing 7,000,000 gallons per day, and a boardwalk spans the cool water, allowing visitors to look for alligators, turtles and other wildlife near the springs.”

“Yeah, right, they’re just saying that about the big bad alligators,” I thought haughtily, standing in the sun by the springs, staring out at the water, daydreaming about our upcoming picnic lunch and my special sandwich.

Oh. My. Goodness …

Jeff Bezos couldn’t pay me enough to fish, feed or approach.

The Longleaf Pine’s distinctive orangish, peely bark.

As I I have mentioned before, Robert and I love the Longleaf Pine, which excessive logging has cut to the brink of extinction, but is now making a bit of a comeback. Magnolia Springs has quite a number of majestic, mature specimens. (And so unlike with the alligators, I am simply not afraid of the Longleaf.)