The Great Outsmores

It appears that you can have pet deer still in Georgia… I never knew. Over the weekend the owner of the Trail of Tears Ranch in Cherokee County was gored to death by a pet red deer.  It appears that the deer had been acting aggressively due to the coming rut, no word on why he was in the animal’s pen when it happened.

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Last Sunday, I got the chance to go back one of my favorite spots in Georgia, Dicks Creek Falls on the Chattooga River. I used to see this place once or twice a month in college, before giving up paddling in ‘03. This time, we parked at the trailhead off of Sandy Ford Road, East of Clayton on Warwoman Road. It was an easy 1/2 mile hike to the top of the falls, which for some reason I had never gotten out of the boat to do. Dicks Creek Falls is about a 60 foot slide into section three of the Chattooga Wild & Scenic River. The falls overlook a river wide class 3/4 ledge (depending on water level).

One last note, a quarter mile down the trail and below the falls is a wonderful camping spot. There’s room for two or three tents on sandy beach next to the river with a comanding view of both upstream and down.

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I just got back from a good little mountain hike in North Georgia. With the wife away at a bachelorette party, I figured it would be a fine time to get on the trail. After checking the weather last night, I thought it was going to dip well below triple digits. The Toonowee Mountain Loop was the trail of the day, and I decided to bring my two 10-month-old weimaraner puppies.  Luckily, I was the only one at the trail head, so maybe the dogs would get off the leash for a while.  After a mile or so moderate hike the trail began to switchback towards the top of Toonowee Mountain. By the time I was an hour into it, I was soaked from head to toe and the dogs had gotten over their typical beginning of the trail exuberance. Soon after, the Toonowee hits a ridgeline, which took us to the top of the mountain bearing the same name.

As expected, the hardwood canopy typical of the N. Georgia mountains covered what must be breathtaking views in the fall. All along the ridgeline, 10 mile views are playing peek-a-boo through the beech trees and white oaks. This one, I’ll come back for in the fall (October Fest anyone?). After a short walk down the opposite ridge, we crossed HWY 60 and found one of the coolest suspension bridges I’ve been acquainted with in a while. Before crossing via said bridge, I stopped to take in the scenic Toccoa River, as Aspen and Layla stopped to frolic and harass a couple fly fishermen. If only I had charged my camera battery the night before… Soon after the Toccoa, the Toonowee Loop meets and follows a forest service road back to the trail head and we were headed back to the ‘burbs for an exciting afternoon of yard work.

All in all, this was a great little trail for a day or afternoon hike. For those trapped in Atlanta, it’s relatively easy to get there via GA 400 or I-575.

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