Saturday, August 1st – Thursday, August 6th
Ft. Mountain State Park – N.
Georgia
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We headed west through northern Georgia and the Chattahoochee
National Forest along the mountain roads, finally reaching Ft. Mountain State Park
after miles of uphill climbs. This park is part of the Cohutta Wilderness, way
up on top of the mountain, and miles from any town. The park is heavily
forested with a very nice campground. We found a spacious pull-through campsite
that was completely shaded, with a view of the forest.
During our stay at this park, we hiked the amazing steep trails
past cascading creeks, rock outcroppings and great views of the valleys below.
The boys hiked with us up to the Overlook, where you could see for 80 miles;
three states were within view, Alabama, Tennessee and N. Carolina. Also, at the
top of the mountain, there are the rocky ruins of an ancient “stone wall”,
which is steeped in legend. Many
archaeologists and historians have not been able to determine exactly what is
was used for or who built the 855 foot wall around 500 A.D. Possibly ancient
Native Americans, Welsh explorers during the 14th century or
possibly early Spanish explorers. It’s still a mystery. There is a hike up to a
stone fire tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. There were also mountain biking trails, which
were as steep as the hiking trails. They were most difficult to ride, so I
chose not to bike on the actual mountain bike trails. I did, however, bike the
lake view trail, which was mostly flat, but wound around the lake and into the
forest area. Kurt rode the main trail, which was mostly steep ups and downs. We
were also warned that there were active black bears in the park. Kurt
experienced this first-hand. On one hike he took the dogs, and at one point,
Luca became agitated about something in the woods and started to head for it.
Kurt called him back, then saw the black bear partially up a tree. He was able
to get Luca back to him, but in the meantime, the bear charged toward him and
the dogs. Kurt quickly picked up Luca, while Kody remained behind him when the
bear came within 30 feet and growled. Kurt had an air horn that we use to scare
bears and it worked, long enough for him to get to the bear spray.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to use the spray as the bear then turned around and
headed the opposite direction. After that we kept Luca on a leash while hiking.
Other than the bear incident, we really enjoyed the beautiful trails.
The first day there, we met our camping neighbors. A young
family from Clearwater, Florida with three beautiful kids. They were all very
friendly and the kids were so cute. We quickly got to know them, as we visited each
other’s sites frequently. Walker and Lindsay are the parents, with one son,
Pickett, and two daughters, Makenna and Brynnan. The kids loved playing with
our dogs and hanging out with us. Both Walker and Lindsay are teachers, and it
was quite evident of their love for making everything a lesson. By the end of
our stay, we promised to keep in touch and someday we will try to get together
on a camping trip in Florida.
We truly enjoyed this park in the forested mountains of N.
Georgia. Again, we are amazed that all these years we never ventured into these
mountains, but always headed straight for the Smoky Mountains. They are all
equally beautiful. We were reluctant to leave, but we needed to continue our
trek southward toward Florida.
