After getting my mind all set to hit the road with the Flagship Detroit DC-3 two weekends in a row and having both cancelled at almost the last minute due to repairs, I was feeling all dressed up with nowhere to go. Our poor camper has been sadly neglected for the past year and a half and we had missed being out with it. So we decided to hit the road to Cloudland Canyon State Park, up in the very northwest corner of Georgia. I had seen a magazine article that had given it a great review. It was booked up Saturday night and that didn't give us quite enough time to prepare anyway.So Sunday morning we hooked up and off we went. How delightful to sail through Atlanta with light traffic and no delays. We waited until we got out of the urban sprawl and then stopped for breakfast at an IHOP. It was almost noon and so we avoided the crowds there also. We got off I-75 at the second Resaca exit and got on 136 for a twisty turny journey through pleasant countryside, finally climbing up to the top of Lookout Mountain, which is where the park is. Lookout Mountain must be a very large mountain indeed to go from Chattanooga to here and beyond.
There are two camping areas here and the Ranger advised West Rim for more woods and privacy. We are very pleased indeed. Mountain laurel and rhododendron are in bloom and delightful. The camper sits on an angle so the door faces the woods and the other side is looking at the bathhouse across and just down the road. There are three bathhouses in this campground, all with laundry facilites, there are grey water dumps everywhere and lots of places to dump garbage. There are three host families in this section also. This is one or the nicest, most well equipped state parks I have been to. The sites are widely spaced and very wooded. In the late afternoon a thunderstorm passed close enough to bring a blast of cool air that took the temps down to the low 70's. Wow!This morning we took our time getting up and out. Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with our marvelous Benton's bacon cooked on the George Foreman grill as Gene observed Peggy doing in Fort Worth last month. It works great, no splatter, cut it in half and three pieces will fit at one time.
I had read there was a two mile hike to two waterfalls and that was my goal when we came here. Then we got the trail map and found out that it was one mile straight down and one mile back up. Over 1200 steps...oh, no way, I don't think so. Bah humbug, hiss, Boo!! The other trail descriptions were for the most part "strenuous."
Not to be deterred, we headed out to an access point near us to the Rim Trail and found one overlook before you even got to the trail. The trail was mostly level with a lot of large rocks and roots but not too bad and we came to a major lookout in less than half a mile, with a couple of lesser ones along the way. This trail overlooked the town of Trenton to the west. Did anyone even know there is a Trenton in Georgia? Although it was almost noon, it was still cool and breezy. The views here rival any that I have seen anywhere and so very close to home.
From there we explored the remainder of the park and found ourselves almost alone here, though I hear it is fully booked on the weekends. There are nice log cottages with screened porches, well situated for privacy and a group lodge that sleeps 40 for you and your closest friends. (Gene says it has four bedrooms so that is ten per room) We saw the East Rim campground and found the spaces to be very close to one another and little vegetation. However, if you have children, it is close to the Interpretive Center, the tennis courts and a disc golf range. Running behind the Center is the Overlook trail, and along it, there were vantage points to look out to the more wild parts of the canyon. Had to challenge a buzzard for squatting rights to one of them. We could hear water rushing down at the bottom, but could not see it for the trees.We returned to the campsite mid afternoon and Gene caught up on his napping, which ended with another rain. Now we are working on trying to cook a hunk of beef between this rain and the next one that we see on the radar. We have not used the AC all day.
Were awakened at some point deep in the night by a strange baying. Had to be coyote but he uttered only one note each time and was quite close so there would be no sleep while he continued. So I shined flashlight out my zip up window and he left only to begin again down the road. This time a pack of dogs answered him and he added a woo-woo to the end of his sound as he answered their barks. Finally, he moved on and we got some more sleep
