Red Top Mountain

Red Top Mtn

May 7, 2010

Planned three days ahead of time, this turned out to be sort of an odd trip.. It seemed that all day we were all dragging our feet for a lazy day.

Scott, Clay, Kim, and I met up around 12:30pm and drove to Publix to buy subs for lunch. Scott drove us in his Jeep to the park, roughly 25 minutes away. We found a picnic table close to Lake Allatoona and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch :)

Roughly 45 minutes later we drove to the visitor's center to pick up our maps and to choose a trail. We were stuck between taking the shorter one mile Sweet Gum Trail or the 3.9 mile Iron Mill Trail. We decided on the longer one!

The trail itself was gorgeous. The majority of the trail was walking alongside of the lake. We saw several boats, a guy fall while he hit a wave during wake boarding, and a Labrador swimming! The lab was adorable... his master had him laying on an inflatable next to him chewing on a bone. I wish I could bring my beagle on the trails and to outdoor things. I'm also really glad Scott came along. It was the first trip he didn't have prior commitments. Being a boyscout, he naturally went in front but was very aware of everyone and I can tell you I definitely felt safer knowing if anything happened he would know what to do.

The trail had several abandoned picnic tables overgrown with vegetation as well as a bathroom. We stopped midway at a picnic table to take a 15 minute break. It was a good time to talk about our plans for parks during the summer. We are thinking of doing a longer trip to knock out several parks on the coast. Those will definitely be the most difficult just because of distance. We considered a full moon hike in late May as well, offered by many of the parks. If not that, I know I want to do a full moon kayaking trip near Dahlonega. I think it would be gorgeous!!

The weather was perfect in the mid 70's and we didn't have to worry about direct sun. Overall the trail wasn't too bad. There was gravel on the majority of the path and what looked to be fairly new bridges near the end of the trail. I have to say though.. once we hit the bridges I was exhausted. I knew 3.9 miles would be quite a distance but I don't think mentally I was prepared. I brought the wrong shoes and I was still stuck in the mode of lazy.

We saw several bikers too. I would definitely come back and bike the trail!

This hike was kind of a celebration of spring semester and in a way, the mini vacation before Maymester classes begin. I think it was definitely the exhaustion from the spring classes that put me in the lazy mode. Though the hike also acted as a rejuvenater in the sense that I am really excited about hiking this summer. Let's see where the next trip takes us!