After Stone Mountain, we drove north into the mountains to Georgia’s Unicoi State Park. We had a pleasant walk by the lake on our first night there.
The next day Barbara’s
friend Melissa joined her for another letterboxing/hiking expedition while Bill
drove an hour one-way to buy a new cell phone. With only one rain-free day
predicted while Melissa was here, Barbara and Melissa decided to tackle the
Smith Creek Hiking Trail.
Barbara’s usual hiking limit
is 3 miles. Being a 10-mile round trip with 25 letterboxes and a 1000-foot
elevation change, she wasn’t sure she could make it. So we made a plan. Barbara
and Melissa would park Melissa’s car at the trailhead parking, hike the trail
from there and turn around if necessary. At 3pm, if Bill hadn’t heard otherwise,
he would go to the other end at the Anna
Ruby Falls
Visitor Center
parking.
Here is the trail map.
Barbara and Melissa followed
clues to letterboxes as they steadily climbed. Here is a graphic of the elevation
of the trail.
It was a great hike. The
weather was ideal, there were only a handful of people on the trail, and lots
of wildflowers dotted the hillside: wild irises, trillium, purple and yellow
violets, among others.
At the highest point, the
surrounding mountains were visible through the trees and it was more than
halfway. So Barbara and Melissa decided to hike to the end. They called Bill,
surprisingly getting cell reception, and told him to meet later at the other
end.
Some of the hike required
scrambling up steep terrain. Barbara was pretty exhausted near the end. It was
a welcome sight to spot Bill coming from the opposite direction with a cold
bottle of water. We continued on to Anna
Ruby Falls
where most of the tourists came the easier way.
From there a paved path
followed the pretty gurgling stream to the parking lot. Back at camp, Bill made
a wonderful meal for the exhausted hikers.
Camped at: Unicoi State Park,
Helen, Georgia
Distance from Stone Mountain Park: 1hr 49min
