Journey to the Ruins

Well, we average about a two- to three-week delay in most of our postings. I know what your thinking, another blog about another hike in another forest somewhere. I know there has been a few in the last couple years, but hiking is one of our favorite activities on a nice Saturday morning (in this case, Memorial Day). So, chances are, this won't be the last. About a year ago, I found a book called 60 hikes within 60 miles [of Atlanta], and we intend to hike them all.

Sometimes I really marvel at all that Georgia has to offer. In my opinion, it has one of the most beautiful, and varied, state park systems in the country. Within an easy days drive, we are within reach of cloud-covered misty mountains, rich historical sites, breathtaking waterfalls, expansive echoing canyons, swamps teeming with wild life, and raging rivers filled with kayaks. This time we chose a river-front hike to a preserved ruin of a civil-war era factory on the Sweetwater Creek, i.e., nature and history.

Ollie experienced the hike from the comfort of Daddy's back. He took in all the sites from the high vantage point, and enjoyed every moment. So this story is really about Drew (sorry Ollie, you had a great time). Since Drew has been walking, we've had some great hikes, and some not so great hikes. In retrospect, I think however one turns out (good or bad), it's really Mom and Dad's fault. We've learned a lot in the last 2.75 years of what makes a successful outing with little ones. Even though we don't always follow our own advice, this time we did every thing right and had a great day on the trail.

The key to starting off on the right foot is to have a plan. We picked our trail the night before, so we were out the door before breakfast. We stopped and picked up Chick-fi-la on the way, because bellies full of chicken always make the best hikers.

On this trip, we had everything in place and two happy kids ready to go, so after looking at the trail map, decided on a little more adventure than the normal hiker might choose. There are two trails that lead to the ruins, there is the red trail that is flat, wide and direct that everybody uses, and then there is the blue trail. It wanders up into the hills a little away from the river, it's narrow with lots of ruts and even a few climbs, but mostly, it's about twice as long as the red trail. We were feeling good, so we took the blue. Unlike most who were there mainly to see the ruins, we were there to see the moss, the logs, the bugs, and the lizards, and all those things are on the blue trail.

Drew was excited to be out there. He has always loved being outside. As a baby, one trick we had in our pocket when he was fussy would be to walk him outside, even just standing on the front porch seemed to soothe him. He started strong and stayed strong. He actually ran a good bit of the trail. I use the term "ran" here in the loosest possible meaning of the term. It was more of a gallop, not really a skip but close. Imagine a kid with a broom between his legs pretending to ride a horse, now imagine it without the broom. That was Drew's gait. Not the most efficient walk, but it sure looked fun.

Right from the get-go, we had some good instructional talk about staying on the trail, and how to find the best path to navigate difficult terrain like roots and logs and stairs. He caught on pretty fast, and soon found that the best route isn't always a straight line. To make sure he was doing it right though, he found it necessary to narrate to himself. Whenever he encountered a difficult place in the trail he told himself, "around, around." Then, as he passed the obstacle, "close one." On two occasions, whether he lost focus, or the roots just jumped out and grabbed him, he fell, which did shock him pretty good, and did put a little fear in his head. One fall even nicked him a little. These falls were,however, mostly nervewracking to Mom and Dad though. We knew one fall could spell disaster for Drew's good mood, and we were in no shape to carry two kids the remainder of the hike. Luckily, it just took some good'ol TLC from Mom, so after both falls, he bounced right back and was once again galloping on the trail.

A short part of the blue trail followed a small brook. Drew was fascinated by the small trickle of water, and the small micro-ecosystem within the shallow gully. He even spotted a small lizard on a fallen branch and watched it closely as it crossed the brook. I think these small things most people miss, but also the things that make the hike worth while. And, while watching a small lizard cross a brook is fun, it is even more interesting watching one through a 2.75-year-old's eye.

In no time really we got to the ruins. Just a fair warning to all those heading out there, if you're hiking Sweetwater Creek State Park just to see the ruins, you may be disappointed. Sure it has pretty interesting history, and it's a very scenic location on the edge of the river, and it does have a bit of old world charm, that is if you can get over the fact that there is a huge, ugly, chain-link fence taller than the building itself surrounding the site that obscures any chance of getting a clear line-of-sight. But it was fun any way having lunch on the over look right at the rivers edge. It gave Ollie a chance to stretch his legs, and Drew a chance to recharge.

While Drew was keeping up his good spirits, he was starting to show signs of fatigue. Because of this, and because its always more fun to hike in a circle then retracing your own steps back, we decided to take the wide, flat, shorter red trail back to the car.

The next part of the story requires a short flash back. - Insert eerie music here - As I've mentioned in previous postings, Drew is potty training, or sometimes we like to think potty trained. So, we stopped in the visitors center to complete our business before hitting the trail. No biggy, right? Well the bathroom looked fairly normal at first glance, but once we got the first stall and looked into the toilet, it was one big abyssal chamber. To make matters worse, the chamber was open to the air somehow so sunlight lit up the whole pile of..., and an eerie breeze, not smelly, but very eerie, was emanating upward. I sat on one and got a "refreshing" gust up my back-side. Drew first choose to go in the men's room, because that's what men do. We tried every stall, but Drew just couldn't bring himself to do it. Then he went into the women's room, because that's what little boys do, and again tried every stall and just couldn't do it.

So back to our story. After lunch, on the trail, in the middle of nowhere, on the crowded red trail, Drew instructed us as he always does, "it's coming out." Though it sounds imminent, Drew is actually pretty good at giving us good warning, and we usually have time to find facilities before it actually comes out. But special circumstances require special actions, and Drew became christened as a big boy and true outdoors men by urinating outside. I would have preferred he gone when still on the less crowded blue trail with lots of trees to hide behind, but we are on Mother Natures schedule, so Drew stopped in the middle of a large bridge on the red trail, dropped trow, and made water over the edge. Oblivious to the million people passing by him giggling at his hiney hanging out, he stood there amazed and proud, and refused to pick up his pants.

In short order, the parking lot was in view, and we were once again on hard pavement. By the end, Drew was still going solo, but slowing fast. The last hundred yards, he hung onto the back of Ollie's backpack and allowed himself to be pulled back to the car. He was cooked. He had hiked approximately 2 miles! What a big boy!

Our navigator with the GPS. Though he may have been a bit confused with its true function. On occasion, he held the GPS up to his face and said, "Cheese."

Ollie was a great sport, he enjoyed the trail thoroughly from Dad's back.

This is a plank bench on the side of the trail. Add a fallen log behind the bench, and it made a great seat and table just Drew's size.











Our lunch time spot. The end of the boardwalk was a shear drop to the river. So Dad had to play defence for dare-devil Ollie.



Oranges...Yum!









This is Drew watching the lizard cross the brook.










Drew was still going, but he let himself be towed at the very end.