Somehow hiking in oppressive heat and humidity was relaxing

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2) 07/21/2020 at 15:01 • Filed to: Hiking

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I really had to get out and do something to take a break from summer school, so I did. I hiked around the East Palisades Unit—Indian Trail along the Chattahoochee River on Saturday.

I actually threw together a short two minute video for fun.

To keep things car related, the road to the parking lot was a single lane stretch of packed sand and gravel that was smoother than lots of asphalt I’ve driven on.

This is the only public dirt road I’ve ever driven on. I wonder why?

For the most part, it was pretty quiet. A tree had fallen across the path down to the river, which prompted many less serious hikers to walk across the top of the ridge instead of by the water. Or maybe just not many people are crazy enough to venture out into 100 degree weather with enough humidity to drown in.

Even in a national park, there was trash on the ground. Sad.

Some rocky cliffs overlook a creek leading into the Chattahoochee. I once read a book that had an asterix by the word “ creek,” below stating it was an American word for a small watercourse. I understand the origin of the word, but is it not in common use outside North America?

You know when you have to wait for someone to vacate the vantage point you really want?

The path wasn’t particularly rough on the main routes but the smaller trails were tougher going.

Ducks, they just do what they do.

No idea why, but this rafter was harassing these ducks, though they were unperturbed.

This is rapidly turning into a duck dump, isn’t it? Duck, duck. . .

. . . GOOOOOOOOOOSE!

Some sparkly soil. The paths are covered in tiny pieces of granite which sparkle in the oppressive heat. It looks cool, but it follows the path of erosion so maybe a sign of something much less cool.

Just Jeepin' > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:08

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Wiktionary has a nice bit on that, apparently the British used the word for “inlet” and we corrupted it. Elsewhere I saw that  the Aussies use it the same way we do.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/creek

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:12

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Way down yonder...

I just wanna know: what’s the photographer’s name?!

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:17

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Ahh, piedmont/blue ridge geology is always interesting. The Appalachians have been built and re-built repeatedly, which makes it cool to be able to visit a single area and see multiple forms of rock. There’s some Ridge & Valley type sandstone in the earlier pics (sedimentary - ru ns from central AL to the Southern Tier of NY state) and then later, what looks like granite and quartzite, which runs from East AL, then up through most of GA, SC, NC, and parts of VA.

From a distance, it all kind of looks like gently folding mountains, but underneath are a lot of distinctions, some of them hundreds of millions of years apart. These ridges used to be somewhere between the Rockies and Himalayas in size, so what remains is usually pretty solid.

I’m also curious about “Creek” — I always sort of assumed it came from the Creek nation, but was a universal word (like “Geyser” from Icelandic) . It’s often translated as “hatchee” from Creek/Muscogee, which is obvious if you’ve driven around the rural deep south. Seems like e very single creek has the “-hatchee” suffix on the bridge sign .

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:18

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That’s just the heat stroke and dehydration setting in.

Nice pics btw. Scenic.

Ash78, voting early and often > Just Jeepin' 07/21/2020 at 15:20

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I’ve heard the “crick” pronunciation a lot of times, but always associated it with the Northeast.

Just Jeepin' > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 15:25

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Definitely heard it growing up in Indiana.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/21/2020 at 15:31

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All I can say is that Who knows and Who cares. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:36

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One of my little guy’s favorite books is basically the Who’s On First? routine, with accompanying cartoon animals . We’ve read it together dozens of times. Last night, for the first time ever, I showed him the actual Laurel and Hardy routine. He was laughing so hard!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/21/2020 at 15:39

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I can’t say I am familiar with the routine you mentioned, but perhaps I just didn’t realize that the Prairie Home Companion skit my username references was inspired by it. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:44

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Whaaa...?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Just Jeepin' 07/21/2020 at 15:44

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I also have heard plenty of that pronunciation. Crick is usually the colloquial pronunciation while creek is for people with less of an accent.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:47

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My parents would listen to Prairie Home Companion when I was a kid. I think, as Lutherans, it was required listening.

People are so nice here in Minnesota...
Nobody locks their doors...

The doors are all frozen shut.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 15:50

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Oh yes, the soil around here is very diverse. I don’t have the working knowledge you seem to have but there are a lot of different types. You have the classic Georgia Granite like you might see at stone mountain or some of the finished granite mined from the area. You can identify it by how much it sparkles. Then you have the red Georgia clay and the soil of a similar color. Then you have the dull gray soil like you see elsewhere.

I mean, just look at this transition from gray to red.

And this would be the sandstone you mentioned I think

And further north you sometimes get a very fine shale in the cliffs there. But the the cutouts for the interstate usually tunnel through this stuff.

And the river has worn its way through so many different layers of soil that you can see them all. Fas cinating.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 15:56

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Th ere was definitely a lot of “cricks” in northern MN. You Betcha.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/21/2020 at 15:57

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Who

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 15:57

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Yep, Stone Mountain is a great example (I’ve been there 5 or 6 times). Mount Yonah near Helen is also really cool and I think still has public access if you’re willing to hike a mile or two uphill.

If you drive up toward Dalton, you can literally look to the left and see sandstone ridges , then look right and see granite hills heading up to the Blue Ridge . That’s a perfect example of where the two areas come together. Then all up through East Tennessee, same thing.

I just dabble in this, I started climbing these areas almost 20 years ago and you pick up a lot of geography and geology as you go along...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/21/2020 at 15:58

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All these gentrified rich people think they have some sort of “Southern hospitality,” but I know they are just doing it for the ‘Gram with their Simply Southern clothing and glass jars of lemonade. But they lock their doors and don’t realize they blindly follow what other white people says it means to not be racist. 

Prairie Home Companion is great, but I never really had the background knowledge to truly appreciate it. I’ve never been anywhere close to the Midwest . I don’t know any Lutherans either.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 16:04

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I’ve only been to Stone Mountain once. It’s a little too touristy for me, since all I really want to do is stand on top of it, not get nickel and dimed for a commemorative photo. Light show was fun to see, but not worth coming back every year.

Mount Yonah is seriously far away from me but looks interesting. I love the foothills of the Appalachians though. So beautiful and peaceful up there. I have many fond memories up in north Georgia. 

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 16:08

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When my kids were a little younger, we’d get the full day pass and do all the activities, but they’ve mostly outgrown it (plus we would go in the spring, so half the restaurants or shops would be closed...it’s very much a summer place. Too hot for me!)

We only did the laser show once, which was for Memorial Day a few years ago. Cool, but I wouldn’t go there just for that. I’m happy to just pay the $15 and hike.

On a side note, every time we’ve hiked there, the visitors have been very diverse...so I’m struggling to believe people are that excited about blasting the face (which, IMO, is an amazing work of art). Seems like some convenient outrage there, although the park could do a lot more with their storytelling.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 16:16

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I agree. The faces on Stone Mountain aren’t inherently offensive as long as you aren’t using them to glorify the Confederacy. The flag doesn’t even have the Georgia Confederate Flag carved into it and it’s not as though most people have even heard of Jefferson Davis. It is just a fun family venue that is a little too gimmicky for me. Though the view from the top is stunning and there is so much open space.

Were you always sketched out by the rusty chain link around the edge? It always has so much give in it.

EDIT: Wait, do you live in the state?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 07/21/2020 at 16:16

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The photographer.

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 16:21

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I’m over in Birmingham, so for a lot of years our daytrips and weekend trip have been to Chattanooga or ATL (Aquarium, World of Coke, Puppetry Arts , Fernbank museum, etc etc) . It makes for an easy trip if the traffic cooperates.

The current fence around the outer edge of the mountaintop is pretty sturdy, but there are definitely old and rusty bits of hardware around, too.

So I don’t live there, but yesterday I gladly paid my $0.90 toll (plus $25 penalty) for accidentally using a Peach Pass lane over a year ago on I- 85 north on the way to Greenville . I thought it was just an HOV lane...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 16:36

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I didn’t grow up that far north; I grew up in central Missouri (more northern MO than Ozarks). Some of the stuff rang true to my Lower- Midwestern ears .

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 16:38

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A family member of mine used to live there. It seems like all the good stuff is over in my neck of the woods. Do y’all still have to drive all the way over here to go to a water park or amusement park? Or do you have something local now? Whitewater is still small and somewhat slapped together and Six Flags over Georgia isn’t exactly world class.

World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium , Tellus, Puppetry Arts, Fernbank are all great. And there are plenty of small things to do in Atlanta. I would recommend a movie location tour and the CNN studio tour was pretty fun. College Football Hall of Fame would probably be more fun if I watched college football but I still had a blast.

The Peach Pass lanes aren’t always obvious. I’ve come close to getting a ticket occasionally. And sometimes the HOV lanes have bespoke exits that serve different streets than the regular exits. The street grid is delightfully nonsensical. You should see the new elevated express lane going north along I75.

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 16:49

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We’ve got plenty to do over here (children’s museum/science center, multiple water parks, tons of state parks, caves , rivers , one theme park, mountains, etc) but after being somewhere 20 years, you definitely want to take the occasional weekend and do something you can’t just do as a daytrip. Plus Huntsville and Montgomery (both 90 minutes) have some decent stuff, too. Once you hit a 5-hour radius, you’ve got Charlotte, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, the Smokies and the NW FL Gulf coast...so a pretty good selection of options for a long weekend or more. I’m not big on cities, I’d much rather do stuff with some breathing room.

My running joke about Atlanta is that we go there about once a year because that’s how long it takes me to forget about the traffic.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 17:23

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Northern MN here, It’s kinda the same thing with “Minnesota Nice”

We’re actually 2 faced assholes. Less racists here in the Twin Cities tha n where I grew up which consisted of 99.9% white people. I’ll be damned if they didn’t hat e indigenous people though..... Or basically anyone not Scandinavian .

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 07/21/2020 at 17:27

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Never heard of it. But you get a bunch of rich white people together who try to not be racist based on what other white people say and you have a pretty skewed view of the rest of the world. I don’t know if I’ve ever knowingly met so done o f ind igenous origin though. Not many left in this part of the country. 

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/21/2020 at 17:35

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No no no no. Not rich at all. Just white. Very very white.

I grew up about 15 minutes from a reservation and they were and are in a pretty sad state as far as community health, drug problems, etc.

The history of how this country treated “Native Americans ” is fucking appalling. If you like being patriotic (the American kind) then never look into it. It’ll break your heart.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 07/21/2020 at 17:42

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The traffic, oh the traffic! Don’t get me started.

I very very very rarely do anything that isn’t a day trip and even then that isn’t that often. I have made up my mind that I want to change that. I don’t have much experience with it though and the virus has postponed my grand plans for overnight trips.

I like cities and rural areas but suburbs can get  a little tedious to me. The middle ground is a surefire way to get bored. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 07/21/2020 at 17:53

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In Atlanta, you are about as likely to meet a Pakistani a s someone native to the city. It is a city of transplants, so the rich white people who want to be around other rich white people have had to move progressively further and further away. Unfortunately, income inequality is very much drawn along ethnic and racial lines so avoiding diversity is easier than it should be. There is an ethnic enclave around every corner though. The other day I delivered a meal to a very exclusive looking middle class apartment complex comprised entirely of people I took to be Hindu and recently of the Indian subcontinent based on the clothing, language, decoration, etc . I was kind of impressed. That’s not a demographic I have any meaningful contact with or that has much public visibility.

I have heard of the rampant poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and total lack of economic opportunity on reservations and, when combined with stereotypes about casinos and wealth, means very few people are motivated to do anything about it. But these problems seem to be so distant from Georgians that no one thinks about them.

Stef Schrader > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/22/2020 at 11:53

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Nice hike! I hit the trails at a state park here a couple weekends ago and it was pretty nice as well. (Except the snake sighting. Snakes can go to hell.)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Stef Schrader 07/22/2020 at 12:05

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Agreed.

I was just in the area and was pleasantly surprised. Very interesting geography, great views, and so so so much humidity.