Wed, Nov 19 2008 - Midweek dayhike: Fort Mountain State Park - Gahuti Trail+ (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Tony C, Kevin Crowe Participants: Tony C, Kevin Crowe, Laura Judy, Angela, Joseph Martin, Alan Stephens, Eric P, Mark McD, Marissa M, Jean, Mike R.

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Write Up:
It was once again a superb day to be out on the trail. We had a great group of midweek hikers and the weather could not have been better...not a cloud in the sky and the temps down in the 40s for most of the hike. After a quick stop at the visitors center to get maps (the new GA state park maps are excellent), we headed for the Gahuti trailhead. After gearing up, we hit the trail going clockwise and found that we had to pay attention to stay on the orange blazed Gahuti. The trail wound up and down around the mountain...no huge climbs, but a great deal of fairly steep uphill and downhill sections...a bit of a rollercoaster hike. We stopped at a scenic overlook to the south (see pics) for the 2nd of our 4 group shots and then headed back north on the Gahuti loop. After a turn on the Big Rock Trail, we ended up by the lake and had lunch near the Fort Mountain beach. It is odd to be hiking in the mountains and then suddenly come upon a lake with a sandy beach, but that is what we found. After a long lunch, we knocked out the last 3 miles of the Gahuti...the steepest parts were in this section and the last 200 feet up to the top of Fort Mountain and the stone tower were definitely a challenge after already hiking for about 5 hours. We took some pics at the tower and then headed to the West Overlook...just making it there about 3 minutes before sunset. After group pic 4 of 4, we snapped away at the setting sun on the horizon. Then after a stop at another overlook in the fading evening light, we made it safely back to our cars. After an overly eventful drive back to the Mansell carpool, we ended the day tired, but happy with a very full day of fun on the trail.

Pics

Joseph's Pics

Mark's Pics

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