Fri, Apr 26 2019 - Coopers Furnace and Pine Mountain Summit (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Holt Ward Participants: Holt Ward, Evy, Barry Polon, Linda H, Dan C, John B, Molly B, Jennifer W, Suzanne, Neil, Janet G, Val, Rocky M, Barbara, Bonnie R, Bunnie

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A great group for a great hike.  Pine Mountain is one of my most favorite places to hike and I was happy to be able to share it with the group today.  We started at the Army Corps of Engineers project office overlooking the Lake Allatoona dam.  After a quick visit to the overlook to see the dam and the expanses of Lake Allatoona we headed down to the old Cooper Iron Furnace which operated back before the Civil War.  Next we took the Coopers Furnace trail and Pine Mountain connector trail to reach the base of Pine Mountain.  

After a quick water break, we stared heading up the East Loop trail.  After an approximately 1000 foot climb since leaving the Coopers Furnace near the banks of the Etowah river, we reached the summit of Pine Mountain. The views were great in spite of some low clouds.  We then headed back down the East trail stopping briefly at Whiskey Hollow where we learned a bit about is somewhat sorted history.  We hiked through hundreds of yards of Mountain Laural thicket which are just starting to bloom.  Finally we used the Connector trail and the Laural Ridge trail to return to your cars and the end of our hike.  We covered about 7 miles and 1400 feet of elevation gain in exactly 3 hours.  ~ Holt