Fri, Feb 21 2020 - Red Top Iron Hill Trail / Ghost Campground (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Holt Ward Participants: Holt Ward, Dan C, Shirley N, sandyguy, Sharon C., Janet G, Evy, Silvia B, Brian O

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Well our hike today on the Iron Hill trails at Red Top Mountain was interesting to say the least.  Although we had wonderful sunny weather for our hike, the effects of all the heavy rain we have had recently was quite evident during our entire hike.  As soon as we got near the lake, the extensive flooding of Lake Allatoona was evident.  The water level at Lake Allatoona had risen an astonishing 27 feet in the two weeks before which caused areas near the shore to become flooded and suddenly the lake was full of trees that usually sit on dry land.  

After about 1 mile, our trail suddenly disappeared under the water and we had to do a little bushwhacking to work around the drowned trails.  This was not the last time we would have to take similiar "evasive" action.  One of our re-routes took us into the head of the Old Crow Bank mine which is almost 3 football fields long.  The scale of this dig was quite impressive.  We also got to visit an old abandoned campground which operated in the Iron Hill area until the early 1980s.  We finished back at the parking lot and the end of our 6.5 mile hike.   ~ Holt