Wed, Oct 17 2012 - Len Foote Hike Inn Peak Fall Color Trip: A few spots still available! (View Original Event Details)
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We had a wonderful time on this specially arranged midweek “peak fall color” overnighter, with fantastic foliage and near-perfect hiking weather both days. My good friend Bobby Marie did his usual masterful job as our AOC co-leader. Thanks to our 10 other cheerful and sociable AOCers plus the friendly Hike Inn staff and about 15 other nice guests from all over the country who helped make this such a memorable trip.
We arrived at the Inn at various times (about 3:00 to 5:30) Wed afternoon although most of us began the hike together as planned on the Hike Inn Trail at about 12:30 PM. We were amazed that during his hike from Amicalola to the Inn young Eric Self, a very fit new AOC member, managed even to include the 7 miles roundtrip northward to Springer Mtn and back (via the AT Approach Trail) for a total of about 13 miles between 1:00 and 5:30 PM.
As usual the Hike Inn staff treated us royally, with an entertaining and informative 5:00 tour of the eco-award-winning facility followed by a delicious hot roast pork dinner. The mouth-watering apple spice cake that was served up for dessert was created by none other than our friend Eric Graves, the multi-talented Executive Director of the Hike Inn.
The theme of our after-dinner program was “Favorite Hike Inn Side Trips & Trails,” including directions to nearby campsites, connecting trails, river kayaking venues, & other attractions. We wrapped it up with a discussion of beautiful cosmic objects that are easily visible on clear nights from the Inn’s “Star Base” - e.g. the moon, the planets, Polaris, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, various other constellations & nebulae, etc.
After the presentation we were fortunate to have crystal clear dark skies above the Hike Inn’s “Star Base” for amazing naked-eye views of the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. Then several of us enjoyed hanging out in the cozy Sunrise Room. Barbara entertained me, Rachel, and Rick by teaching us a fast-paced rummy-like card game called “Five Crowns,” with sixteen wild cards and one more card dealt per hand in each of the successive 11 rounds of play.
After a good night's sleep, many of us were up early for hot coffee in the dining hall despite it being too foggy to see sunrise. At 8:00 the breakfast bell rang and we chowed down together on a hearty hot breakfast, then took our time checking out. We AOCers gathered at 9:30-ish in front of the Inn, where friendly Wade, the Inn Manager took several group shots with our cameras. Then we took a creatively different scenic route back to the cars. We first took the final mile of the Hike Inn Trail up to the blue-blazed AT Approach Trail where we turned left and walked downhill about a half mile. Then at the first road crossing we turned left onto this “country lane” and walked about three miles southward to the next Approach Trail crossing, then leftward on it to the cars.
En route home at about 12:30 PM on Thursday, Bobby, Karen and I enjoyed taking a leisurely 20-minute walk through an amazing and colorful array of PUMPKINS. This giant roadside retail attraction pops up each Sep-Oct on GA-52 just 2 miles W of the Amicalola Park entrance. Their 100 or so hugest pumpkins are each more than a yard wide, weigh more than 100 pounds and sell for up to $80. To give you an idea of the amount of business they do, they have about 150 large wheelbarrows for customers to haul all those pumpkins and other stuff to their cars. They reportedly grow most of the pumpkins on nearby farms in the area and offer hayrides through those fields, etc.
- Submitted by Trip Co-Leader Charlie Cottingham, Oct 19, 2012
Bobby and I encourage other trip members to email their photo-links and personal anecdotes to add to this writeup!
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