Sun, Oct 7 2012 - Stone Mountain 7-Trails Afternoon Nature Hike (View Original Event Details)
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We nine AOCers took advantage of the perfect fall weather to explore some nice "off-the-beaten-path" places in Stone Mountain Park. A short but memorable part of our adventure was hiking down the rocky creekbed that connects conveniently between the Songbird Habitat area on Stonewall Jackson Drive and the waterfall on the Cherokee Trail above Venable Lake. Another scenic leg was the all-granite eastern shoulder of the mountain that took us from the old trainyard to the outdoor quarry museum and a poignant nearby infant grave marker. At the trainyard we had fun "reconnecting with our inner kid" by climbing all over and into the engineer's seat of the old red & black antique steam locomotive, which pulled the "around-the-Mountain" train in the 60s and 70s. It must be at least 120 years old and has been retired there on an old spur track for the past 30 years or so.
Continuing counterclockwise around the mountain en route back to Stone Mountain Village we took a rightward detour via the lakeside trail to the Carillon tower where we enjoyed a live bell concert in progress. The organist was playing nostalgic old tunes including Irving Berlin's "Always", accompanied in the keyboard booth by a guy playing a chromatic harmonica. The tower and its keyboard building had been part of the Coca-Cola company's exhibits at the 1964-65 NYC World's Fair, and were re-dedicated at Stone Mtn Park afterward.
After the hike four of us - Jeremy, Jessica, David and I - adjourned to the popular German Restaurant in Stone Mtn Village where we took our time enjoying some good food, beer and conversation. We may have found an avid new AOC member in the nice young lady who served us, who hikes often at Stone Mountain and other wild places throughout north Georgia. -posted by Charlie, Oct 8, 2012
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