Cloudland Canyon to Chattanooga, based at Lula Lake: Help create new Scenic Trails over St. Pat weekend. Optional Free Pioneer Camping!

WANTED!...Enthusiastic fun-loving adventurers for an excitingly different St. Patrick's Day Weekend "give-back" experience on Lookout Mountain, in the NW corner of GA just south of Chattanooga.  You're welcome to drive up and join us for ANY or ALL of the entire Thu-Sun weekend (even as a single long "day trip" from Atlanta if you prefer.  See easy Directions & GPS info below.)
  Our base of operations will be the gorgeous 800-acre core property of the Lula Lake Land Trust, a wilderness preserve just NE of Cloudland Canyon, whose spectacular 100' Lula Falls is pictured above.  We AOC volunteers will have exclusive use of the spacious creekside group campsite near the amazing waterfall.  I'll be there from Thu thru Sunday, and hope most of you can plan to "Pioneer Camp" there beside our vehicles with me and our friendly hosts on one or more of the 3 nights (Thu, Fri & Sat - see details below).
  Our Club is honored to be invited to help extend the network of hiking trails in this ruggedly beautiful forest preserve.  Each volunteer is simply asked to participate in about 4 hours of supervised trail work (~10 AM -2 PM) during each day that you can be with us.  We intend to go ahead with the trip Rain or Shine, by the way, unless some very dangerous weather event, etc. interferes.

WEEKEND GOALS & GENERAL PLAN in a NUTSHELL: Our campsite hosts and trail work supervisors will be my friends Holley Roberts and Patrick Kelly of the Lula Lake Land Trust.  Our mission on this trip will be to help them complete portions of a new trail just west of the "core" Lula Lake property - an easy walk from our group campsite.   Our AOC volunteers who can pitch in on Friday or Saturday are asked to meet at 10:00 AM at the "Campsite Kiosk" (see Directions below).  After being greeted and briefed by our hosts we'll depart with them on foot (with our own daypacks, picnic lunches & water) and can expect to be back at the campsite each day by about 2:00 PM.  They'll provide everything we need for the project including leadership, tools, training and safety tips. (Feel free to bring any favorite gear of your own and be sure to dress properly as discussed below in "Required Items to Bring").  Our work will bring them closer to their goal later this year of "connecting the dots" all the way from  Cloudland Canyon State Park to Chattanooga via a continuous path through about 50 miles of scenic Lookout Mountain terrain.

DRIVING & CARPOOLING OPTIONS:  Hopefully some of you will be available to carpool up together on Thursday (see my suggested 1:00 PM plan below) but no problem if you need to drive up and join us on Friday or even as late as Saturday.   Esp. if you come up alone please pay close attention to my detailed Directions about entering through the padlocked Lula Lake gate, etc.  Using GPS alone can be a problem in this wilderness area.  We can also facilitate the formation of "custom carpools" for individuals who may live on the same side of town, etc.
  We urge each driver or carpooling party to avoid "rushing back home" before taking advantage of some of the wonderful hiking trails and other fun things to see and do in the Lula Lake and Lookout Mtn area.. 

A FEW "CARSIDE PIONEER CAMPING" SUGGESTIONS:  Our spacious "exclusive-use" Group Campsite at Lula Lake has several Picnic Tables, a Campfire Ring, a roofed Information Kiosk, and a nearby well-maintained Toilet Building - but no on-site electricity or piped water.  Although technically "pioneer style" this beautiful creekside group site offers the very desirable feature that we can park our vehicles there (even sleep inside them if we prefer).  We're welcome to pitch our tents anywhere in the gorgeous terrain - much of it is nice and flat, and there are plenty of trees suitable for hanging hammocks.  Bring as many "comforts of home" as you like, but on the other hand, feel free to camp "backpacking style" if you prefer!  Below are lists of "required and suggested" things to bring, including jugs of water for drinking & cooking, portable tables & chairs, lanterns, iced-down coolers of food & refreshments,+ tents, hammocks, sleeping bags, air mattresses,stoves, tarps, etc.

GROUP MEALS PLAN: On each evening (Thu, Fri & Sat) my friends and I will host a social hour + "potluck" group dinner + campfire gathering from about 5:30 till 9:30 PM - also a similar family-style breakfast each morning (Fri, Sat & Sun) from about 7:30 till 9:00 AM.  If you wish to join us for a particular group meal simply be prepared to contribute about 4 or 5 servings of a single food or beverage item that you personally enjoy and would like to share - also and pitch in of course with meal prep, serving and cleanup.  For Lunches we suggest that you bring an appropriate assortment of picnic-style food and drinks that can be conveniently carried in your Daypack and consumed while we're doing trail work or perhaps while hiking together, etc. on Sunday.  While en route back to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon or evening I hope many of you will join me for dinner at a nice restaurant, perhaps in LaFayette.
  "PerfectPotluck.com" is a free website that provides convenient real-time access to well organized online charts of gear, supplies, food & refreshment items that each person wishes to bring to share. It's incredibly easy to "click below" and enter or re-edit your own info, and I encourage each of you campers to do so ASAP for the benefit of the group. You can easily see what there may be too little of or too much of and insert or adjust your own contribution accordingly! Our AOC "Group Password" if you need it is AOC2017.
  Dinners + Campfires (Thu, Fri & Sat, ~6:00 - 9:30 PM):  If you expect to participate in one or more of these, please click this link and enter or re-edit your items, indicating beside each item when you expect to be able to share it if it's needed: http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=OMDR2205
  Breakfasts (Fri, Sat & Sun, ~7:00 - 9:00 AM): Same easy entry and re-editing system as for Dinners: http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=ZTGV8657

LOTS of FUN THINGS to SEE & DO!  "All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy!"  You''ll have plenty of leisure time for simply relaxing if you like.  Also if you like please join me and my Lookout Mountain friends for the family style meals meals discussed above + scenic hikes, adventurous "bouldering," blazing campfires, a St. Patricks Day fireside party & sing-along, and fabulous stargazing!  Be prepared of course for lots of amazing photo ops such as the lovely waterfall at Lula Lake pictured above!

FOR MORE ONLINE INFO, PHOTOS, etc. click these links:

Lula Lake Land Trust website with maps, etc:  http://lulalake.org/

"The Story of Lula Lake," a new documentary video: https://vimeo.com/199786960

"The One Place in GA that Must be Seen to be Believed" blog & photos:
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/georgia/unbelievable-place-in-ga/

Cloudland-to-Chattanooga Trail Building Article: http://nooga.com/174863/chattanooga-connector-trail-project-moves-forward/
Online Principles of Trail Design, Construction & Maintenance:  http://www.americantrails.org/resources/trailbuilding/

DIRECTIONS from ATLANTA to our AOC GROUP CAMPSITE at LULA LAKE: (This route via I-75 and GA-136 West is among the simplest, shortest and most scenic, and is the route we AOCers normally prefer for trips to Cloudland Canyon State Park, whose main entrance is directly on GA-136. Various other routes to Lula Lake are suggested by GPS, Google Maps, etc. and have a comparable ~2-hour drive time.)

1.  From the I-75/I-285 Interchange take I-75 North about 60 miles to I-75 Exit #320, "GA Hwy 136.
2.  Turn Left onto GA-136 West and CAREFULLY FOLLOW the white "136-W" SIGNS for about 40 miles to the highway's junction with GA-157.  (Cautionary notes! There are several sharp turns along Hwy 136 and you'll reach the 4-way GA-157 jcn just after a steep uphill climb beyond the little community of Cooper Heights.  En route you'll pass through the town of Villanow and bypass Lafayette.  There's a hard Right turn onto the Lafayette bypass -c oncurrent with 4-lane US-27 - then another hard Right followed quickly by a hard Left to stay on GA-136 - all within 3 miles of downtown Lafayette.)
3.  At the GA-136/ GA-157 junction  turn Right onto GA-157 and stay on it for 9.4 miles to the little community of Hinkle.
4.  Stay straight ahead in Hinkle (avoiding the GA-157 left turn) and go just 1 mile further to the prominent blue Lula Lake Land Trust sign on your right.
5.  Turn Right at this big sign and immediately stop in front of the adjoining steel gate.  All volunteers will be given the secret combination to the gate's padlock so you can drive through the gate, re-lock it and continue to our group site.
6.  After re-locking the gate drive down the gravel road just 0.6 mile and bear Rightward at the "Y junction. " Our group campsite with its wooden  Kiosk is just 200 yards ahead.  The kiosk displays excellent topo maps of the Lula Lake "core property" and its surrounding area.
7.  Feel free to park in any spot where you're not damaging vegetation, etc. Look for me (Charlie - cell no. 404-921-4622) or other AOC volunteers.  Assuming that you intend to stay for one or more nights.who can also assist you in selecting an appropriate spot for your tent or hammock, RV, etc.
  As discussed above, at 10:00 AM on Fri & Sat our AOC volunteers who can pitch in on either or both days will meet our Lula Lake hosts at the Campsite Kiosk for our ~4-hour trail work project.  At 5:30 each evening (Thu-Sat) we'll have a social hour beside the fire ring near the Kiosk, followed by a family style dinner & campfire.

GPS and GOOGLE MAPS USERS:  Feel free to augment the above written directions by entering the following Lat/Lon coordinates for the Lula Lake entrance as your destination (as you would a street address): 34.9194,-85.3863

GROUP CAMPSITE LAT/LON COORDINATES:  34.9220,-85.3808

No Charge for this amazing trip other than your fair share of carpooling expenses to if you choose to hook up with one or more other volunteers for the trip up and back!  Just bring your own camping gear, food & refreshments - plus a cheerful disposition and vim, vigor & vitality!