[insert catchy holiday phrase here]

We're all out of catchy hike titles until 2013.

Lauren and Joyce are in the holiday sprit and we would like for you to get as tacky and wacky as you can and join us strutting your stuff through Atlanta!. Break out your tacky holiday sweaters, ridiculous festive garb or just wrap yourself in some garland and come do an Urban Hike with us. Come celebrate what you celebrate - Christmas, Hannukah, Advent, St Nicholas Day, Fiesta of our Lady of Guadalupe, St Lucia Day, Las Pasados, Yule, Winter Solstice, Soyaluna, Dongzhi, 12 Days of Christmas, Boxing Day, Omisoka or Kwanzaa. If you celebrate none of the above, then fear not; December 15th also happens to be National Lemon Cupcake Day and you can celebrate that. I'm not making this stuff up.

We'll meet at the 10th Street and Charles Allen Dr NE entrance of Piedmont Park. Our route will take us along the walking trails of Piedmont Park and we will link up with the new Atlanta Beltline. There will be plenty of onlookers who will think we're nuts...that's a good thing.

The total distance will be about 9 miles. We'll do some of the trails inside of Piedmont Park as well as the entire length of the finished part of the Eastside Trail on the Atlanta Beltline which takes us through Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park. The Beltline is also filled with lots of artwork along the way. We will also visit the Krog Street tunnel (if you haven't been there before it is SUPER COOL) and turn around at Cabbagetown Park. Around lunchtime we will stop at Irwin Street Market. We'll spend about 45 minutes here relaxing and eating with friends - maybe a few minutes longer if it's busy. There are several different options all under one roof. You can have a cup of coffee at Funky Monkey, a burrito at Bell Street Burritos, some ice cream or a sweet treat at Jakes.

Total hiking/walking distance is going to be about 9 miles. This is not a beginner's event. Please make sure you are able to keep a steady pace with us for 9+ miles.

Please be aware that we must stick together as a group. If you desire to do your own thing and not stick with the group, this is not the event for you.

More info on the Atlanta Beltline here:

http://beltline.org/trails/eastside-trail/

Info on Irwin Street Market:

http://www.irwinstreetmarket.com/?cat=10

This is a decent map of Piedmont Park. Charles Allen entrance is #17:

http://www.piedmontparkartsfestival.com/PPAF_Content/piedmont_park_map_2009.pdf

 ** If you are on the waiting list and did not make it to the confirmed list, it is not okay to show up for the event. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Coordinates for the 10th Street and Charles Allen Dr NE entrance of Piedmont Park. Meet us at this entrance. We will leave at 9:15 sharp whether you are there or not. Please give yourself plenty of time to park and walk to the entrance to meet us. Parking is available for free along most of the residential roads near Piedmont Park as well as alongside the park itself.

You can also park in the lot next to Park Tavern for a fee. It's a short walk to the Charles Allen entrance of the park. More details here: http://www.parktavern.com/contact/

Open maps.google.com and paste the bold line below in to the search bar. Then chose Satelite View. It will give you a bird's eye view of where to meet.

33.78187, -84.37286

There are no restrooms near the Charles Allen Dr NE entrance. You can walk to one from the entrance but please allow an extra 15 minutes to get there and back if you need to use it before we head out. There will be one restroom stop at least two hours in to the hike. There aren't many available along the way and we have a lot of ground to cover so we should keep extra stops to a minimum.

If the weather looks horrible, we'll cancel or reschedule.