Stone Mtn Native Plant Project - just after AOC Solstice Hike.

IN a NUTSHELL: Hope you can join me for a couple of hours this Thursday morning to round out our year of AOC Volunteerism - giving back to the environment and to our community.  NOTE: this event will immediately follow Lisa Anyan Smith's "winter solstice celebration" event, also at Stone Mtn Park.  If you sign up for Lisa's event as well, she will begin with a 6:45 AM "sunrise hike" to the summit of Stone Mountain.  She then plans to continue around the mountain via the Cherokee Trail - ending at about 9:45 AM  - just in time for this 2-hour Volunteer event that's hosted in the Park each week year-round by our friends in the GA Native Plant Society.
  We're proud of the AOC's fine and ever-growing tradition of participating in such worthy volunteer projects - many which we plan & sponsor ourselves.  Our newly founded Volunteer Events committee is based on recognizing how important these "give-back" efforts are, esp. to all who share our love for nature and the outdoors.  Our AOC volunteer projects also help cement strong relationships with like-minded "partner organizations" - our local, State and National Parks, various "Friends of Parks," and other conservation & community support groups and outfitters. Examples of some of our key partners include the Chattahoochee River Nat'l Recreation Area, the GA Appalachian Trail Club, the Arabia Mtn Alliance, Rivers Alive, the Lumpkin Coalition, REI, and Toys for Tots.

EVENT PLAN:  We'll gather at 10:00 AM in a special parking lot at Stone Mtn Park  - NOT our usual one by Confederate Hall - see precise Directions below.  We'll hook up with our friends in the GA Native Plant Society whose plant propagation garden directly adjoins that different large lot.
  Here's our friend Karen's recent email to us GNPS members about suggested tasks we can assist with at this last scheduled GNPS Stone Mountain workday of 2017:  "We still have some plants to re-pot, including some Christmas fern from a rescue yesterday.  Hope to start a few more select seeds. Red buckeye for one have started putting out radicals so are ready to put out. I put them in my fridge, in a plastic bag with damp sand back in Sept.  I'll get there ~10:15, anyone showing up sooner can mix a batch of potting soil.  Recipe is on the sign-up table.   - Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas,   Karen 770-982-5492"  Another task that I suggest we take on as an AOC "subgroup" is to pick up and properly dispose of the some of the many fallen limbs and branches in the garden that no doubt fell during the winter storm two weekends ago.

Just after this GNPS-hosted event officially concludes (at about 12:00 noon) you're welcome to join me to explore a couple of"off-the-beaten-trail" scenic spots inside the Park and to view the colorful Christmas displays! - if your time permits. - Charlie

FOR INFO about the GA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY and its worthy environmental missions, etc. click this link: http://gnps.org/

FOR COLOR TRAIL MAPS of STONE MOUNTAIN PARK'S TRAILS  click this link:  http://www.stonemountainpark.com/-/media/Files/HFE/SMP_COM/Maps/Trails/Stone-Mountain-Park-Hiking-Trails.ashx

DIRECTIONS to SPECIAL STONE MTN PARK meetup PARKING LOT from "SPAGHETTI JCN" in NE ATLANTA":
1.  From "Spaghetti Junction"  (the I-285/I-85 interchange in NE Atlanta) take "I-285 East" (actually southward - toward “Augusta”) about 4.7 miles.
2.  Take I-285 Exit #39B (bearing Right off I-285 in a clockwise loop).  Merge onto Stone Mountain Pkwy/ US-78 East (toward Snellville/Athens), and go about 5.9 miles.
3.  Get off the Parkway toward your right at Exit #5 (onto the Memorial Drive/Stone Mountain Bypass).  Go only about 0.6 mile and bear Right again at your first opportunity up the E. Ponce de Leon Ave. access ramp.
4.  At the end of the ramp turn Left onto E. Ponce de Leon Avenue and go 0.5 mile to the first traffic light (on the north side of Stone Mtn Village).
5.  Turn Left at the traffic light onto James B. Rivers Memorial Drive (avoiding the sharper left onto “Silver Hill Rd”) and drive (eastward) about 0.5 mile to the large Stone Mtn Park "West Entrance Gate."
6.  Tell the Gate Attendant that you're there for the "GA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY" work day (which should suffice as their required "gate code" for free Park entrance and parking.
7.  After you pass through the West Gate make an immediate LEFT. Then drive just 0.2 mile via Robt. E. Lee Blvd. and turn LEFT again at the "Walking Trails Parking" sign and park on the "entrance end" of that large lot. We'll gather by the small gate near the old wooden building that's just inside the tall cyclone fence.
GPS USERS: You can enter these coordinates as your "destination address" for the above-discussed meetup spot.  Be sure to include the COMMA and MINUS sign!  33.8132, -84.1588

The above Directions assume that you may be driving through "SPAGHETTI JCN" in NE ATLANTA.  Adapt as necessary depending on the part of town you're coming from.

FREE EVENT, with waiver of Stone Mtn Park daily $15 parking fee for those who don't have an annual Park pass.