“C to the 10th” Car-side Camping & Hiking Adventure at Dauset Trails

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REGISTRATION & PAYMENT REQUIRED: Once you've reviewed the event details, and decided you'd like to join us, you MUST sign up at the bottom of this page. This is a paid event with payment managed through the AOC. Please read the event description carefully for details; you will be given payment instructions after you sign up. Late payments are NOT accepted for this event, in any circumstance.

“C to the 10th” Car-side Camping & Hiking Adventure at Dauset Trails

The Basics:

Event Type:

Multi-Sport

Event Location:

Dauset Trails Nature Center, 1 hour south of Atlanta

Date(s) & Time:

Fri, May 1 2009 6:00 pm >> N/A

Registration Opens:

Tue, Apr 14 2009 11:00 pm

Registration Cut Off:

Fri, Apr 24 2009 5:00 pm

Event Duration:

Up to 3 Days and 2 Nights (come & go at your leisure)

Difficulty Rating:

D1: Easy

Trip Leader(s):

Charlie Cottingham
Sandy Nadler
Angela

Email Trip Leader(s)
You must be logged in to get the Trip Leader contact information.

Member Cost:

$20.00/Person (See Detailed Cost Info Below)

Participant Info:

Who's Invited:

Members Only, 21 And Older Only

Maximum Group Size:

Minimum Group Size:

Number Registered So Far:

15 / 0 (To see who's signed up, log in to the Member Area)

Are Dogs Permitted:

Itinerary:

"C to the 10th Power” aptly describes this camping getaway because it will be CONVENIENT, CLOSE, CAR-SIDE, and COST-FRIENDLY, and even includes a big Sat night COOKOUT and hot Sun breakfast – a great spring "prime time" trip opportunity for campers of all experience levels.
It offers COVERED CAMPING platforms (a.k.a. “Turkey Roosts) for those who may prefer pitching your tent on a roofed wooden deck (or sleeping on a deck with no tent if you like) – or you can pitch your tent in the adjoining forested camping area on a regular tent pad. We’ll have FREE CANOEING (and kayaking, plus paddles, lifejackets, etc.) in the lake by our campsite all weekend – also lots of CYCLING and hiking opportunities (including scheduled AOC group rides & hikes) on the huge network of wooded trails – so bring your hiking boots and a hybrid or mtn bike if you have one. There's even a free 10-acre “CRITTER CORRAL” – a.k.a. "wildlife trail," displaying dozens of GA's native wild mammals, birds, reptiles and fish in a wooded lakeside setting.
Our lovely home away from home for the weekend will be Dauset Trails Nature Center, an easy 1-hour drive south of Atlanta, adjoining Indian Springs State Park near Jackson, GA (see detailed directions below).
Drive down anytime Friday, or plan to arrive as late as Sat AM if you prefer. Stay as late as mid-afternoon Sun if you like.
Our AOC group will have exclusive use all weekend of Dauset Trails’ wonderful camping facilities including its spacious roofed dining pavilion complete with hot showers, heated restrooms with flush toilets, electric lights & outlets, lots of big picnic tables, and a nice double-wide charcoal grill. There's ample free parking just a few yards from our pavilion and campsites.
This is expected to be a “rain-or-shine” event, esp. since we have such excellent shelter and vehicle access.

MON APRIL 27 OPTIONAL PRE-TRIP PLANNING POW-WOW (Re-scheduled! Originally announced as Tue Apr 28): If it's convenient please try to join us for this informal "happy hour drop-in” from 6:15–8:00 PM on the MONDAY evening before the trip. It will be in the lobby bar area of the Century Center Marriott in NE Atlanta, on the southbound I-85 access road, 1.5 mile south of the “Shallowford Rd” I-85 Exit #93.
After introducing one another and answering questions, we’ll discuss appropriate gear, clothing, food & supplies for the trip – also firm up our big Sat. cookout & other group meals, campfires, etc. and our schedule of optional group activities.
We’ll also facilitate hooking up campers who may prefer carpooling together from mutually convenient places in Atlanta or perhaps may have extra gear available to share or lend.
If you can’t attend, please email Charlie before the pow-wow and let him know your personal schedule/ plans/ needs for the trip and any suggestions, etc. On the day after the pow-wow Charlie will email everyone summarizing our group activity plans and other final trip details.

FOR MORE ON DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER visit their official website at www.DausetTrails.com. Just 50 miles south of Atlanta, the nature center's friendly rangers and staff maintain and oversee its numerous attractions including its amazing camping area, free trails network & canoe/kayak fleet, visitor center & museum, wildlife trail, demonstration farm, and botanical gardens. Reserved paid groups such as ours have exclusive use of the entire lakeside camping area and its many included extras. For a detailed color topo map of the 1200-acre privately endowed Nature Center go to http://dausettrails.com/DT-2002b1.pdf

TENT CAMPING FACILITIES: There are about 15 beautiful shaded campsites adjoining the lake with well-draining level tent pads. Every campsite is within a 3-minute walk from our vehicle parking area by the pavilion. Several fire rings and steel lantern poles are provided. If you prefer you may sleep inside your vehicle or on one of the “Turkey Roost” platforms – see below.

“TURKEY ROOST” COVERED SLEEPING STRUCTURES: These three open-sided roofed buildings discussed above are similar to the popular "Squirrel's Nest" at Unicoi State Park, and are available to us at no extra charge. Each can sleep up to about 8 campers. They’re set on a hill overlooking a creek that flows into the lake. Each “Roost” has two wooden-deck platforms, each roughly 15 feet wide by 10 feet front-to-back. They’re just a 3-minute walk from the pavilion and parking area. If you have no tent you can simply lay your pad and sleeping bag directly on one of the covered decks, and perhaps pat a little insect repellent on your face and neck before bedding down.

GROUP MEALS: The spacious lakeside dining pavilion by the campsites and parking area has eight large picnic tables, and is ideally suited for preparing meals and dining together in a friendly group such as ours. On this trip large coolers are appropriate with plenty of ice to preserve your favorite beverages and foods – the pavilion is the perfect shady place to consolidate them over the weekend.
The king-size double charcoal grill by the pavilion is ideal for group barbecuing. For this trip the AOC event leader will provide the main ingredients for a big Saturday evening barbecue cookout (~7:00-8:30pm) and for Sunday morning breakfast (~8:00-9:30am). At the “Pre-Trip Pow-Wow” discussed above, we’ll agree upon a specific menu for these meals (including some vegetarian items) and recruit a few volunteers to assist the event leader with food prep, etc. We’ll also plan host optional “potluck” meals at the Pavilion for our Fri dinner (~7:30-8:30pm) Sat breakfast (~8:00-9:30am) and Sat & Sun lunches (~12:30-1:30 both days). For any potluck-style meals that you choose to take part in, simply show up and chip in a ingredient or two, or a small prepared dish, dessert, beverage etc. – also please pitch in with food prep, cooking & cleanup.
The group charcoal grill will be lit Friday evening in the patio & fire-ring area, and implements provided for those who would like to barbecue a reasonable-sized personal item of your own: e.g., a steak, chicken breast, hotdogs, burgers, etc.
For this event Charlie will also provide a limited supply of napkins, paper towels, stainless steel silverware, cooking utensils, etc. Our Club policy is to minimize the amount of disposables, so to "BE GREEN" please bring your own personal insulated and covered drinking mug and your own personal washable hard plastic (or enamelware) plate and bowl. We’ll provide a hot-water dishwashing station, "camp suds," scrubbing pads, & towels, and will recruit a small crew to wash & dry dishes after each group meal.

Required Items to Bring:

• Tent (or sleep without one in one of the “Turkey Roost” structures

• Sleeping Bag (or sheets & blanket)

• Sleeping Pad & Pillow

• Clothing, Athletic Shoes & Rain Gear appropriate for weather forecast

• Toiletries, Towel & Washcloth

• Headlamp & extra Batteries• Headlamp & extra Batteries

• Camera w/extra Batteries, Memory, etc.

• Cooler(s) with plenty of Ice & favorite Food & Beverages*
*Officially Dauset Trails has a "no-alcohol policy."
• Covered Insulated Mug
• Personal washable Plate & Bowl (preferably hard plastic or enamelware)
• Large Covered Storage Box & Ziploc Bags, etc. for perishable food items.

• Folding Camp Chair
• Day Pack or Fannie Pack with Camera, Snack Items, etc.
• Mountain Bike if you have one and want to ride the excellent trails.

Recommended Items to Bring:
Use our Event Checklists to make sure you have everything you need.
The nearest stores are about ten miles away, so try to bring everything you may need for the weekend. Our Dining Pavilion has hot & cold running water (safe to drink) and plenty of electric outlets and overhead lights. We can conserve Coleman fuel, etc. by utilizing electric coffeemakers, hotplates, etc. The trip leader will bring a hotplate or two and even a portable microwave (along with his 2-burner Coleman-type propane stove). Consider bringing your camp stove if you have one, a couple of fuel canisters, and a couple of medium or large non-stick pots & pans with lids. An extra cooler with a bag or two of ice might come in handy – consider pre-freezing some water bottles, jugs of water, etc. Use them for longer-lasting and less messy solid ice in your food cooler and you can also drink the cold water as it melts.

How to Get There:

Event Directions:

From ATLANTA to AOC GROUP CAMPING AREA & DINING PAVILION at DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER
–The camping area is about 45 miles (~45 minutes) from the I-75/I-285 interchange on Atlanta's south side.
IMPORTANT: Please ignore the DausetTrails.com online directions and instead use these directions which give the precise mileage of each driving leg and explain the special gate and entrance road to our camping area.
Rezero your odometer at each instruction and pay close attention to mileages given and driven.

1) From the southside I-75/ I-285 Interchange (near the Atlanta Airport) take I-75 South toward Macon and go about 33 miles to Exit #201. (Shortcut if you live on Atlanta’s east side: Consider taking I-675 southward from I-285 Exit #52 east of town to I-75 Exit #227, then drive just 26 miles south on I-75 to Exit #201.)

2) Get off I-75 at Exit #201 (GA-36 “Jackson/ Barnesville”).

3) Turn Left over the bridge onto Hwy 36 East and go about 3.1 miles (toward Jackson, GA).

4) Turn Right onto High Falls Road and go about 2.5 miles.

5) Turn Left onto Mt Vernon Church Rd (also known as Mt. Vernon Rd) and go about 3.0 miles to Dauset Trails Nature Center on your Left.

6) The Camping Area entrance is a gravel road on your Left surrounded by a long bank of pine trees at a rightward curve in the highway. (This is about 0.1 mile before the better-marked paved entrance road to the Nature Center Visitor Center.) A few yards down the above-mentioned gravel road (from Mt. Vernon Rd) you’ll find a steel gate (just beyond a gravel parking lot and “check-in bulletin board” for mountain bikers & other “day-use” visitors). Enter through this gate toward our Camping Area as follows: Unhook the chain (which may appear to be locked), open the gate, proceed through it with your vehicle, then reclose the gate and rehook the chain behind you as you found it.

7) The covered lakeside Campers’ Pavilion (Group Pavilion #2) and campers’ parking area are about 0.8 mile beyond the steel gate down this gravel road, on your Right. Just before you reach this pavilion and camping area you'll pass through a second steel gate that is normally left unlocked and open for reserved camping groups. If you arrive early and find this second steel gate locked, feel free to ask a ranger at the nearby Nature Center Office (via the main paved entrance off Mt Vernon Rd) to assist you.

8) When you arrive at the pavilion park there and consolidate your coolers, camp chairs, and cooking/dining gear, etc. Look for Club volunteers who can assist you choosing a campsite. The gravel tent pads and “Turkey Roost” camping platforms and are all near the lake, about 100 to 200 yards to the right of the pavilion beyond the little open-air chapel.

Notes:

Important information for paid events in which payment is managed through the AOC:

- Payment must be received by the payment due date and prior to participation in the event.

- Some paid events require a minimum number of registered participants. If that number is not met, the event will be canceled and refunds will be issued to those who have already paid.

- Third-party vendors often require damage deposits. Each registrant agrees to be liable for and required to reimburse the Atlanta Outdoor Club for any withheld deposits due to the actions of or damages caused by that registrant.

- No partial payments. All registrants must pay the posted Member Cost regardless of any agreement you may have with any party involved in the event.

- Read the event description carefully for additional information, and contact the trip leader(s) with any questions.

* We encourage all members to follow our Etiquette Guidelines while participating in AOC events.

Cost & Payment:

Member Cost:

$20.00/Person

Non-Member Cost:

$25.00/Person

Cost Includes:

• Up to 2 nights Camping on the level wooded tent sites or "Turkey Roost" covered structures
• Barbecue Cookout Saturday evening
• Hot Breakfast Sunday morning
• Canoeing & Kayaking all weekend in the lake by the camping area
• Use of the large Dining Pavilion, Restrooms, Hot Showers, Hiking
& Mountain Biking Trails, and other great Dauset Trails amenities.

Payment Cut Off:

Payment must be received by the AOC on Fri, Apr 24 2009.

Make a Payment:

Click here for the details. PLEASE PAY AFTER YOU HAVE SIGNED UP BELOW.

Cancellation/Partial Attendance: Please review the AOC cancellation policy.
*Note: PLEASE REVIEW OUR CANCELLATION POLICY CAREFULLY!

*NOTE: It is your responsibility to get the payment in on time. Please allow two days for processing a PayPal transaction and one week for a check. No checks will be accepted after the April 24 Registration & Cutoff date.

CANCELLATION POLICY: If you cancel on or before April 24, full payment will be refunded less a $5 administrative fee. No refund after April 24 unless someone replaces you and pays in full, and then you will receive a full refund less a $5 administrative fee. No partial payment for partial attendance. If the trip leader cancels the event, full payment will be refunded. If you do not cancel your attendance or fail to show up for the event, you are still responsible for full payment.