January 17, 2006
| Today, the weather forecast was rainy but we decided to hike anyway. We made a declaration that the rain would hold off until we finished our hike. It worked! It started raining after we were in our cars headed home! Today’s hike was on the Panther Creek Trail between Turnerville and Talullah Falls, GA. We started the hike at the trail head at Panther Creek Park off of old Hwy 441. This hike leads to Panther Creek Falls as our normal turn-around.
HIKERS – John Bellamy, Wayne Miller, Bruce O’Connor, Jeanne O’Connor, Donna Presley, Tony Presley, Dan Ross, Doug Russell, David Tate, and Bob Thompson . TRAIL INFO. – The Panther Creek Trail is very popular with hikers but it has a few spots where the footing is dangerous and extreme care must be taken. The trail follows beautiful Panther Creek from Hwy 441 all the way through to the end of the trail near Yonah Dam. The most used section is from Hwy. 441 to Panther Creek Falls and back for a 7 mi. round trip. Directions: Panther Creek Park is about 3 miles south of Tallulah Falls, GA. Take Highway 441 northward toward Tallulah Falls, GA. After passing Hollywood (traffic light) continue on 441 for a several miles and turn left on any of the side roads and drive the very short distance to the intersection with Historic Hwy 441 and turn right and continue until you see the sign for Panther Creek Park turn left into the park. Today’s hiking distance – 7 miles Another great day for a hike! Cloudy with temperatures ranging from the upper 40’s to the mid 50’s F. BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Pileated Woodpecker, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, American Crow, Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dark-eyed Junco and Goldfinch.. |
 The Trail-head parking area. |
 The Trail sign at the start. |
 The trail brings you under this large rock outcropping with a large Hemlock tree growing on the tip of the rock ledge! |
 One of the more difficult areas where you have to scramble your way up between the split in this rock cliff. |
 Our group on the bridge crossing Panther Creek. |
 The nice thing about this trail is that you are always close to beautiful Panther Creek. |
 Here, the creek rushes over a solid rock face. |
 Nice view up Panther Creek. |
 Here, the trail passes under another rock ledge. |
 Shortly before we reached Panther Creek Falls, we encounter a problem. A large tree has fallen down the bank, taking a section of the trail with it! It left a steep-sloping rock which was very slick. A couple of the guys crossed over it and declared it too risky to go any further. The bank was too steep to go around it, so we turned around and headed back. |
 Another beautiful cascade! |
 If we could have hiked a couple of hundred yards further, this would be us at Panther Creek Falls. |
 The O.F.H.C. gang for today’s hike. (l-r) Tony Presley, Dan Ross, Donna Presley, Doug Russell, Jeanne O’Connor, Bruce O’Connor, David Tate, Bob Thompson, John Bellamy, and Wayne Miller. |