January 5, 2010
| The first hike of 2010 was a cold one on The Lady Slipper Trail in the Lake Russell Recreation area. Starting temperature 17 degrees F. Total hike today – 8.5 miles.
HIKERS – Pam Euliss, Dave Hinson, Bill Hunt, Dick Metzgar, Bruce O’Connor, Jeanne O’Connor, Donna Presley, Tony Presley, Joe Raguckas, Vic Robson, Dan Ross and Pom Sinnock. TRAIL INFO. The Lady Slipper Trail is a 6.2 mile multi-use loop trail. Trail signs and markers are sparse along the trail and it is very easy to get lost while hiking on the trail. We started out fine but as we were making the loop, we ran out of trail markers and were on a long stretch of forest service road with no trail markers. In other words, we were lost! After hiking another mile or so down the road looking for trail markers, we decided the turn around and re-trace our path back to the start instead of trying to continue to try to find the rest of the trail. Since we were over half-way through the hike, we estimated that we hiked a couple of extra miles. The trail was good other than having very poor markings. Total hiking distance today – 8.5 miles – moderately difficult due to elevation changes. Directions: The Lake Russell Recreation Area is off the Dicks Hill Parkway East of Cornelia, at Mt. Airy, GA near the railroad bridge, turn onto the Lake Russell Recreation Area access road. Drive about 2.5 miles to the parking lot at Nancytown Lake. Another great day for a hike! Fair and cold with temperatures ranging from 17 to 33 degrees F. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: Birdfoot Violet BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, Swamp Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, and Canada Goose. |
 Getting ready at Nancytown Lake. 16 degrees F! |
 Trail signs near the start. |
 Lots of ice on Nancytown Lake. |
 The new bridge across the creek. |
 Another great day for a hike! |
 Here, we pass through a wildlife grain field. |
 We were very surprised to find a blooming Birdfoot Violet! |
 Crossing the creek carefully. You do not want to get your feet wet today! |
 The sunshine makes us feel warmer. |
 The beauty of a frozen mud puddle! |
 We discuss the possibility that we may be lost! |
 If this was not frozen, it would be very muddy! |
 Here we decide that we need to turn back since we have not seen a trail marker for a mile or so. |
 the dead tree of the week! |
 The grizzly OFHC gang for today’s hike (l-r). Tony Presley, Dave Hinson, Joe Raguckas, Pom Sinnock, Donna Presley, Dick Metzgar, Bruce O’Connor, Dan Ross, Pam Euliss, Bill Hunt, Jeanne O’Connor and Vic Robson. |