February 8, 2010
| Today’s hike started at Courthouse Gap Rd. in Rabun County, GA. We hiked up to the Bartram Trail at Courthouse Gap by the Pinnacle Connector Trail. We then turned left toward Rabun Bald and hiked to a point just beyond Windy Gap. The hike was approximately 8.2 miles.
HIKERS – John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Pam Euliss, Bill Hunt, Jack Jacobi, Dick Metzgar, Donna Presley, Tony Presley, Vic Robson, Dan Ross, David Whitaker and Geri Whitaker. TRAIL INFO. – A beautiful wintertime hike on the Bartram Trail in Northeast Georgia. This portion of the Bartram Trail features rolling terrain through beautiful mountains with nice views all along the trail. The mountain views are continuous when this trail is hiked in the wintertime. The Bartram Trail is very well maintained although there were some recent fallen trees due to snow/ice storms. Distance hiked – approximately 8.2 miles – difficulty – moderate due to elevation changes. Directions: Take Warwoman road out of Clayton for .8 miles, and you’ll see a sign for Pinnacle Camp. Take a left turn off Warwoman Road onto Pinnacle Dr. Follow that road all the way, 1.1 miles, passing the camp, to Courthouse Gap Road. Take a right, and go .2 miles until you see a gravel road, with parking areas beneath power lines. Park there, and walk up that road about a tenth of a mile to the access trail on the left. Another great day for a hike! Partly Cloudy, and cool with temperatures ranging from 28-43 degrees F. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: none BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Tufted Titmouse, Pileated Woodpecker, Chickadee, Crow, Pine Warbler, Carolina Wren, Red Bellied Woodpecker and Dark-eyed Junco |
 Today’s trailhead on Courthouse Gap Road. |
 Headed up the Pinnacle Connector Trail to Courthouse Gap! |
 The Bartram Trail sign at Courthouse Gap |
 Wintertime offers nice mountain views all along this trail. |
 We start to see snow left over from a recent winter storm. |
 A nice dog joined us for the hike. One blue eye and one brown. We think he belonged to a family near to our parking place. |
 He seems to be trying to help us over this tree across the trail! |
 We start to see lots of beautiful Rime Ice in the trees! |
 The trees were sparkling! |
 We turn a corner to the other side of the mountain and find the snow is several inches deep! |
 The recent winter storm has brought down several trees across the trail. |
 Wintertime in North Georgia. |
 Our lunchtime destination! |
 Just beyond Windy Gap, we find a nice lunch spot in the sun. |
 Everyone shared some lunch with our new canine friend! |
 The OFHC gang for today’s hike (l-r) Donna Presley, June Bellamy, John Bellamy, Pam Euliss, Dick Metzgar, Geri Whitaker, Dan Ross, David Whitaker and Trail Dog, Vic Robson, Jack Jacobi, Bill Hunt and Tony Presley. |