April 10, 2012
| Today’s hike was on two trails in Union County, GA. The Sosebee Cove Trail is a very beautiful short trail in an old growth forest featuring one of the richest wildflower habitats in the southeastern U.S. The Coosa Backcountry is nearby and is a 12.7 mile loop beginning and ending at Vogel State Park. We accessed the trail at Burnett Gap and hiked an out and back portion to Wolf Creek.
HIKERS – Phil Brownrigg, Greta Driggers, Jim Driggers, Bill Hunt, Jack Jacobi, Jeanne O’Connor, Donna Presley, Tony Presley, Vic Robson, and Carole Wintle. TRAIL INFO. – Sosebee Cove is a beautiful short trail in a botanical paradise that was last logged in 1903. It is a memorial trail to Forest Ranger Arthur Woody. Woody loved the north GA mountains and created the first wildlife management area in the South. The trail features huge trees and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants. The nearby Coosa Backcountry Trail is a 12.7 mile loop that begins and ends at Vogel State Park. Our portion today was from Burnett Gap to Wolf Creek and back. Directions: Take highway 129 N. out of Cleveland, GA and continue past Neels Gap and Vogel State Park . Just past the entrance to Vogel State Park, turn left (west) on GA Hwy. 180 and travel 4-5 miles. Look for the Sosebee Cove sign on the right. Next, we accessed the Coosa Backcountry trail back down the road about a half mile toward Vogel State Park. The trail crosses Hwy 180 here at the start of a Forest Service Rd. Another great day for a hike! Fair changing to mostly cloudy and cool with temperatures ranging from 58 to 68 degrees F. Distance hiked – 5.5 miles. Difficulty: Sosebee Cove – Easy – Coosa Backcounty – Moderately Strenuous due to elevation change. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Dogwood, Star Chickweed, Umbrella Leaf, Pink Lady Slipper, Squaw-root, Mouse-eared Chickweed, Yellow Violet, Sweet White Violet, Purple Violet, Halberd-leafed Violet, Spurred Violet, Purple Toadshade Trillium, Yellow Toadshade Trillium, White Erect Trillium, Large-flowered Trillium Blue Cohosh, Foam Flower, Showy Orchis, Yellow Mandarin, Solomon’s Seal, May Apple, Bellwort, Meadow Rue, Field Buttercup, Hooked Buttercup, Toothwort, Cut-leafed Toothwort, Wild geranium, Dwarf crested Iris, White Baneberry, Golden Alexander, Pussytoes, Robin’s Plantain, Cinquefoil, Huckleberry, Wild Geranium, Rue Anemone and Barren strawberry. BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Crow, Pileated Woodpecker, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Vireo, White-Breasted Nuthatch, Cardinal, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, Pine Warbler, Towhee, Oven Bird and Junco. |
 Near the start of the Sosebee Cove Trail you pass one of the largest Yellow Buckeyes you will ever see. . |
 Hundreds of Large Flowered Trillium were blooming. |
 Showy Orchis were all along the trail. |
 A nice large mushroom. |
 Next, we head down the Coosa Backcountry Trail. |
 Early into the hike we cross a creek with waterfalls. |
 A critter condo with mushroom awning! |
 Wolf Creek was our lunchtime destination . |
 Lunchtime at Wolf Creek. |
 Looking upstream from the bridge. |
 We saw hundreds of Dwarf Crested Iris along the Coosa trail. |
 Another great day for a hike! |
 We saw several Pink Lady Slippers. |
 The OFHC gang for today’s hike! (l-r) Phil Brownrigg, Vic Robson, Carole Wintle, Bill Hunt, Jim Driggers, Donna Presley, Greta Driggers, Jeanne O’Connor, Jack Jacobi and Tony Presley. |