August 14, 2012
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TRAIL INFO. – Pickens Nose Mountain was named after Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens. The Pickens Nose Trail is heavily used by rock climbers/rappelers since it has magnificent rock faces. The views there are awesome! Our second hike started at the parking lot below the summit of Albert Mountain, there is a connector trail up to the Appalachian Trail and then we follow the A.T. up to the summit and fire tower for some of the most spectacular views on the entire 2,000+ mile Trail. The Mooney Falls Trail is on the forest service road toward Standing Indian Campground and the Laurel Creek Trail is about a mile beyond Mooney Falls toward Standing Indian Campground. These two falls are beautiful jewels in the NC mountains and the two creeks combine to form the headwaters of the Nantahala River. Total hiking distance today – About 5.5 miles with considerable elevation gain. We rate the hike moderately easy. Directions: Take highway 441 north from Clayton, GA to the community of Otto, NC. Turn left onto Coweeta Lab Road . Drive several miles up this road and you will see the Coweeta Hydrologic Lab on your right. Continue on past the lab and the road becomes a gravel Forest Service road 83. Continue up this road for several miles and you will come to a sign for Pickens Nose. There is a parking area here. For Albert Mountain, continue on past this area a mile or so and there is a fork in the road and a sign pointing to the right to Albert Mountain. Continue on the right fork to the end of the road where there is a parking area. Hike up the connector trail behind the gate to the A.T. and turn right to Albert Mt. For Mooney Falls, drive back down the road from Albert Mountain and turn right onto F.S. road 83 and continue several miles to the Mooney Falls sign on the left. Finally, continue down the road about another mile or so and you will see the Laurel Creek Trail sign on the left. Another great day for a hike! Partly Cloudy with temperatures ranging from 64 to 68 degrees F. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: Spotted Jewelweed, Pale Jewelweed, Lance-leaved Loosestrife, Oxeye Daisy, Tall Bluet, Bush Honeysuckle, Thin Leaved Sunflower, White Yarrow, Downy Phlox, Angelica, Daisy Fleabane, Mountain Mint, Rosebay Rhododendron, Indian Pipes, Whorled Loosestrife, Heal-All, Summersweet, Joe Pye Weed, Black-eyed Susan . Birds Identified: Broad-winged Hawk, Pine Warbler, Towhee, Junco, Nuthatch . |
 Trailhead on Forest Service Rd. 83. |
 Our first trail today. |
 Our first spectacular viewpoint. |
 The clouds in the valleys produced amazing views! |
 Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) a member of the Touch-Me-Not family. |
 The most famous rock outcrop at Pickens Nose. Pam Euliss is the daredevil! |
 Almost looks like a bad storm in the ocean! |
 Next, we hike up a short section of the Appalachian Trail to the Albert Mt. Fire Tower. |
 Mile-high Albert Mountain was completely fogged-in but we enjoyed lunch there. |
 Mushroom of the week! |
 She must have loved these mountains! |
 Next, we hiked the short trail to Mooney Falls. |
 And finally, we hiked the Laurel Falls Trail. |
 The OFHC gang for today’s hike! (l-r) Micah Hunt, John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Phil Brownrigg, Bill Hunt, Pom Sinnock, Vic Robson, Bob Magee, Donna Presley, Pam Euliss, Dan Euliss and Tony Presley. |