February 5, 2013
| Today’s hike was on the Raven Cliffs Trail near Helen, GA.
HIKERS – John Bellamy, Karen Brown, Phil Brownrigg, Pam Euliss, Bob Magee, Dick Metzgar, Jeanne O’Connor, Donna Presley, Tony Presley, Vic Robson, Dan Ross, Pom Sinnock, Geri Whitaker and Carole Wintle. TRAIL INFO. – The Raven Cliffs Trail is a 5 mile round trip hike along beautiful Dodd Creek. The destination is the massive rock wall split by Raven Cliffs Falls. Most of the hike is on the creek with several sets of smaller waterfalls and roaring rapids before the cliffs. This is a very popular hiking trail with a nice trail-head parking area with information boards and restrooms. Directions: Take GA 75 north from Helen for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto GA 356(75 Alternate) and travel 2.3 miles to the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway. Turn right and travel 2.8 miles to the trailhead and parking area on the left. Another great day for a hike! Partly cloudy and cool. Temperatures ranged from 38 – 45 degrees F. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: none BIRDS IDENTIFIED: American Crow, Blue Jay, Robin, Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparrow and Black-Capped Chicadee |
 Today’s trailhead. |
 The trail has a little bit of snow in a few places. |
 The trail follows Dodd Creek and the water level was up due to recent rain and snow. |
 A beautiful trail with several rock walls along the way! |
 Snow-covered log across the creek. |
 This is a very heavily used trail with lots of exposed roots. |
 Beautiful roaring rapids all along the trail. |
 A very nice waterfall. |
 Climbing up the slope to the massive rock cliffs! |
 Raven Cliffs Falls! |
 Taking a break at the base of Raven Cliffs. |
 Noisy rapids at the bottom of the cliffs. |
 Lunchtime at Unicoi State Park. |
 The OFHC gang for today’s hike! (l-r)Tony Presley, Dick Metzgar, Carole Wintle, Phil Brownrigg, Pom Sinnock, Jeanne O’Connor, Karen Brown, Dan Ross, Donna Presley, Bob Magee, Geri Whitaker, Pam Euliss, John Bellamy and Vic Robson . |
SEE BELOW FOR VIDEO AND MANY MORE PHOTOS!