April 26, 2016
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Today’s hike was on the Tennessee Rock Trail and a portion of the James Edmonds Trail and Black Rock Lake Trail. HIKERS – John Anderson, Geri Barrios, Mike Bell, John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Phil Brownrigg, Joe Collins, Greta Driggers, Jim Driggers, Pam Euliss, Tim Hale, Bob Magee, Clay Masur, Nancy Masur, Melinda Pfaff, Tony Presley, Sandy Robson, Vic Robson, Carole Wintle and Jack Wintle. TRAIL INFORMATION – The Tennessee Rock Trail is a beautiful 2.2 mile loop trail that has beautiful mountain views along with nice rock outcroppings and a lush wildflower environment. The terrain is moderately hilly since this is the North Georgia mountains. We did a portion of the James Edmonds Trail West Fork which is a moderately hilly hike that includes gushing mountain streams and a nice waterfall. We also did the Black Rock Mountain Lake Trail which is just off of the James Edmonds Trail. It is a very nice flat walk around the lake. There are a couple of nice boardwalks along with a gravel surface trail portion and a wood chip trail portion giving a loop of almost one mile. Today’s hiking distance – 5 miles – moderate difficulty. Directions: Black Rock Mountain State Park is located on Black Rock Mountain Parkway, 3 miles north of Clayton, GA off U.S. Hwy. 441. Look for brown directional signs in Mountain City. There is a parking fee unless you have a GA State Parks Pass. Another great day for a hike! Partly Cloudy with temperatures ranging from the low 60’s to the mid 70’s F. FLOWERS IN BLOOM: Catesby’s Trillium, Purple Toadshade Trillium, Yellow Toadshade Trillium, Red Erect Trillium, Halberd-leafed Violet, Lobed Violet, Yellow Round-leafed Violet, purple Violet, Star Chickweed, Mountain Vetch, Mayapple, Wild Strawberry, Tall Buttercup, Hooked Buttercup, Flowering Dogwood, Silverbell, Foamflower, Robin’s Plantain, Yellowroot, Sweetshrub, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Red Baneberry. BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Black and White Warbler, Oven Bird, White Breasted Nuthatch, Wood Thrush, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Black Throated Green Warbler, Phoebe, Hooded Warbler, Towhee, Pileated Woodpecker.
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