Moccasin Creek State Park,
Near Clayton Georgia
I awoke to 43-degree weather. My cocoon kept me warm, but I wanted some coffee to loosen up the aching muscles of yesterday's hard kayaking. I drove into Clayton, about 15 miles up the winding road. I ended up on the main thoroughfare that by-passed downtown with it homogeny of American fare, so I went looking for a downtown diner instead and I found the perfect place. The coffee was great and so was the western omelet.
Twelve miles south on U.S. 23 is Tallulah Gorge State Park. I had been there about 6 years ago with Dick, Ralph, Greg and Marshall, but at that time the steps down to the gorge were closed, limiting our exploration. The interpretive center is both architecturally outstanding and captures the full history of the site. The stories and presentation were done most excellently. I signed up for a "down river" pass at the ranger desk. This pass lets you walk the river at the end of the stairs that take you to the bottom of the gorge.
The hike starts you out at these "overlooks”, which are incredible. From out of the woods you find yourself looking out over this expansive gorge with a 4 to 5 hundred-foot drop to the raging waterfalls below. After a couple of overlooks, the entrance to the stairway begins. Now 500 feet down is like walking down a 45-story building, and remember, you have to get back up too. So you enter onto the stairs, which winds its way in several directions and with numerous landings and sitting benches. All the while, you are within the trees, which obscure your direct view of the falls, but the sound of the crashing water gives you the indication of closeness and greatness of the fall.
Every 100-foot of descent brought glimpses of more waterfalls and vertical rock cliffs. The stairway down was under the carpet of trees, reducing the sun's effect. About 2/3rds of the way down you encounter a cable bridge that hung about 150 foot above the rushing river. I admired the construction and the engineering; especially since it sits out in the middle of the woods with 80-degree slopes, perched over a raging river. This bridge took the pathway to the southern side of the gorge and a lot more steps followed. Finally, you reach a point where you are at the river's edge. Here is where the special permit came into play. At this point there are no more stairs, just open, boulders strewn along the river's edge, which constituted the path that took you to two more waterfalls down river.
Immediately, the trail crossed the river to the northern side. There was nothing but big boulders as a path. I tried twice to make it, but I could not even make it to the first rock-to-rock hop where the water rushed below. The initial rocks were huge slabs that sloped at angles that required ankle movement and there was very little grip. I retreated to the wooded lookout right above. About that time, these two twenty somethings come ripping on by; but I watched their efforts at hopping across the rocks. It was some effort for them; one actually fell down once he was on the other side. Not a good thing for me. One fall on a knee and a split to a sleeve and I would have to hop back on one leg, a tough act considering the stairs.
So I managed to make the complete loop, south and north rims of the gorge. The gorge is quite a surprise to those driving U.S. 23/441 through the hamlet of Tallulah Falls because it is not visible. There used to be a private outfit that provided the view behind their fence; but that enterprise has long been gone, folded into the State Park and cleaned up considerably.
I drove back to Clayton for some groceries and to visit the library for a quick download. Because I was not a library cardholder, I was allotted 15 minutes on the computer; I got about 48 minutes. I could not find a grocer in Clayton so I had to resort to shopping at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
My return trip back to Moccasin Creek was along the Lake Rabun Road; up to Seed Lake and eventually to Lake Burton. It was an incredible ride with this constant lake on the left and the mountainous woods to the right. And most of the lakefront is lots with expansive homes - like a picture from some New England setting - an "On Golden Pond" experience.
When I got back to the campground, I slipped the kayak into the water and was off headlong into a slight wind and I made my way up the valley to the main lake, which really didn't look much different than the fingers of the lake. The reservoirs are never very wide here up in the mountains, about 2 or 3 hundred yards wide, maybe more, but not often. The ride allowed me to see the green hill rise up out of the lake, in some views; I got glimpses of far away mountains. It was cool and the sun was approaching the western horizon. It was a fantastic experience!
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