Pam and I drove to the parking at the bottom of the access road and could see today was going to be tricky. Solid sheets of ice were everywhere... even in the parking area.
Highlands Cashiers Land Trust (HCLT) organized a perfect volunteer opportunity to give back to our pristine community on this MLK Jr Day of Service. Volunteers signed up to collect litter at different properties protected by HCLT. My hiking buddy, Pam, and I took on Ravenel Park— home of Sunset Rock and Sunrise Rock. There is a .8 mile long road up to the park. Cars are currently allowed to drive up but that will probably soon change and the road will be for hiking only. Pam and I drove to the parking at the bottom of the access road and could see today was going to be tricky. Solid sheets of ice were everywhere... even in the parking area. We carefully got out of the car after gathering trash bags and trash collection poles and started picking out the best path to follow. Ice was everywhere! But first we took our traditional selfie! Today was a gorgeous sunny day, but did I mention ice was everywhere? This wasn’t soft melting ice. It was solid sheets of ice. But we were able to find our way around the ice. It just took lots of jumping and criss-crossing and holding onto branches as an extra precaution. We stopped to look at water running under the ice which was pretty cool... And soon we were at the top. A short bit of icy trail later and we stepped out on Sunset Rock. Did I mention ice? We talked with a Mother-Son Group enjoying one last part of Highlands— Sunset Rock- before heading back to Atlanta. One of the moms took a photo of Pam and me at the top of Sunset Rock. That view of the town of Highlands off in the distance just never gets old. There’s an inviting bench on Sunset Rock to relax and take in the view, but we were on a mission so we searched for litter and walked over to Sunrise Rock. The path to Sunrise Rock offered its own bench. I think I’ll talk to my rock guy about making me one like this for our woodland garden we’ve started at Two Holt. And then we arrived at Sunrise Rock... The viewing area isn’t nearly as big as Sunset Rock, but Pam says viewing a sunrise from that vantage point is majestic. Pam and I enjoyed the views and began the trip down to our car while still looking for trash. We’re proud to say that we ended with our trash bag only 1/3 full. It seems that most of the visitors to this area have been taking good care of it. And that’s something to celebrate! So if you visit our beautiful town, please help us keep it pristine. Highlanders are proud of our town!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Phil & SharonMarried 40 years and hoping to enjoy many more! Archives
December 2019
Categories
All
Categories
All
|