Hiking on the Appalachian Trail has been on my bucket list for a looonnng time! In my pre mom years, I figured I would be able to find a friend who would want to tackle this adventure with me, but with work, bills and conflicting schedules, my plans faded off into the distance. Since moving to Atlanta, I realized I was closer than ever to accessing the Appalachian Trail. With a young child, full time job and no family support, taking off for any period of time was just not possible, but in my book, doing a little something is better than giving up and doing nothing. I found Long Creek Falls and read that it was a beautiful, kid friendly hike, with a beautiful waterfall at the top. It was also a hiking trail we could drive to, hike and return from in a day. If you know me, you know I love to be prepared….and thinking this would be remote and empty, I made my own survival pack complete with fire starter, waterproof matches, pop up tent, water tablets, knife, poncho and more. What I didn’t expect was the crowd lol, but better to be prepared, than not be, right. TWO Important Tips- be prepared for a BUMPY, I am mean insanely bumpy rock filled road for over a mile to reach the trail. The second, is your phone may lose service and take away your directions with them. Fortunately, my good sense of direction helped me when I was leaving and I discovered my phone was not working. This is a great way to push your kids and do some outdoor exploring.
Looks like a great outing. Yeah, maybe a tad over prepared with those water purification tablets lol..but hey, nothing wrong with planning for the unexpected. How long was the hike to the falls?
I have watched too many “I shouldn’t be alive” wilderness survival stories when a simple hike turns into a fight for your life! I really had no idea to expect, but thought, well one wrong turn off the beaten path, and I could be stuck out here with water being one of the most important requirements to stay alive. It was about a mile each way with a very easy walk in the woods until the top part of trail which was a bit steeper (like steep stairs). My sense of time is off a bit having a munchkin in tow. The water fall was gorgeous, but I was shocked at how packed the trail was. When I go into nature it is to get far away from humans, not be surrounded by them, so that was the only drawback.