We really enjoy hiking. It’s a one of our (my) favorite pastimes. Alex enjoys it when we get to the destination. What neither of us love is an incline with stairs. Guess what our dumbasses did on a hike in Fort Mountain State Park? The type of trail we hate the most. I’m proud of us though, despite all the huffing and puffing we finished it out.
The drive to Fort Mountain State Park is a fun one made even better by listening to a favorite podcast. We had our backpacks geared up with a water container, food, a blanket, and extra socks and headed out to a trail we had never done before. It caught my attention a week prior when reading about its mysterious centuries old rock wall and a stone fire tower. All you need to do to convince Alex of a hike is add a little history to it and we were off.
Then we decided to stop at Café Intermezzo in Alpharetta for some brunch, because we’re basic brunchers.
The initial part of the hike was the hardest. As I mentioned, there was an incline with stairs. Not ideal and definitely not what we were expecting on what was supposed to be an easy Sunday hike. We also discovered later on that there was indeed an easier path and we took the long way around.
About halfway up, Alex wondered out loud what he did to make me hate him. I would have laughed had I not been struggling for air. When we did reach the wall, we were so glad to see there was a flatter path to take from there. I gotta say, the wall was super interesting. It wasn’t some grand wall, it was just a makeshift barrier that is estimated to be built around 1500 years ago. As we continued on, we discussed what it could have been used for and what else could have been under our feet. It was a real Expedition Unknown moment. If you haven’t seen that show, I feel bad for you. Josh Gates is a hilarious host.
At the top of this particular summit, you come across a stone fire tower that was installed by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 20s or 30s. If you didn’t know it was there, it would be really weird to stumble upon.
We stopped here for a while to rest and eat some protein before carrying on to our last stop on this trail. The overlook is down a set of terrifying grated stairs, but it was SO worth it. I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.
It is REALLY windy up there though, or at least it was that day. Come prepared. That blanket I mentioned? Came in handy during our lunch cause we were cold.
I can’t wait to head back to Fort Mountain State Park and check out some of their other trails. We’ve even decided to make a camping trip out of it eventually. Hopefully with summer rolling around, we can introduce you all to trails in and around the North Georgia mountains. As usual, travel safe and travel often!
TravelinFoodies 