We started out for Track Rock to see the petroglyphs just outside of Blairsville . When we got to the tiny parking area , it was full . If you want to see petroglyphs , I guess you need to be there at daybreak or earlier .
The next stop on our agenda was Brasstown Bald . The hike to the tower is listed at a half mile but I am pretty sure that is in mountain goat miles . My brother wisely paid for the shuttle bus going up to the tower . Cheap at twice the price !
The view from the top on this unbelievably clear day was awe inspiring . The driver said the only view missing was the Atlanta skyline . You needed a day clearer than glass for that . Having seen , and been in , the Atlanta skyline up close and personal , I didn't miss it .
We were able to see the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee off in the distance .
Lake Chatuge off in the distance looked like sapphires set in a field of emeralds . ( Didn't know I could wax poetical , did ya ? )
After a fabulous lunch at Jim's BBQ on 129 , we headed to Desoto Falls . Just a quick plug for this '' hole in the wall ''. I got the small pulled pork sammich with a side of nanner puddin . Not only was it mouth watering delicious , it was almost more than I could eat . And you know I ain't scared to belly up to a table . This would catch up with me later on .
Desoto Falls . The lower falls are a quarter mile , while the upper falls are three quarters mile . Now being freshly overstuffed with some damn fine BBQ , guess which one we picked to see first ? Yepp , a left at the bridge to the lower falls . It would give us a little time to digest the massive lunch we enjoyed and if we were too tired we could skip the upper falls .
Some body with the USFS needs to give descriptions to the distances they give . The same guy that measured Brasstown Bald must have measured in the same manner as the distance to B B tower. Mountain goat miles again ! I barely made it to the top Of course the two young ladies coming down , plus my sister and sister in law kind of goaded me into continuing to the top .
I was whooped . Switch back city . There was another young lady at the observation deck and we got to talking . She said that she had tackled the upper falls first thinking she would get the tough hike over first . Wrong . The upper falls trail was fairly level with only a couple ups and downs .
OK , so back down the switchbacks for a quarter ''mountain goat '' mile and on to the upper falls trail . After the top of the second up and down I told the two Susans to go ahead while I held down the conveniently placed bench . The same two young ladies were coming back so I asked them how much further . They said about three minutes , just past a little bridge .
So off I went . Can you imagine what a ''wimp'' I felt like when I had to step off the path to let a group of folks , including a very pregnant woman , pass ? The only thing I can say in my defense is that was a humongous ''small'' sammich .
A parting word of advice for old farts . Stop at Jim's after you finish your ''mountain goat '' miles .
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