I LOVE FALL!!!

It was a beautiful Sunday for a road trip! After church today, I came home and changed quickly to head to Tallulah Gorge in "North Georgia." I am disappointed that I didn't find out more information about this place before the fam came to visit, because I think we all would have enjoyed the scenery.

Tallulah Gorge is about an hour and a half north of Athens and consists of a number of water falls below a Georgia Power dam that was built in the early 20th century.

I got to the Interpretive Center around 2 pm, and one of the rangers got me a map of the gorge and explained where I needed to go. I told him I wanted the full Tallulah Gorge experience, so I got my permit to hike the gorge bottom (it was free, but it was a little scary to have to give emergency contact info and my car description). They give 100 permits per day to people that want to hike the bottom of the gorge- I think it keeps the liability down, and cuts down on the commercialism of it all.

So, with multiple layers of clothes, my water bottle, Chacos attached to my Mountainsmith, a flashlight (just in case!), and a banana, I headed off to Outlook #1. The following pictures and descriptions chart my journey:
This is one view overlooking the gorge from the north side- the leaves were beautiful!
This is the first waterfall that you see from the outlooks.
Uh oh! Get ready for 370 steps down to the...
suspension bridge (sorry I didn't turn it right-side-up)!
Here is a view looking back up the stairs. Now, another 225 stairs down to...
the base of Hurricane Falls. To proceed onward from here, you have to have your official permit (though no one is there to check it), and the trip through the bottom of the gorge starts by jumping rocks across the river:
Thankfully, a large group of girls was coming back across and one helped me across the log perfectly balanced like a see-saw. The following 2 pictures prove that I made it across the river, and I'm looking back towards the wooden overlook where I had my portrait made in front of Hurricane Falls:


This shows the group of girls headed back across. If you ever go to Tallulah Gorge, I'd recommend taking a buddy. With my short legs, I definately would have ended up in the water on the way across, though the way back wasn't as difficult.
A beautiful view of a pool of water at the top of Oceana Falls.


A view from the end of the gorge hike at Bridal Veil Falls. This would be a perfect spot for a picnic lunch! Now it is time to re-trace my steps back to the rock crossing.
One of the many self-portraits I took along the way to document my trek.

Soo...back across the rocks (I did get one foot a little soggy along the way), up the 225 stairs to the level of the suspension bridge...and347 more steps to the top of the south rim. This is one of the pictures I took along the way up the stairs...I mainly stopped to take pictures here so I wouldn't look like I was about to collapse, which was actually the case.
So...I followed the South Rim upstream, crossed the dam, and headed back towards the Interpretive Center, stopping to take a photo of the dam on the way:
.

So, a 2 hour, 4 mile jaunt down the Tallulah Gorge was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon- I'd highly recommend it, and I can't wait to go back with Joel one day.

A few pictures from the drive back to Athens:
A view leaving the mountains looking southward. There were some incredible views on the way north, but I couldn't stop to take pictures because I was scared all of the permits would be gone!
The huge sign at the outlet mall in Commerce, GA sucked me in. I didn't actually shop, but I couldn't resist driving through the parking lot since they advertised so strongly.
A random shot of one of the many "Pandemic Flu. Be Prepared." billboards around Athens. I'm not quite sure what action they're calling the citizens to, but it makes a good photo op!