Mountain top reflections

If you stand on the roof of my house facing south, you can see the ridge line that eventually turns into Pine Mountain, GA. Pine Mountain is one of my favorite places to go for a day trip, or for a weekend camping trip. Just a 45 minute drive by car and one Sunday afternoon I did the Meriwether-Pike scenic route (which included a run through Pine Mountain) on my motorcycle.

As far as Mountains are concerned, Pine Mountain is not very tall only reaching about 1400 feet. However it offers some of the best views this side of Atlanta. (There is another Pine Mountain on the north side of Atlanta).

Pine Mountain offers a vast array of hiking trails with primitive camping, mountain bike trails, and picnic spots -- not to mention a great selection of stone cabins built by the CCC during the great depression. In 2010, I took the family there for a weekend and we stayed in one of the cabins. The cabin was completely furnished with a kitchen and large fireplace. The girls had so much fun and we took them swimming in the spring fed pool that FDR used.

Pine Mountain and the nearby town of Warm Springs played a huge role in the life of FDR. It was where his Little White House was located, and the photo above is of the very bbq pit his people made on Dowdell's Knob. FDR would come there a lot during the Great Depression and during WW2...making 41 trips between 1924 and his death. I can see why he liked it too. Often I like to sit and reflect on life from Dowdell's Knob.

Going back to the camping trip we took in 2010, it was so much fun. The girls had so much fun making s'mores on the campfire and Noelle caught a lizard. Just a short hike from the cabin there was a great place to watch the sunset on buzzard's roost. At the end of the camping trip my car battery decided to die and I had to be jumped. It was a Sunday so no place was open to get a new battery and I was also running on fumes, but glory to God we made it all the way to LaGrange where I found an open Auto Zone.

Now that spring of 2012 has arrived, my wife and I have decided to purchase the $50 yearly pass to all GA state parks. I'm looking forward to going back to Pine Mountain and tent camping with the girls. Staying in cabins and hotels is fun and easy, but the expense is for the birds. Folks who can't enjoy roughing it in a tent and waking up to campfire cooking and cowboy coffee seriously don't know how to enjoy life. Same goes for folks who have to bring all sorts of junk with them on a tenting trip...keep it simple. Unplug, unwind, and get back to the basics. And a few chiggers never killed anyone...just remember to bring the clear nail polish.