Georgia Appalachia - part 2/2

During our week in Appalachian Georgia, Karina continued to feel a little sick off and on.  She ended up having about a week of feeling bad.  When we got home to Maryland, I took her to the doctor and she had an ear infection:-(  

Our next hike in Georgia was another on the Appalachian Trail that went from Woody Gap to Preacher's Rock, about 2 miles out and back, with a 436 foot elevation gain. 

It was a popular hike with lots of people, ranging from day trippers like us to multi-day/week/month Appalachian Trail hikers.  

I was very happy with my cherry blossom photo.  Many of the trees had just started blooming.  

That day was also Nate's birthday!!  Unfortunately for him, he got a grocery store cake, since I didn't have the supplies to make something, and I thought the cake was gross.  Hopefully he didn't.  Nate and I also went out for lunch.  

Later on on Nate's birthday, we went to see the waterfalls I had wanted to see earlier in the week, but we had given up on because of the roads and two creek crossings by car.  This time, we approached the falls from the opposite direction and assumed the roads would be better.  The dirt road was just as horrible, but had no creek crossings.  Many of the roads we drove on during the trip were narrow and winding, including this one, so I made Nate honk the horn around each blind turn.  We did eventually make it to Helton Creek Falls, just a 0.3 mile hike. It was a gorgeous spot, I just wish the road had been paved and had a shoulder.

Mimi and Nate made a fire in the fire pit so the kids could pretend to roast marshmallows (they like to eat them uncooked).  

Our last day, we went to Vogel State Park again, but this time hiked on the Bear Hair Gap Trail.  It was a great hike, but Karina wasn't feeling well again, so we didn't go as far as we would have, though we still got to see a lot.

We said goodbye to the cabin the next day:

On our drive home, Derek bought a squid with some money Mormor gave him from the Easter bunny.  Luckily, we didn't hit any traffic on the 9+ hour drive, but we did have to stop for medicine for Karina who wasn't feeling great with her ear.