Quote Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg View Post
I know I've said this to you before - but damn, this makes me miss living in North Georgia. I hate not having good places to hike. Yeah, walking on the beach is great, or kayaking in the Okefenokee. But, it's just not the same. Add to it that I've been a flat lander for 20 years now, I'd hate to think what a hike like that would do to me.
It would realign your soul. Seriously, my mood and general outlook on life is never better than after a successful hike. That's been true most places I've been, but southern Appalachia adds another layer of special. Something about the age of it all. These gorges are, by any definition of the word, ancient. Other than the clear cutting that this entire region suffered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the forests are ancient, too. Walking on and around layers of rock exposed by thousands of years of water flow, shaded by hemlocks, rhododendron, and the rest of the most bio-diverse temperate forest in the world, it's hard not to have a near religious experience.

If nothing else, you can always laugh like a six-year-old at giant mushrooms:



Found that near my PB&J perch. Good times.