Tue, Jun 1 2010 - Tuesday Trails: East Palisades (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Angela Participants: Angela, Armin, Michelle D, Alan Seitman, Craig S

We had a great group of hikers today, including a new member, Craig.  He immediately fit in with our fun group and was already quite familiar with the area, even showing us a spot not previously visited by our group.  We made our way along the various trails taking in the new greenery of the landscape.  What a huge difference from the desolation that was left after the floods!  The songbirds filled the canopies of trees and the air with their various melodies.

We spotted a few herons flying above the high waters of the Chattahoochee where mallards and Canadian geese drifted lazily along the shores.  There were a few groups of people also enjoying the swift currents in kayaks, tubes, and floats.  Apparently one couple had a bit of an argument.  The guy was out of the boat for some reason and the girl was dumping their stuff over the side of the boat.  We watched as she jumped out of the boat herself and swam to shore leaving the boat to float away.  The couple reunited on shore after scrambling up and along rocks to get out of the water. 

After witnessing the drama across shore, we decided to partake in our own rock skipping contest.  Craig proved quite the stone skipping expert!  We climbed along the bluffs and made our way to a nice overlook where we observed a lizard performing his mating ritual dance.  With a little effort, we ventured through the woods and back towards the far side of the park where we enjoyed the elevation changes.  Along the way we made a few friends - mosquitoes and gnats who appeared to be invigorated by the heat and humidity.  I think Armin made quite an impression on one in particular.  As we headed back towards the parking lot, we noticed our friends had disappeared and the temperatures cooled a bit.  It was a good hike and we wrapped up before the rains fell.