AtlantaOutdoorClub
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Fri, May 6 2011 - Hiking, Paddling & Camping Weekend at Beautiful Dauset Trails + Optional Mtn Biking (View Original Event Details)

Trip Leader(s): Bobby Marie, Courtney H, Charlie Cottingham
Participants:Charlie Cottingham, Bobby Marie, Courtney H, Tom H, Sharon H, Glen Smith, Laura, Lorri, Janet B, Milt K, Clare M, John C, Leah K, gheetl, Anna K, Arlene S, Jenny Taylor, Dan A, rob feldman, cliff j, Ahmad Faramarzi, Mary Kay, Sam W., TraceyH, RCruz, John W, Bob Drakes, Joyce, Trey Baldwin, Steven K


Click for Album
Write Up:
   Let's hear it for Dauset Trails!  Our friendly and fun-loving group of 30 AOCers had a blast there all Mothers Day weekend, with weather that could hardly have been any more perfect for camping and adventuring had we custom-ordered it.  Newcomers to the Nature Center were quick to agree what a marvelous place this is, made even more special by being just an hour south of Atlanta!
   Our group really hit it off well together—thanks for your enthusiastic participation in our group hikes, mountain bike rides, canoeing & kayaking outings on the lake, Indian Springs car caravans, and nightly campfires—also for your delicious and bountiful contributions to our meals and refreshments all weekend.
   Thanks especially to my friends and co-leaders for this trip, Bobby Marie and Courtney Harjung, who did such a fantastic job making sure that everything went even better than we had hoped for.  Everyone pitched in impressively with food prep, serving & cleanup, and with making sure that we left our dining, camping and lakefront area even cleaner than we had found it.
  Thanks to those of you who have already shared links to your online photo albums. (See below!)  We jointly took hundreds of fantastic photos over the weekend, and I'll be glad to post more of our album links below this article as they arrive by email—please address those links to me at Cott4Treks@aol.com.  I also welcome your individual humorous (or otherwise?) trip anecdotes which I'll be glad to add to this archival event writeup.  Note that you can retrieve our original event announcement article by clicking on "View Original Trip Details" above this archive.
  An unexpected bonus for us all on this particular Dauset Trails weekend was being in the company of thousands of the rare and amazing "13-year Periodical Cicada," a weird-looking 2-inch long locust-like insect with bright orange eyes and orange wing ribs.  The male cicada's all-day-long mating song is unlike anything you've ever heard and resembles the sound of a car alarm.  The adult flying form of the insect appears only for a few weeks after spending 13 years in a subterranean larval state!  The flying adults are believed to eat nothing during their few weeks of flying and mating.  They die after the females lay their eggs.
  Another nice unexpected bonus was getting to witness the colorful lotus blossoms at full bloom on the Nature Center's lotus pond, during our leisurely hike around the self-guiding tree-identification nature trail.
  I look forward to our next AOC weekend at Dauset Trails, Friday September 30 through Sunday October 2, 2011.  I've again reserved their lakeside camping area, dining pavilion and boats exclusively for the Club's use.  Mark your calendars and expect to see my online AOC announcement article for the trip sometime in August, with signups beginning about September 1.

—Posted by Trip Coordinator & Co-Leader Charlie Cottingham, May 9, 2011


ONLINE PHOTO ALBUM LINKS:  Thanks to our talented photographers for sharing these great shots from the trip!

Courtney Harjung (link posted September 16):
https://picasaweb.google.com/116047776368239884613/DausetTrails?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKKdxZyOz6SaSQ&feat=directlink

Janet Blackmon (link posted May 10):
https://picasaweb.google.com/102481112027003665387/DausetTrails_3?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzO4Lit1qGHGw&feat=directlink

Lorri Meyer (link posted May 10):
https://picasaweb.google.com/115116507155383750859/DausetTrailsMay2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCP2Tvdf4qYr5Ow&feat=email#