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Fri, Jun 13 2003 - Squirrels nest camping and tubing in Helen (View Original Event Details)

Trip Leader(s): No Coordinators Found
Participants:Katherine Martin, , , Christopher W. Barrigar, Amy Rampley, Udo Licht, Chris Jackson, Kathy DeLong, , , Lucy W. Foley, , Michael Aubertine, , cynthia roach, stephen preston, Debbie Degner, Melissa Gragert, Jon Lawrence

Write Up:
We spent the weekend near the touristy German looking town of Helen and our nights in a group camp site called the squirrels nests. Our camp site consisted of about 15 small lean-to`s built into a hill on stilts. Friday night was a cook out and campfire that lasted well into the night. Saturday morning we woke to the sound of birds with a view of the misty forest from our sleeping bags. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and piled into the car for a day of tubing. In Helen we found the Shriners had taken over the town and small go carts of every colour and description ruled the streets. We met up with our group from Atlanta and picked out our tubes (we all picked the large green tubes and wound up with mid sized underinlated blue ones but they did come with a mandatory pfd. We put into the river in a light mist and used our pfds to lash ourselves into large rafts. The water was a tad chilly but after about five minutes we stopped fearing the outbreak of hypothermia and frostbite and became used to he water. The water level was high so we easily sailed over most of the proctologist rocks. We spent about two hours floating leisurely down the river past many scenic views and a few more gotcha rocks. As we neared the town of Helen we came to a small set of rapids and little waterfalls where we had to stop and repeat them several times as they were a lot of fun. The group had dinner at the Troll tavern located right on the river in downtown Helen. (I wouldnt suggest the blackened burgers(ie order it rare).) After dinner we all piled into the car and headed for the Squirrels nests. After patching some leaky sleeping matts we were forced to shelter by a fairly heavy thunderstorm. A small band of us decided to weather it out under the supply tent. After about 30 minuet it became obvious our valiant little supply tent was not going to survive the storm so we all headed for a Squirrels nest. Soon our small band grew to include almost everyone and we crowded into one shelter, lit a lantern and proceeded to have ourselves a hurricane party. We learned a lot about bugs that night as they were attracted to our lantern. We fought a good fight with the bugs, wielding 6D cell mag lights and shoes. In the end we came to an uneasy truce with the bugs an only the occasional thump-squish was heard as midnight approached. By Sunday morning the rain had stopped and the lake and surrounding hills were wreathed in a blanket of fog. I was very happy to find that our campsites facilities included a hot shower. After a breakfast of eggs and bacon we broke camp and headed for home.
Written By: Michael Aubertine
Photos From: coming soon!