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REGISTRATION & PAYMENT REQUIRED: Once you've reviewed the event details, and decided you'd like to join us, you MUST sign up at the bottom of this page. This is a paid event with payment managed through the AOC. Please read the event description carefully for details; you will be given payment instructions after you sign up. Late payments are NOT accepted for this event, in any circumstance.



"C to the 5th" Camping, Hiking, Mtn Biking & Canoeing at Dauset Trails


The Basics:
Event Type:Multi-Sport
Event Location: Dauset Trails Nature Center, Jackson, GA 30233
Date(s) & Time:Fri, Mar 13 2009  7:00 pm >> N/A  (Carpool Departure: N/A   *log in for location*)
Registration Opens: Tue, Feb 10 2009 11:00 pm
Registration Cut Off: Fri, Mar 6 2009 5:00 pm
Event Duration:Up to 2 Nights & 3 Days, or drive down Sat if you prefer.
Difficulty Rating:D1: Easy
Trip Leader(s):
Charlie Cottingham
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Member Cost:$20.00/Person (See Detailed Cost Info Below)

Participant Info:
Who's Invited: Members Only, 21 And Older Only
Maximum Group Size:30
Minimum Group Size:8
Number Registered So Far: 19 / 0 (To see who's signed up, log in to the Member Area)
Are Dogs Permitted: No

Itinerary:
EVENT OVERVIEW: OK -- we’ve given you camping novices plenty of time to sign up, so we’re fine tuning the event title a bit to reflect some of the many outdoor pleasures that people of all experience levels can enjoy at Dauset Trails. Don’t hesitate to put yourself on the wait list, since we’re likely to have several “confirmed” campers cancel prior to the event for various reasons. For all who become confirmed, don’t forget to arrange receipt of your fee by the Club by Friday March 6. “C to the 5th Power” aptly describes this getaway because it will be “Convenient, Close, Comfortable, Carside, and Cost-friendly!” Novices will enjoy taking part in optional “mini-Clinics” on the basics of camping and related wilderness pursuits. Our lovely “home away from home” for the weekend will be Dauset Trails Nature Center, an easy 1-hour drive south of Atlanta, adjoining Indian Springs State Park near Jackson, GA (see directions below). Drive down anytime Friday for the whole weekend, or plan to arrive as late as Saturday morning if you prefer. Stay as late as mid-afternoon Sunday if you like. Our ridiculously low event fee covers up to two nights of camping, a big Sat. evening barbecue cookout with all the “fixin’s,” Sunday morning breakfast, various optional group activities, and several more bonuses! -- see below.

This is a great trip choice for campers of all experience levels -- especially for those of you who may still feel a little uneasy about sleeping in a tent under the stars. Consider this an opportunity to enjoy nature and hone your outdoor skills while indulging in many conveniences that you enjoy at home. Our AOC group will have exclusive use all weekend of Dauset Trails’ wonderful camping facilities including a spacious roofed dining pavilion complete with hot showers, heated restrooms with flush toilets, electric lights & outlets, a huge grill, and lots of big picnic tables. We can park our vehicles for free just a few yards from our pavilion and campsites. This will be a “rain-or-shine” event, especially since we have such excellent shelter and vehicle access -- if it should become necessary to cancel or postpone it due to extreme weather we’ll alert everyone by the Thu night prior to the trip and post that info to the AOC website.

MORE BONUSES: You may want to bump that exponent up to “C to the 10th” or so! Dauset Trails has COVERED CAMPING platforms (a.k.a. “Turkey Roosts) for those who may prefer sleeping on a covered (roofed) wooden deck in lieu of pitching your tent in the woods on a regular tent pad. We’ll have free CANOEING (and kayaking, plus paddles, lifejackets, etc.) in the lake by our campsite -- also lots of CYCLING and hiking opportunities (including at least two scheduled AOC group hikes) on their network of wooded mountain bike/ hiking trails -- so bring your hiking boots -- and your hybrid or mountain bike if you have one. There's even a free 10-acre wooded “CRITTER CORRAL” (a.k.a. the "Wildlife Trail") where we can view live specimens of the large wild mammals and birds that are (or were) native to GA, including cougars, bobcats, bears, bison, deer, otters, eagles, hawks, owls -- also turtles and huge carp that we can feed from a pedestrian bridge.

PRE-TRIP POW-WOW & “MINI-CLINIC” just before MARCH 10 AOC SOCIAL: Beginning at 5:30PM on the same evening (Tue Mar 10) as our AOC March Social, we’ll gather for this informal 90-minute pre-trip meeting in the rear part of Cocktail Cove -- 5840 Roswell Rd, Sandy Springs. It’s no problem if you have to arrive late, but if you can’t be there, please email the trip leader your personal travel plans, expected arrival time at Dauset Trails, etc. After introducing one another and answering questions, we’ll host our first “mini-clinic,” discussing appropriate gear, clothing, food & supplies for this trip and for other styles of camping. We’ll firm up the specifics of our big Sat. cookout & other group meals, campfires, and a discuss our schedule of optional group activities including on-site “mini-clinics” (e.g., canoeing and mountain biking). We’ll also facilitate groupings of people who may prefer carpooling together from mutually convenient places in Atlanta or perhaps may have camping gear to share or lend.

FOR MORE ON DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER visit their official website at www.DausetTrails.com. Just 50 miles south of Atlanta, this beautiful privately endowed nature preserve boasts excellent facilities for camping, mountain biking, hiking, swimming, paddling, horseback riding and fishing. The park’s friendly rangers and staff maintain and oversee its numerous free attractions including a visitor center & museum, wildlife trail, demonstration farm, and botanical gardens. Reserved paid groups such as ours have exclusive use of the entire lakeside camping area and its many included extras. Dauset Trails also offers a wonderful variety of free hiking & biking trails in rolling heavily wooded terrain. There is a separate network of horseback riding trails. For a detailed color topo map of the 1200-acre Nature Center go to http://dausettrails.com/DT-2002b1.pdf

TENT CAMPING FACILITIES: There are shaded level campsites suitable for tenting on both sides of the lake, with about 15 tent pads in all. Every campsite is within a 3-minute walk from our vehicle parking area by the pavilion. Several fire rings and steel lantern poles are provided. If you prefer you may sleep inside your vehicle or on one of the “Turkey Roost” platforms -- see below.

“TURKEY ROOST” COVERED SLEEPING PLATFORMS: These three open-sided roofed structures are similar to the popular "Squirrel's Nest" at Unicoi State Park, and are available to us at no extra charge. Each can sleep up to about 8 campers. They’re set on a hill overlooking a beautiful creek that flows into the lake. They’re great if you prefer pitching your self-standing tent on one of the clean covered wooden decks in lieu of a gravel pad. They’re also fine if you have no tent at all -- just lay your pad and sleeping bag directly on the deck, and if feel the need, pat a little insect repellent on your head before bedding down. Each “Roost” has two wooden-deck platforms, each roughly 15 feet wide by 10 feet front-to-back. They’re just a 3- or 4-minute walk from the pavilion and parking area.

GROUP MEALS: The spacious lakeside dining pavilion in the campsite area has eight large picnic tables, and is ideally suited for preparing meals and dining together in a friendly group such as ours. The king-size double charcoal grill by the pavilion is perfect for group barbecuing. For this trip the AOC event leader will provide all the ingredients for a big Saturday evening barbecue cookout (~6:00-8:00pm) and for Sunday morning breakfast (~8:00-9:30am). At the “Pre-Trip Pow-Wow” discussed above, we’ll agree upon a specific menu for these meals (including some vegetarian items) and recruit a few volunteers to assist the event leader with food prep, serving, and cleanup. We’ll also plan on hosting optional “potluck” meals at the Pavilion for our Fri dinner (~7:30pm-8:30pm) and Sat breakfast (~8:00-9:30am) and Sat & Sun lunches (~12:30-1:30 both days). For any potluck-style meals that you choose to take part in, simply show up and chip in a ingredient or two, or a small prepared dish, dessert, beverage etc. -- also pitch in with food prep, cooking & cleanup.
The group charcoal grill will be lit Friday evening in the patio & fire-ring area, and implements will be provided for those who would like to barbecue a reasonable-sized personal item of your own: e.g., a steak, chicken breast, couple of dogs or burgers, etc. If you own an electric skillet or hotplate, consider bringing them. If convenient, bring a couple of pots, pans, cooking utensils, and a large cooler with plenty of ice and your favorite beverages and foods. Charlie will have a stash of paper plates & bowls, napkins, etc., available for all meals, but we'd like to minimize the amount of disposables. To help us be “green” consider bringing your own personal washable plate, bowl, & utensils -- we’ll provide a hot-water dishwashing station, "Camp suds," scrubbing pads, & towels.

Required Items to Bring:
Tent (or if you don’t have one you can sleep on covered “Turkey Roost” platform), Sleeping Bag (or sheets & warm blankets), Pillow, Sleeping Pad or Air Mattress, HeadLamp, Cooler with lots of Ice, + Food & Beverages of your choice, Bike & Helmet (if you have and can easily bring), Folding Chair, Camera, Sunscreen, Hiking Boots or Athletic Shoes, Small Daypack or Fanny Pack, CamelBak water system or Bottled Water, personal Knife/Fork/Spoon, Plate, Covered Mug or Cup.		Recommended Items to Bring:
Use our Event Checklists to make sure you have everything you need.
The nearest stores are about ten miles away, so try to bring everything you may need for the weekend. Our Dining Pavilion has hot & cold running water (safe to drink and good-tasting) and plenty of electric outlets and overhead lights. We can conserve Coleman fuel, etc. by utilizing electric coffeemakers, hotplates, etc. The trip leader will bring a hotplate or two and even a portable microwave (along with his 2-burner Coleman-type propane stove). Consider bringing your camping stove if you have one, a couple of fuel canisters, and a couple of large non-stick pots & pans with lids. Consider bringing an extra cooler with a bag or two of ice -- also consider pre-freezing some water bottles, jugs of water, etc. -- use them for longer-lasting solid ice in your food cooler and you can drink the cold water as it melts.

How to Get There:
Event Directions:From ATLANTA to AOC GROUP CAMPING AREA & DINING PAVILION at DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER
–The camping area is about 45 miles (~45 minutes) from the I-75/I-285 interchange on Atlanta's south side.
IMPORTANT: Please ignore the DausetTrails.com online directions and instead use these directions which give the precise mileage of each driving leg and explain the special gate and entrance road to our camping area.
Rezero your odometer at each instruction and pay close attention to mileages given and driven.

1) From the southside I-75/ I-285 Interchange (near the Atlanta Airport) take I-75 South toward Macon and go about 33 miles to Exit #201. (Shortcut if you live on Atlanta’s east side: Consider taking I-675 southward from I-285 Exit #52 east of town to I-75 Exit #227, then drive just 26 miles south on I-75 to Exit #201.)

2) Get off I-75 at Exit #201 (GA-36 “Jackson/ Barnesville”).

3) Turn Left over the bridge onto Hwy 36 East and go about 3.1 miles (toward Jackson, GA).

4) Turn Right onto High Falls Road and go about 2.5 miles.

5) Turn Left onto Mt Vernon Church Rd (also known as Mt. Vernon Rd) and go about 3.0 miles to Dauset Trails Nature Center on your Left.

6) The Camping Area entrance is a gravel road on your Left surrounded by a long bank of pine trees at a rightward curve in the highway. (This is about 0.1 mile before the better-marked paved entrance road to the Nature Center Visitor Center.) A few yards down the above-mentioned gravel road (from Mt. Vernon Rd) you’ll find a steel gate (just beyond a gravel parking lot and “check-in bulletin board” for mountain bikers & other “day-use” visitors). Enter through this gate toward our Camping Area as follows: Unhook the chain (which may appear to be locked), open the gate, proceed through it with your vehicle, then reclose the gate and rehook the chain behind you as you found it.

7) The covered lakeside Campers’ Pavilion (Group Pavilion #2) and campers’ parking area are about 0.8 mile beyond the steel gate down this gravel road, on your Right (just before the narrow causeway that forms the dam for the lake). Consolidate your coolers, camp chairs, and cooking/dining gear, etc. at the pavilion and look for Club volunteers who can assist you with parking and choosing a campsite. The “Turkey Roost” camping platforms and gravel tent pads are all near the lake within about 100 to 200 yards of the pavilion.

Carpool to Event Distance (round trip):100Mile(s)
Carpool Departure Time: N/A
Carpool Location:   Log in for location
Carpool Directions:   Log in for directions
Carpool Cost: Estimated cost per vehicle for this event is $40.00 using a reimbursement rate guideline of $0.400 per mile. The total amount should be divided by the number of people in the vehicle, including the driver. This is a guideline, not a rule, for drivers but the cost should not be higher unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Notes:
Important information for paid events in which payment is managed through the AOC:

     - Payment must be received by the payment due date and prior to participation in the event.

     - Some paid events require a minimum number of registered participants. If that number is not met, the event will be canceled and refunds will be issued to those who have already paid.

     - Third-party vendors often require damage deposits. Each registrant agrees to be liable for and required to reimburse the Atlanta Outdoor Club for any withheld deposits due to the actions of or damages caused by that registrant.

     - No partial payments. All registrants must pay the posted Member Cost regardless of any agreement you may have with any party involved in the event.

     - Read the event description carefully for additional information, and contact the trip leader(s) with any questions.

* We encourage all members to follow our Etiquette Guidelines while participating in AOC events.

Cost & Payment:
Member Cost:$20.00/Person
Non-Member Cost:$25.00/Person
Cost Includes:2 nights camping, optional "mini-clinics," Saturday evening cookout, Sunday breakfast, use of group pavilion and other Nature Center facilities discussed above.
Payment Cut Off:Payment must be received by the AOC on Fri, Mar 6 2009.
Make a Payment:Click here for the details. PLEASE PAY AFTER YOU HAVE SIGNED UP BELOW.

Cancellation/Partial Attendance:   Please review the AOC cancellation policy.
*Note: It is your responsibility to get the payment in on time. Please allow two days for processing a PayPal transaction and one week for a check. No checks will be accepted after the March 6 Registration & Cutoff date.

CANCELLATION POLICY: If you cancel on or before March 6, full payment will be refunded less a $5 administrative fee. No refund after March 6 unless someone replaces you and pays in full, and then you will receive a full refund less a $5 administrative fee. No partial payment for partial attendance. If the trip leader cancels the event, full payment will be refunded. If you do not cancel your attendance or do not show up for the event, you are still responsible for full payment.