We tried to cure the doldrums...

So it was such a beautiful day today we decided we should spend at least part of it outside.

Ok, in my family we cannot make decisions, the morning chatter went something like this...."So maybe we should go to Amicalola Falls, they are having a backpacking clinic today...or how about going to home depot and buying some pine straw, renting an auger and doing some landscaping in the front yard...or maybe we should take a trip to Cloudland Canyon so we can get another punch in our canyon climbers card...or how bout a breakfast at Amicalola Falls Lodge and a quick hike to the base of the falls then we can come home and work in the yard..." You get the picture. We did end up driving to Amicalola Falls and eating breakfast and peeking in on the backpacking clinic. But we really wanted to do a hike so we set off the Chattahoochee National Forest, without a map mind you. We were looking for Dukes Creek falls Trail or Springer Mountain (the Southern terminus of the Appalachian trail). We did find signs for each of these and we drove aimlessly in the forest on Forest Service Roads for most of the afternoon, but the only trail we found was a not so pretty or well maintained trail around a wetland that was dry. Oh well...we need to invest in some maps if we are going to go on these adventures. We could not have been too far from Springer Mountain, and the kids really wanted to set their feet on the Appalachian Trail. We were traversing along the crests of some mountains, and the view was beautiful, but we did not find a trail head. We came upon the Army Ranger Training Facility, a trout hatchery, lots of neat camping sites, but no Springer Mountain Trail. So eighth hours later, with nothing accomplished we wended up back home.