atlanta, georgia - stone mountain

i continued southward down interstate 75 and slept at a walmart, just short of the atlanta beltway.  it rained really hard over night, and i remember a few times being half awake listening to it pound away at my van.  by morning it was just a gentle rain.  barnes & noble became my inclement-weather refuge for the day.  late in the evening i circled part of the beltway; if it were a clock face, i went from about 10 to 3.  had it been rush hour, it probably would have taken that long too.  with plans for a hike the next day, i slept at another walmart near the base of stone mountain.

stone mountain is basically a big rock that crops up where everything else is pretty flat.

the trail is free, but driving into the park costs $10!  thankfully, when i got to the entrance gate, the lady in the booth was able to give me a tip for where to park for free about a half mile away.  sweet!  that meant the whole thing would be free.  just the way i like it. and an extra mile of walking was good for me too. : )

i'd been to the top of stone mountain a decade before when my sister, jolene briefly lived in the area.  i was looking forward to hiking it again for the exercise, the view, and the reminiscence.  the trail is a little more than a mile long with a steady grade.  i loved being surrounded by the white rock and the pine trees.

on the trail i passed a couple of gumified telephone poles.  there's something about this form of artwork that really fascinates me - to think that hundreds of people who don't even know each other took part in this unified exhibit.

atlanta can be easily seen from the top, and i've heard that with clear weather, climbers can see land as far as 60 miles away.

i didn't hang out at the top for very long because it was pretty chilly up there.

on my way up and back down i listened to a message given by cj mahaney at the 2001 new attitude conference.  i was definitely encouraged by it and was reminded of our tendency to forget the gospel all the time!

the fact that we constantly forget the greatest news known to mankind is itself a testimony to what makes the gospel so amazing.

before leaving the area, i made sure to drive on ponce de leon avenue to humor jolene.  she can't get over the way the locals pronounce it as 'pons day-LEE!!on'  : )

stone mountain