TheBanyanTree: Stone Mountain

[Sachet]

It's a challenge to explain Stone Mountain's terrain. 
http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/stmo/do.html

When you hike in North Carolina, you expect red clay, boulders, tree 
roots, streams/rivers, cliffs and possibly waterfalls. Initially, the 
beginning of the 5 mile summit trail looks like a usual mountain trail 
with roots and rocks. Although it quickly becomes very steep and rugged. 
You don't know what you're in for until you hit the first granite slope. 
But, it's a small one in comparison to what is ahead, still you don't 
know this, and you assume it's just an interesting occurrence. Nope. 
It's only the beginning of many.

This was my 4th time hiking at Stone Mountain, 2nd time to do the dome 
summit, so I knew what to expect, but it's still one of my most 
unnerving hiking experiences. It's not only the steepness of the trail, 
and it's not just the fact that the "trail" consists of finding the 
painted red dots sporadically placed far and wide across each granite 
slope. It's the sobering realization that if you fall, there is nothing 
to catch you and it would be a long, long, long slide to the bottom of 
the mountain. Sometimes we were hiking with our ankles bent at such a 
severe angle in order to keep upright. It's more like mobile tilting. 
<g> Hiking shoes with soles that grip well are required because there 
are no boulders, trees or any type of hand holds. I never worry when I 
hike with my brother though. He's been trained in mountain rescue, and 
had completed some of his training at Stone Mountain and always finds a 
safe path.

Each slope is incredibly smooth except for the various pock marks from 
the frequent lightening strikes. Seeing them dotting every granite slope 
of Stone Mountain makes me wonder what the homesteader's at the 
settlement built at the base of the mountain must have thought when it 
stormed. It had to have been mind-boggling. I understand why no one is 
allowed near the Stone Mountain dome, Wolf Rock or Cedar Rock during a 
storm, but I sure would like to see mother nature's powerful display.

I love the rock & cliff colors found at Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain, 
but Stone Mountain is a dull gray granite. What gets to me about it is 
the utter magnitude of each rock face, the awesome solid mass of a 
mountain that you know has withstood the centuries in much the same 
state. It's like I imagine the lunar landscape might look like in 
person. Gray, forbidding, massive and yet compelling nonetheless.

Once we made the summit, we stopped for a picnic and restorative 
chocolate. :) And picture taking. I found two adjacent lightening 
strikes shaped like butterfly wings. <g> I tried to capture the wonder 
of Stone Mountain, but the photo's I uploaded to Snapfish don't come 
close to conveying its unique beauty.

After lunch we hiked across the summit, through the woods and down to 
the waterfalls. This time, before we headed down to their base, I 
searched for their source and was surprised to find that it's a stream a 
lot smaller than I had anticipated. But oh my gosh, it goes so fast, and 
is so loud and violent anyplace where it's obstructed. I now understand 
how it creates the beauty and power of the falls.

We began the trail at 1pm and got back down to the comfort station as 
5pm after pausing for a bit at the base to watch some rappellers. They 
looked like tiny specks on the side of Stone Mountain. If you look 
closely at the last few pics, you can see them in the crease of the long 
vertical edge.

http://tinyurl.com/yhamek

.....Sachet