Pine Log Exploration

We did a little exporation at Pine Log this morning on foot. Unfortunately, we had to scrap our original plan of checking out some old trails further up the mountain due to the gate being locked and us not having bikes. We weren't prepared for such a long hike in and out, so we checked out some trails closer to the parking area. Hopefully all this running around will result in a good trail map of the area.



Stamp Creek - along a fishing trail on the east side of the creek. This was a pretty trail, fairly distinct for around a mile, although not great for biking since it gets very indistinct and overgrown towards the end.



Hmm..unfortunately this is what a lot of Pine Log looks like thanks to logging. Over-seeded pines that even the deer have trouble finding their way through. Not exactly bike-friendly.



Chris inside a cool old stone furnace. This is a neat side trip that is worth checking out if you haven't ever seen one of these. There used to be hundreds of them in this region and many are still intact along the banks of the Etowah River and its tributaries.



This furnace is one of the more intact ones - primarily due to its hidden location in the middle of about a billion small pine trees. The last I was here was in an adventure race in the dark. Needless to say it was dark and we didn't know where the trails were so we had to claw our way through the pines.



View of a piney roadbed as we left the stone furnace.