We had planned an early departure Monday but the storms were a bit late. It had been a bad week across the country and the front with a line of storms was barreling down on us, Sunday it stretched across Georgia. Yes I like using my radar but looking at the line approaching at 6:30 AM I reset my alarm and went back to sleep.
We got started 90 minutes later than planned but my passenger didn’t complain. We were supposed to be out West this week. To be specific we should have been in Yosemite after having been to Arches and Zion last week. The reality is that the weather out West stunk. I scrubbed the trip a few days out and will reschedule it when it's a bit nicer.
The severe weather had passed before we fired up but the weather was still snotty. We departed into a 600 overcast. The tops were 3200 and we were soon inching our way to Georgia. Our ground speed was the low 150s because of the strong headwinds.
Since we had planned to travel, we figured, that we should go somewhere. My heater controller was not working quite right so I decided to combine sightseeing and maintenance but more on that tomorrow.
We had planned to see canyons out West, so I decided to find some canyon a bit closer. Apparently Georgia has some. They are not quite natural though. Poor farming practices in the 1800s created some significant erosion, in some places 150 feet of erosion.
The flight to Columbus Georgia started cloudy but soon they melted away and we had clear and sunny skies. We landed, grabbed our rental car and headed to Providence Canyon State park.
The park was a lot busier than I expected for a Monday. Maybe some of the kids were on spring break? It took a bit to find a parking space but we were soon on on the trail. I usually hike in sneakers but CC had started wearing hiking boots and I decided to join the trend.
It was a good decision, the ground was typical sand and red Georgia clay. It was also damp from those storms that delayed us. The trail starts deceptively flat and then steepens a bi, little did I know the true definition of steep, that's Wednesdays adventure. We first passed a bunch of derelict cars from houses that were removed decades ago. The cars or what was left of them looked like 1950s vintage.
We continued down and down and eventually found the trail that let you walk in the canyons and the mucky water. I was pretty happy I brought the waterproof boots. We noticed a few people who had worn brand new sneakers, pretty sure they were hating the trail.
We walked up the canyons. They are quite fragile so you have to stay away from the sides. The views were good and we enjoyed exploring the different areas. After returning to the main trail, we hiked back up to the rim. This part was pretty steep and I contemplated taking some breaks on the way but didn’t want to look weak so I pushed on until we made it back to the top.
The rim trail is nice too, we enjoyed the views from above and soon made it back to our car. Speaking of our car. I usually reserve a smaller one as there are just 2 of us. Even though I had paid for the cheap car, Avis set us up with a beast. We had a Wagoneer. It’s like driving a semi and it only got 19 mpg but we had plenty of room. I think I might have asked for something smaller but they had left it at the FBO so I figured I could help destroy the planet for a day.
After the park we headed to Alabama. Columbus is right on the border and the route I chose back to town had us driving North through Alabama. I had a secret surprise for CC. There is not much to do in Columbus but I did find something special.
Kadie the cow. Kadie was originally in front of a local dairy. After the dairy closed, Kadie soldiered on. She has moved to a riverfront park and now looks out over the Chattahoochee River. After strolling the riverfront, we headed to our hotel and grabbed some food. We had to be up bright and early the next morning.
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