Minor irony: I ended up getting two local trail/hiking guides at the bookstore, and it turns out the impulse grab (on sale) one was the more useful. Go figure. So, now for Day Hiking the North Georgia Mountains. This book is as the title suggests a description and guide for the various hiking trails in the norther third or so in the state of Georgia. I need this for seeing how much trouble I’m getting myself into for a trail race in soCA in about 6 weeks. I’ve found local trails for the trail and general distance part, but not so much the mountain part; now I need the elevation part.
Good feature 1: a table of contents organized by general region with a state map with the specific region highlighted, and the city of Atlanta marked for general reference.
Feature 2: the introduction with a general review of what hiking in the overall area can be like, a packing list along with general fitness and apparel advice, trail etiquette and common practice, a section on specific safety related things such as bears, snakes, and plants to watch out for (some with pictures), a review of how to navigate the descriptions (ie- user friendliness). This last one is the one I really appreciate.
Feature 3: besides the obvious difficulty ratings, type, and distances, each trail description includes elevation and ascent (particularly useful when you’re trying to find a place to test what about 1,000 ft elevation in about 3 miles feels like), who runs/manages the trail and how much access (entry fee/parking) might cost.
Feature 4: Besides the hike directions and map, there’s also directions for getting to the trailhead and an elevation chart for the whole hike, not just the overall stats noted in feature 3.
Feature 5: As necessary, there is other useful information, for example whether a particular mountain trail might be used by climbers and/or military training (call this number to find out the military training schedule, and when you should maybe not plan on hiking).
Feature 6: A set of appendices listing hikes in some categories of interest such as summit bagging, state parks, waterfalls, and the Appalachian Trail (the S end of which is in north GA).
The only potential problem: It’s from 2012. Hopefully not much has changed.
