When In Rome

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It’s about 180 miles from the Knoxville Elks Lodge to our destination in Rome Georgia. The Lock and Dam Park Campground is 7 miles southwest of downtown. We had picked it because frankly there aren’t many campgrounds in the area. It sounded fine but only has 33 sites. A handful of them have full hook ups and we were able to reserve one of those for 6 nights when we made the reservation over two months earlier. The route from town to the campground was a bit confusing since the road the campground is accessed by is closed to truck traffic because of a weight restriction. Our Garmin GPS routed us down and around but even coming in from the west, we were warned that our rig was over the limit for the last mile. It’s not fun driving the motorhome on a road with a “road closed ahead” sign and not being 100% sure whether the closure is just before or just after the turn into the campground. Our setup doesn’t do U-turns on a narrow road very well! Turns out, the road was washed out just beyond the campground entrance and the detour is where the weight issue comes into play. So we made it in without incident.

There is a large day use area with a boat launch so the parking lot it quite large and we could unhitch the Jeep before heading back to our site. Coming in on a Saturday afternoon meant the rest of the campground was rather busy. Getting the rig backed into our site was a bit of a challenge. Our spot was one of several in a very wooded area. The driveway and sites are gravel but the area between sites doesn’t have grass to help delineate them and everything was covered in a layer of fallen leaves. From the driver’s seat, I couldn’t distinguish between what was out site and what was our sitting area. After a few minutes of failed attempts, I made it into our site without any damage to the rig although I can’t say the same about my nerves. Let’s just say, I’m glad we only have a 38 foot rig and not a 45 footer that in theory would fit here.

We had picked the route we did to avoid driving thru Atlanta traffic on the drive to Florida but we had specifically picked Rome Georgia because of all the great geocaches in the area. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it to the large geocaching event that is held in Rome each year. It was held just 3 weeks earlier, but there are still all of the geocaches that were placed for the event and we wouldn’t have to deal with large crowds of people. That first evening, we did one of the night caches that is placed right in this park. To complete a night cache, you wait until dark, go to the posted coordinates and then use a flashlight to look for “fire tacks” on trees. Ideally these small reflectors will be along a trail and spaced such that you can see the next one from where you are. Then you just follow them until you get to the final container. It was nice and quiet in the woods and good to stretch the legs after the days drive.

For our first full day in the area, we decided on a bike ride. The Silver Comet Trail is a 61 mile rail trail that starts near Atlanta and heads generally west to the Alabama state line. The trail continues for another 34 miles within Alabama but is called the Chief Ladiga Trail. There are many options for starting this trail. The nearest location would be in Cedartown but we opt to go a bit southwest of their in order to avoid possible congestion from the trail going thru town. Our starting point was about 3 miles from the Alabama border with the plan to head west and go into that state as well. There are numerous geocaches hidden along the trail so we will have something else to keep us busy.

This is one of the nicer rail trails we have ridden. The portion within Georgia is an eleven foot wide concrete surface and is in excellent condition. We enjoyed the ride in the country and only saw a few other people along the way. At the state line is a stone wall with a large metal sign crossing over the trail denoting the name change. The Alabama portion of the trail is nice and wide too but asphalt. We managed to get 5 caches along the way and really enjoyed the ride. In fact, after turning around and heading back to the car to have lunch, we decided to get back on the bikes and head east for a few miles since the trail was so pleasant. In all, we got in a 21 mile bike ride.

Looking into Georgia

And into Alabama

Trail Marker Along the Way

Chris Heads Out

The following day we kept it less strenuous and just drove around the area to get some caches in counties we haven’t gone to before. We weren’t really sightseeing, so we didn’t search out interesting places. But on the next day, we did head to a really neat place. We were searching for popular hikes in this part of Georgia and Cloudland Canyon State Park was near the top of many lists. It is a bit further than we typically drive for a day trip at about 70 miles northwest of Rome, but from the descriptions, it would be worth the effort. We got up early, packed a lunch and headed out. We were expecting decent weather so had worn shorts and tee shirts. Like normal, we had along a couple other lighter and heavier shirts in case the weather changed during the course of the day. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw lots of other people getting ready for their hike and all of them were wearing long pants, sweatshirts or jackets and even a few had on stocking caps and gloves. Sure enough we get out of the car and are greeted by temperatures in the low 50’s and quite cloudy. So instead of picking one shirt, we realized we needed to put them all on and hope it wasn’t going to be too windy.

There are lots of trail choices but the most popular one is the West Rim Loop Trail. AllTrails lists this 4.8 mile hike as moderate with just over 700 feet of elevation gain. The starting point for this hike is on the east side of the canyon and the view is outstanding looking across. The fall colors are just starting to show.

View Across Cloudland Canyon

The canyon is nearly 1000 feet deep and the majority of the hike is on the opposite side. It would seem like this hike must have more elevation change just to get over to the west side. Fortunately the canyon doesn’t extend very far to the southwest so in less than a half mile and less than 200 feet drop in elevation, we are able to cross to the opposite side using a rather simple wooden bridge over a small creek. If you aren’t paying attention, you may not realize you’re now on the west side.

Heads Up!

Bridge Over Canyon

Creek Below

As we work our way out of the valley, we pass a village of yurts. Many of the cabins, yurts and campgrounds are on the west side of the park. So if you are camping here, this hike is even more convenient. We eventually get up to the top of the western rim of the canyon. There are some interesting rock formations and we can see the other side of the canyon now.

Yurt on the Hill

Large Rock Outcropping

At about the 1.25 mile mark, we hit a split in the trail - the actual beginning of the loop portion of the trail. To the left, the trail goes thru the woods and hits the northern overlook in 1 mile. To the right, the trail goes along the western rim of the canyon with several overlooks along the way before also reaching the northern overlook in 1.2 miles. Most people will pick a direction and complete the 2.2 mile loop. But we had read somebody’s review of the trail and they pointed out that while the portion of the loop thru the woods is nice, the real scenery is all along the rim. Their recommendation was to go out and back the rim portion and skip the woods. It was still quite overcast but the views at the several overlooks along the rim were still spectacular.

Nice Stone Posts and Railings

View Along West Rim Trail

Trail Along Rim

Pretty View Across Canyon

A Look at a Previous Viewpoint

The side trails to each of the overlooks were not always easy and there were some large steps to get down to the viewpoint. Each overlook had unique circular stone posts with domed tops and wooden railing to keep people from going over the edge. As we proceeded along the rim, we got far enough north to be able to see the place where the canyon actually forks into two separate branches. I even managed to get a photo of the two of us at one overlook.

Some Bright Fall Colors

Looking at Canyon Split

Say Cheese

As we proceed north, we start to see the view of the valley where the canyon opens up and more or less disappears. At the northernmost overlook, we can see a large town 1200 feet below us. At the time we didn’t know the name of the town, but discovered it must be Trenton Georgia. One large business seemed to have a massive field full of something. At first I thought maybe a solar farm? But with a zoomed in picture, it appeared to be dozens of acres of trailers. The building itself didn’t look large enough to be some distribution center like Amazon or Walmart. I later found out it is a manufacturing that produces trailers. Best I can estimate, there were nearly 400 of them sitting in the parking lot! There were two stone observation points. We took advantage of one of them to have our lunch while enjoying the view.

Nearing End of Canyon

Looking Over Trenton Georgia

Closeup of Trailer Manufacturer

Our Lunch Overlook

I left Chris at the point and headed along the portion of the trail we planned on skipping simply to find one more geocache - there always seems to be “just one more”. Now we could start the return trip along the rim again. We got lucky and the clouds were starting to clear out on the return trip so the views at each overlook seemed to be different.  I guess had we known this was how the weather was going to work, we could have done the wooded portion of the loop while it was cloudy and the rim portion as the sun came out. Oh well, we can plan for all contingencies.

End of Canyon - Clouds Starting to Part

Another Look at Canyon Split

With nearly full sunshine during the return trip, the fall colors were really showing and it turned out to be a gorgeous day and even started to warm up a bit.

More Fall Colors

As we crossed back over the bridge and started back up towards the parking area, there is a split in the trail again. We were already 5 miles into our hike, but the sign told us the other section we hadn’t tried yet was named the Waterfalls Trail. We hadn’t planned on this so we didn’t really know what we were getting into. After about a tenth of a mile we come upon another sign. Cherokee Falls to the left, Hemlock Falls to the right. We pick the left and start down the trail. There are some massive boulders along the way and stairs - lots of stairs. It turns out the view point for Cherokee Falls as near the base of the canyon. It’s a pretty waterfall dropping about 60 feet into a large pool below.

Split for Waterfalls Trail

Pick Your Falls

Huge Boulder

Steps Down to Cherokee Falls

Cherokee Falls

Closeup Shot

After having a snack at the viewing platform, we head back up the stairs and take the Hemlock Falls portion of the trail. They really need to put distance and number of stairs on the sign for the waterfalls. This section is a bit longer than the first but has lots more stairs to negotiate the steep canyon walls. The staircase is an impressive construction feat but it was a real challenge after hiking the other side of the canyon. Fortunately Hemlock Falls is even prettier and is taller - at about 90 feet.

More Steps Down to Hemlock Falls

The Taller Hemlock Falls

The hike back up to the east rim of the canyon put us at 6 miles so far. But apparently we weren’t done. This is a beautiful park and will become one of our favorites so we felt like we should take advantage of the fact we still had daylight and at least do the Overlook Trail. It should only add 2/3 mile to the total plus there was a geocache to be found along the way.

Back on the Eastern Rim

Wedding Photos

We came upon a wedding party getting pictures taken which seemed odd given it was a Tuesday but they did have a beautiful spot for photos. The Overlook Trail actually goes along the rim at the point where the canyon is split in two like a Y. The views at each overlook were remarkable especially now that the late afternoon sun was out. With a little bit of a search we also managed to find the geocache we were looking for. This is one of those parks that most people have never heard of but is quite nice to check out if you’re in this part of the country. It would only be a 30 minute drive from Chattanooga TN. It was a long and tiring day plus we still had the lengthy drive back to Rome but it was worth it.

Overlook with Spotting Scope

We still had 2 full days left here before continuing south and would have liked to take it easy the day after our long hike. But the weather forecast told us we should do any outdoor activities on Wednesday and plan on rains for Thursday. We hadn’t really checked out the park we are camping in yet - at least not during the day. We did some walking on the various trails and checked out the lock. It’s no longer a functioning lock but the platform around it works well for several guys out fishing.

Out Spot in the Woods at Lock and Dam Park

River Overlook with 6 Person Limit

Coosa River

Old Lock

Water Flows Next to Lock

After lunch, we drove into Rome to cherry pick some of the most highly favorited caches. That is, after all, the main reason we stopped here. There were some very creative hides. One took us to a pedestrian bridge over the point where the Oostanaula River and Etowah River merge into the Coosa River. All along the railing of the bridge are thousands of locks. The geocache was one of these locks and the log sheet was hidden inside of it with instructions on how to open it. The only problem was determining the correct lock. It only took us a few minutes to figure it out.

Lock Bridge

Hundreds of Locks

Myrtle Hill Cemetery is close to the pedestrian bridge and looked interesting. We decided to walk up to look for a cache at the top of the hill. The elevation gain is only 130 feet but it does that in about 500 feet. Let’s just say it was a challenging climb up all those stairs after yesterday’s hike but we managed to find the cache and sign in. There is a good view of town from up here.

Pretty Myrtle Hill Cemetery

Halfway Up the Steps

View from the Top

Looking Over Rome

We found several other creative hides as we wandered around downtown Rome. I can only imagine what it’s like when there are several hundred other geocachers out all at the same time. Maybe someday we will make it to the “Going Caching” event.

One of the Gadget Caches

Somewhat Odd and Creepy Statue

We did have a lot of rain for our last full day but it cleared out in time for our departure. Pulling out of our site proved to be much easier than backing in. We still had 570 miles to get from Rome to our winter spot in Brooksville Florida. We did a 230 mile drive to the Elks Lodge in Albany Georgia. They don’t have any utilities but the large parking lot is flat and there wasn’t too much traffic on street. The Exalted Ruler (yes that’s what the leader of local Elks Lodges are called) came out to invite us to their Halloween party but we were tired from the drive so we only watched the members arrive in their costumes. The next day we drove to the Perry Florida Elks Lodge. We have stayed here before. They have water and electric at the sites and a dump station if needed. Last year we were the only people here but this time there were 3 other rigs. This isn’t an issue since they have 14 sites available for traveling Elks.

Our 5 month reservation in Brooksville started on Monday November 1, but we were looking to get some work done on the motorhome before heading in. When we were out in Arizona in 2019, we had a problem with our thermopane windows next to the driver’s seat fogging. It made for challenging driving depending on the outside temperature and humidity. We had a glass shop near Phoenix repair the 2 leaking windows and they worked great while we were out in the dry climate of southern Arizona. But once we hit humidity and colder weather, they became a problem again. We had heard that a place in nearby Hudson Florida did excellent window repair and even give a lifetime guarantee. We had scheduled and appointing for Monday morning with the idea that we could get the window repaired in the morning and make it to our long term spot in the afternoon.

We drove into Hudson on Sunday night and discovered we weren’t the only rigs here getting windows repaired. There were already a dozen rigs here and a couple more came in after us. They have electric and water plus a dump station to accommodate their customers as much as possible.

Some of the Rigs at Suncoast Designers for Windows

Another Group of Rigs

Early Monday morning, the service rep came out to have us sign paperwork and an hour later two guys came out to remove the triple section window from the rig. We had hoped that the repair would be done and the window replaced after lunch, but they told us it was highly unlikely that any of the windows being removed this morning would be replaced yet today. Bummer, we called our campground and told them we would be at least a day late. They do a nice job in covering the window with plastic covered cardboard to keep out bugs or rain. We spent the second night in their lot and by lunchtime the next morning they brought out the newly resealed window and installed it. After sealing the frame, they even did a water check to make sure there were no leaks. It looks great and I’m optimistic that this fix will last longer. It was a very short drive from Hudson to Brooksville and we got situated by our site near the lake. More on that in the next post.

All Sealed Up

Interior with Window Missing