The Galipeau's Adventures: Day 2 Hiking Anna Ruby Falls and Tallulah Gorge Georgia

After a rough and long day before, we were a little slow on the uptake in the morning but decided that we needed to check out Anna Ruby Falls. These beautiful falls are located in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Two creeks, which flows into and forms Smith Lake with the water cascading over the drop offs the centerpiece of Unicoi State Park. This is the park that we camped in (what a beautiful, clean campground and recreation park and the lodge is amazing too)
The falls are named after Anna Ruby Nichols. Legend has it that during the civil war, a confederate soldier found the waterfalls and named it after his only daughter, Anna Ruby. Nice one mile hike round trip, took a little bit to get use to walking up hills again. All that walking every day in Florida does not make you fit for them there hills.So now feeling so athletic we thought we would have lunch and try another one. This one being Tallulah Gorge. (hindsight maybe not). Tallulah Gorge State Park, where the Tallulah River flows through rugged terrain to carve a complex 1,000 foot geologic formation with five spectacular waterfalls.One of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern U.S., Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep. Visitors can hike rim trails to several overlooks hiking to the gorge floor. A suspension bridge sways 80 feet above the rocky bottom, providing spectacular views of the river and waterfalls. (This is not one of Steve’s favorite things to do actually if you ask him he will tell you he hates suspension bridges) So I was hoping that he didn’t read that part. In luck he didn’t.So here is what we read:Hurricane Falls Loop Trail (Hikers Only, No Pets)Approximately 2 miles, round-trip. Mulched with metal stairs. Rated difficult.• This trail has a total of 1,099 stairs (including staircase to gorge floor)• Please do not attempt this trail if you have any known health condition
STAIRS WOW that brought back a memory that did not sit well with Steve!!! All he could think of was when we were in Kotor, Monternegro and we did the 1300 stairs that he swears he was going to have a heart attack on.Well I guess he was feeling tough, a man’s man today….So we did it…Remember the hindsight I mentioned. That came into play during the hike. But we puffed and rested a little, puffed and puffed some more and rested but of course we persevered and made it. (not with out major calf pains and legs feeling a little noodley.)With that accomplished we thought a shower and some raspberry margaritas was well earned. Yeap.Supper at the only happened place in Helen, Bigg Daddy’s, it definitely where the locals go they had great wings and burgers. So much for healthy but then again we must have worked off some extra calories hiking today. (I’m sure that is going to be a story we are going to stick to a lot on this trip).