Brady and I had to severely curtail our traveling adventures for the last few weeks due to work and family obligations, and due to the fact that I've been ill for a while. Luckily, we were able to get out of the house this week and not only kayak the Broad River again but also spend the day roadtrippin' about 1 1/2 hours northwest of Athens. There was food - Persian/Greek hybrid attached to a sketchy gas station (awesome!) as well as donuts (oh my fucking god, they were so good after 2 weeks of almost nothing but coconut water and split pea soup) - and then some mild hiking to Sawnee Mountain Preserve...
Sawnee Mountain is named after a Native American Creek who lived in the area and made it a point to help the settlers, well, settle in. Unfortunately, his kindness didn't do him any favors, and he and his family were eventually forced onto the Trail Of Tears where they perished like so many Native Americans during the time. The mountain that bears his name is now home to spectacular views and a state of the art information center, and is the site of numerous Cherokee spiritual rituals that illustrate the history and heritage of the people that live/lived there. It's both honoring and supporting a culture that has seen, and still sees, a good deal of tragedy, misunderstanding and misappropriation...
Once you get to the top of the mountain you find the Indian Seats where changes in the rock resemble chairs and you can sit out suspended over nothing. They're also used in some of the Native American ceremonies. See the outcropping in the above picture? That's one of them...
I can't believe how I climbed all over this mountain and stood on wobbly rocks to take in the view. For someone whose been terrified of heights for years now, I think I've made some vast improvements. Maybe it was just the mountain/adventure itself since it was so quiet (we saw no one during our 1 hour+ hike) and serene and full of things to see like snake sheddings and brilliant bird feathers. Oh, and huge ants. Giant. Scary. Stay away from me. Allergic! Not serene. But other than those, yes, just perfect.
I love all the little details. What a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteToo cool! Very unfortunate things of the past, but the nature is still incredibly beautiful. And a-holy-ca-rap! You're a crap ton braver than I am going on those mountains! I like being on closer to the center of the Earth areas =D
ReplyDeleteGiant ants are freaky.
Such an beautiful area you live in yet such a sad story regarding your indigenous people (Australia has a similar history, it's difficult to imagine how it must have been for our first Australians).
ReplyDeleteIt would have been out of this world to sit on top of that mountain. Hope you feel better now!