today's 'hooch hike

we hiked our favorite laurel ridge hike down to the chattahoochie today. it wasn't too hot- the trees were so full of big green leaves that the canopy kept the sun out. we ended our hike down on the sandbar by the wooden bridge just below the dam. the kids promptly set about exploring. i pulled out the snacks from henry's pack as frankie and mary jane joined the polar bear club. there is only one requirement and as you probably have already guessed it involves getting into the cold cold cold (from the bottom of lake lanier cold) water. they submerged ALL the way!!! i was shocked at frankie- she did it without hesitation. they came out gasping from the frozeness of it.
the kids all came back from exploring to share snack- i am thankful for this fact, now that i look back. things could have gone alot worse if this recollecting of kids didn't happen when it did.
you see, a few minutes later the dam opening horn blew. it warns people to get off the river so the waters don't sweep them away. well, we haven't been to the river during a dam opening in over a year. and the last time we were there i guess the lake was low and the dam opening wasn't as spectacular and sudden as it was today. so today we lounged about- thinking that in 30 or 45 minutes the water may start swirling closer to us. wrong. it came fast, furious, and violently. our stuff was on a small sandbar closer to the bridge. the little girls were close to the edge of the water feeding the geese with samantha. frankie thought the police were coming because that's what the horn sounds like. when the water started swirling around them i panicked. i grabbed henry's bag and started herding the little girls across the little stream towards the other sandbar and our stuff. george lost it. he couldn't get all of his things back in his pack. henry was bailing our stuff to higher ground. i put the girls up on a grassy shelf and helped him get the rest of our things.
we made our way up to the wooden bridge so we could watch the rest of the dam opening proceed. in past years it has been rather "yawn". but wow- this year, with all the rain we've been getting, it was exciting and scary. i now know why all the recent drownings are happening. if the kids had been all around and in the backwater and caves of the area, they would have been in extreme danger and very far from me being able to save them. here are a few pics of the river.

this pic above shows the small sandbar where we stowed our stuff- and the grass shelf that i put the girls on. by the time we were safe on the wooden bridge the shelf was completely covered.

this is the sandy path we walked on to get to the sandbar. completely submerged.

on the hike back to the car. most of the kids now prefer to hike barefoot. they are so progressive and really - i feel- headed the whole "going shoeless" movement that is ever so hot nowadays.

this old old old playground, predating insurance liabilities (notice the lack of handrails) is located up by the parking lot. it gets little if any action. i don't think anybody but hikers know about it's being here.