Anna Ruby Falls

Here's a picture of Madison and Daddy posing on a bridge over Smith Creek, not too far from Anna Ruby Falls.  How did we get here, you ask?  This morning we did some chores outside, like fixing up the garden area.  Daddy was also battling those thorny weeds that were attempting a hostile takeover around our blueberry bushes.  In the process, he was nearly eaten alive, something that rarely happens to him.  We were all doing all kinds of chores and the thought was this:  it's our last full day off together before school starts, and why not do something with it?  Better yet, the weather was just right - so why not do something outdoors?

So up to White County we returned, taking the back way up 400, and alternate 75.  It's a pretty drive, and we ran through some rain on the way too.  But we were not deterred - in fact, when we arrived, the  weather was remarkably cooler, and slightly overcast.  But no rain.

The trail is a short one, between a .4 and .5 of a mile.  It's all paved, although there are a few strenuous bits where things get a little steep.  We took our time on the way up, which was easy to do as there was so much to see.  Madison was pretty excited about these guys:

There were a lot of butterflies along the trail, but this cropping of them was the biggest collection.  They were all over the place, which gave her a thrill.  This was Madison's first nature trail hike, so she was excited about going when we brought the idea up to her.  First, she started packing her travel bag with the essentials, including her trusty water bottle.  She wanted to bring a sleeping bag, but we told her that wouldn't be necessary!  But we did get things packed up, and soon we were off and hiking onward and upwards.  Next stop:  Anna Ruby Falls.

There it is, and if you look closely, you can see Mommy and Madison there on the platform.  Daddy stayed down at the bottom to snap this shot of them, and the falls too.  This picture above really captures the scale of the thing, which is pretty impressive.  Here's the info from a site I just looked up:

Anna Ruby Falls lies in the heart of the Chattahoochee National Forest.  Although often crowded this is one park you don't want to miss. Beginning on Tray Mountain, Anna Ruby Fall is created out of the joining of Curtis and York Creeks, where the force of water flowing over the rock cliff formation makes a thunderous sound. Curtis creek drops 153 feet and York Creek 50 feet to form the Double falls. After the falls the joined creek is called Smith Creek and it continues to Unicoi Lake and eventually flows into the Chattahoochee River. Flowing south it then joins the Appalachicola River in Florida making a 550-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

It made for a nice hike.  Mommy described the falls as refreshing, and we challenged Madison to come up with a description.  Her word:  wet.  And then 'falling.'  But she did get the point - she thought the falls were very nice to look at, and it was hard to not appreciate the constant breeze as the water pushed over and downward.  We stayed there at the platform about ten minutes, where Madison munched on a few snacks she packed away.  Watching the waterfall, Mommy and Daddy drank from our water bottles and remembered the last time we made this journey:  a few years before we even got married.  it was fall, and cooler, and a nice romantic getaway.  This time was much different, a nice day trip and a hike through nature to take Madison along on.

But we couldn't stay there all day, of course.  It was actually a little later in the day, so we decided to get back to the car, and get back home.  But before doing that, we did one more picture in front of the falls:

The hike down was easier, of course.  Madison fed the fish at the bottom of the trail, and we went into the small gift shop that is there too.  But we left shortly after that, and pretty much went straight home.

It wasn't that late getting home, so we ate some dinner, and instead of playing games, Daddy came up with the idea of seeing if Madison would like the "Weird Al Show."  After four episodes, I think the answer is a yes.  We watched four episodes back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

Oh, and did we mention that we dropped by the library today?  Yep, we did.  The reason was so that we could pick up a book on hold for us:  "The Space Between."  It's the next book in the "Nevergirls" series that Daddy is reading each night before bedtime.  Tonight, we were back in Neverland just before bed, just after brushing our teeth, and just before the sweetest dreams.

We were so blessed with our summer hike:  the weather was perfect for such a thing, and it was just the right sort of introductory hike for Madison.  She had a great time, but we all did.  Daddy remembers seeing this waterfall a long time ago, back when he was merely a visitor to the state of Georgia.  It was impressive back then, and still is today - a nice little gem of a waterfall nestled just north of Helen.