March 17, 2021

After we left White Oak Creak campground we drove to Stone Mountain, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. I hate driving through these big cities with all the traffic and construction. But we made it through with only one mistake that took us in the wrong direction (my mistake, as I had two GPS systems and did not follow either). A couple of miles out of our way but we got back on track. 

As we drove by the campground at Stone Mountain it looked very nice. Little did we realize where our site was. We did not need sewer, just water and electric, so we were at the end of the campground. After a very steep turn downhill, the road was narrow and unkept. Deep holes and heaved blacktop. It was so narrow, we had to ask one camper to move his truck so we could get through to our site. After a few more tight turns we spotted our pull through site that wasn't level. The site did overlook a small lake, which made it livable for two days.

We did get set up and everything worked out. I did write a review that wasn't glowing, first time I have done that. But this area of the campgrounds seems to have been neglected for a long time.  Time for my traditional "work is done glass of scotch".

The reason for this stop was to view Stone Mountain which sits inside this 3000 acre park. It is owned by the state of Georgia and run buy an amusement enterprise. A lot of the park had not opened yet but there was a place we could get to and take pictures of the Robert E Lee carving in the side of the mountain. 

We also walked by the Grist Mill and covered bridge.  

If you don't pay attention, you get your picture taken.

Diane spotted these three on the log.

Then it was on to the one-mile walking path up Stone Mountain. One guy at the campground said the walk was easy. The information we got at check-in said it was moderate to stressful. We decided to check it out for ourselves. For the most part the climb was at a 45 degree angle. Close to the top, at one point it was closer to 65 degrees. This is where they had a railing for you to pull yourself up and to hold on when going back down. 

The mountain is at 1900 feet above sea level and is about 750 straight up. It took us 50 minutes to make the one mile walk up. A little less coming back down. We stopped several time on the way up to catch a breath and get feeling back in our legs. 

At the top there is a rest room and concession, go figure. There is a tram that would also take you up the mountain but for a couple of young individuals we did not mind the walk (after we made it back of course). The view from the top was beautiful.

As you can see, I am practicing social destining from a barber.

There were several carving in the stones along the path to the top of the mountain.

As we left the park, after two days, I again took the wrong turn (stupid GPS said to turn that way) and we ended up driving around the entire park, through a turn around and over a curb. After a half hour we found the exit and started on our way toward Gatlinburg, Tennessee.