Early signs of Winter in the mountains

This past weekend, after court was finally over (around twelve), we finally got on the road and headed up 400 to Dawsonville, where we stopped for provisions at the Super Kroger, then continued on up past Dahlonega to Union County and the Day cabin. When we got there, it was dark and cold in the house and we had to turn the water heater on and turn the thermostat up to warm the house.

We went to bed after a supper of soup and hot tea and when we woke up, we ate pumpkin flavored pancakes and bacon and got a big, hearty start to the morning, then Kate and I got dressed for the cold morning and headed on the road toward a place to hike in the morning.

I headed the Explorer up toward Hiawassee, then off Richard Russell Parkway toward Helen. We got to the top of the mountain and off to the left of the road, beyond the guardrail, the whole world below was gone, replaced by a thick, white cloud. Kate said it reminded her of a cartoon in which Bugs Bunny found himself outside the cartoon in a white nothingness, only to return to the visible world.

We ran out of desire to find the hiking trail and decided to drive back to Brasstown Bald. We drove back to the Hiawassee Highway, then turned right away from Blairsville toward the highest mountain in Georgia. Several miles later, we came upon the entrance to Brasstown Bald and turned up. The road headed upward to the summit. As we climbed higher and higher, all of a sudden the rain turned white, in increments, until suddenly the precipitation was uniformly white and fluffy. We were driving through a snow fall. Everything was white and silent. As we topped at the entrance to the parking area, we drove around to the guard house. I rolled the window down and the lady in the little brown house asked us if we were going to the top.

I looked at Kate as the snow blew past us. "Of course."

So I paid the three dollars to park and Kate and I left the warm interior of the Explorer and walked out into the increasing whiteness and cold. We decided to take the shuttle up to the top and hopped into the warm interior of the shuttle and rode the half mile up to the top of Brasstown Bald. As we navigated the slushy steps up to the top, we took pictures of each other as the snowflakes blew past our faces. There was not much reason to take pictures of the area around the top, since there wasn't anything else except cloud and snow, both a grey white.

We took the time to watch the movie about Brasstown Bald, where we learned that the relative temperature and climate of Brasstown Bald was equivalent to Massachusetts. Such a surprise with snow and temperatures near freezing in the middle of October.

We drove back down to the cabin and told Cindy about our adventure. The next day, the snow was gone, but Kate and I walked through the cold down to the cow pastures so Kate could take pictures of the cows, as they grazed and sat on the cold wet ground. Walking back to the cabin, we sighted a young bear scampering across the road ahead of us back to its lair in the trees. Our second big nature sighting for the weekend.

After we packed up the Explorer, we headed South toward Dahlonega, Dunwoody and home. As we passed Blood Mountain, I noticed snow on the summit. Yes, Winter comes early in those North Georgia mountains.