This past weekend, amongst the heaviest rain Georgia has seen since 1919, I took Mary on her first camping trip. Believe it or not, she loved it!
The original plan was to meet up with the Prossicks (still a little weird to say that) and head up to northeast Georgia to hike the short Panther Creek trail, spend the night, and hike back. While it had rained all week, I was really really hoping that we would get a break for the weekend and be able to go through with our plans. As luck would have it, the rain never stopped. So early the morning of our departure I checked the weather and saw just how bad it was going to be near Panther Creek. However northwest Georgia looked like it might escape from the worst of it. Chris and I decided that we would head up to Cloudland Canyon State Park and have our trip there.
Cloudland turned out to be a great idea. Instead of hiking 3-4 miles to get to camp, we only had to hike a few hundred yards. The rain was surprisingly calm while we were awake. We were able to set up camp, cook dinner, clean up dinner, and cook s’mores all before the downpour came. Our campsite selection was however not so great. Chris and Ashley had to dig a moat around their tent to keep the water from coming in. Our tent was more of a waterbed for most of the night. The water pooled under us, but with my great $30 tent and sleeping on pads, we were able to stay almost completely dry through the night. It rained cats and dogs all night, but was kind enough to let up in the morning so that we could pack up with out getting soaked.
It wasn’t until the next morning as we were driving around rural northwest Georgia did we see exactly how bad the rain was. There were several roads completely covered by rushing water and several houses flooded.
Over all the weekend was a success. After this past weekend Mary can look forward to camping only getting better from here. I am so excited that she didn’t hate it, and is open to doing more camping in the future.
