The month of April has finally ended and we’ve moved into May! As many others have thought, this may have been the slowest month in our lives. After departing Atlanta we arrived in the town of Dillard, GA which is just south of the North Carolina state line. We’ve made a few trips into Atlanta mainly to visit Dan’s 88 year old mother (and get her resupplied) and to see the kids one time, but otherwise have stuck pretty close to camp. The campground has been relatively empty the month of April and temps have been cool and comfortable.
A few days after our arrival, we decided to head over to Black Rock Mountain State Park. Although the state of Georgia had stay-in-place orders, state parks were open and we decided that a trip to the park on a weekday should be pretty empty (and it was). We had a nice leisurely walk around the lake at the park.
A few days later we decided to head over the state line into North Carolina to visit a couple of waterfalls. In order to reach these falls we had to drive thru the town of Highlands. As we approached the town, we were surprised to find a roadblock and were informed the town was closed and that we would have to turn back. This really brought home to us the reality of COVID-19 and the lengths that some people were taking to stay safe.
Our grand babies continued to grow, oblivious of all the craziness going on in the world they had recently entered. We saw them once during April and also were happy to get some pics of them along the way. On April 18th, they celebrated their 4 month birthday!
Our next adventure took us into the Chattooga National Forest just east of Clayton, GA. This was a small hiking area along Becky’s Creek that included a short hike to a small water fall. It was quite peaceful and empty. All gates were open and we hiked up to a picnic shelter and on to the the water fall. On the way back, we found a note posted at the picnic shelter (which we did not see on the way in) noting the entire area was closed due to the virus. Luckily, we weren’t caught for trespassing! This will continue to be the story as we hike different areas where some are totally open and others are closed (within state and federal parks, no consistent rationale…)
Long unused picnic table 
Flowers along the trail 
Greening foliage 
Becky’s Creek Falls
Meanwhile, the seriousness of the pandemic continued to grow. We finally decided that we’d need to get masks since going into stores would be required where we were staying (no outside pickup or delivery in far North Georgia!). We started with the regular masks but then got upgraded thanks to a wonderful friend who has been making custom masks as fast as she can (shout out to Sokha Boykin!)
Ready to tackle Ingles! 
Now we’re talking!
A few days later, we headed over to see the Chattooga River, specifically the rapid at the end of Section III referred to as Bull Sluice. Back in our whitewater paddling days, this was a river and rapid we only tackled a couple of times but it’s still a wild and beautiful river. There is a great short hike just after crossing the border into South Carolina and we were even lucky enough to watch a few paddlers run the rapid while we were there.
The Bull
For our next adventure, we decided to drive a little farther afield and ventured over to Unicoi State Park, about an hour west of where we were staying. Unicoi has a larger lake which we hiked around. Unfortunately, the hike to Anna Ruby Falls was closed due to the virus (even though all Georgia State parks were opened…). So we had to settle for lake views.
Unique dam pourover
Another day, we discovered a creek and waterfall not far from our campground. It’s inside the Sky Valley development along Mud Creek (which really isn’t muddy at all, quite clear in fact). It was a short and pretty ride with a very short walk to the falls. Given recent rainfall, there really was a great amount of water coming over the falls, providing a great show.
So, it might look like we have been out enjoying nature all month long. While it is true we’ve been able to get out and see some great sights, realize that this represents a small portion of the full month of April. Many days we remain at camp, cleaning, doing regular maintenance, reading, playing games, and binge watching various shows. We are lucky to have found a place in the mountains to settle. As of this writing, Rabun County has only recorded 13 total cases of COVID-19 and no deaths so we feel as safe as we can be. Although we’d much rather be touring the country, we are happy for now to sit and wait this out for the next few months.
A final note about us. We’ve stayed safe, are hanging in there mentally (although we miss our friends and relatives and being able to sit down with them at a table in a restaurant). We walk a lot and relax as much as we can and certainly don’t have the stress that many, many others in the world are having to deal with right now. As you can also see, it’s been quite awhile since we’ve made it to a salon or barber as we continue to get shaggy and wilder with our hair!
Wild hair days! 
Cousin It?
Even Adele is going somewhat crazy these days!
“Make these humans go away!!!” 
Greetings from crazy Adele!