Find Your Happy Place

Though the weather has been warm (ok, hot) for a while, today I happily celebrate the first day of summer.      

               Of course, each season provides its own unique opportunities and reasons to get outside.  I’ve enjoyed some beautiful fall hikes, spring bike rides, and walked on the Beltline while it was snowing, but I’m a summer girl for sure.  In a perfect world, I’d dedicate one day each weekend to a hike or a bike ride during these great warm weather months. We’re lucky here in Georgia because:  1) At least half the year is dependably warm.  2) From the mountains to the coast, we have tremendous variety in our landscape and places to explore. 

So with weather and an abundance of options in our favor, the only questions are:  How much time do you have? Where to go? 

While once many of us eagerly awaited the postman to bring our latest monthly Brown’s Guide to plan our next hiking or camping excursion, we now have a fantastic web-based resource in AtlantaTrails.com. This is definitely Peach Passion’s go-to source whether we have just a few hours or a weekend to get away.  

The guys behind AtlantaTrails.com have done a terrific job of making it easy to find whatever kind of hike or outdoor experience you’re interested in. They’ve covered Georgia, as well as portions of North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.  They’ve got entire sections devoted to hikes with waterfalls, our excellent state parks, the Appalachian Trail, the Chattahoochee River (one of our favorites), and more.  Whether you’re seeking someplace near or far, a walk that’s easy or challenging, short or long, you can easily find a great destination on the site. 

Chattahoochee River, from Jones River Bridge Trail

A team of Ambassadors helps keep the info up to date.  Recently, with the help of AtlantaTrails.com, we found a portion of the Chattahoochee Trail system we hadn’t yet hiked. We read about the Jones Bridge Park Trail, which included the 2018 update that the remaining remnants of this historic bridge apparently collapsed into the river earlier this year.  It was still a great day hike, sans bridge – but at least we knew what to expect.

If you’re not sure where to start, click on their Top Destinations page or click on the Map Search feature. And if you want inspiration and temptation to land in your email box during the week, you’ll definitely want to sign up for their e-newsletter. 

You can still find copies of the Brown’s Guide book at used bookstores or online, along with other excellent guides. Explorers Guide 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains (Johnny Molloy) is a good one. And while The New Georgia Guide is no longer “new” but is still an excellent overall guidebook of the entire state offering suggested day trips and tours of all types and plenty of history for destinations.  I’m sure a visit to your local bookstore (if you can find one anymore) would offer other resources.

But for fast and updated info to help you plan the perfect afternoon hike or weekend adventure, AtlantaTrails.com has got you covered.

Peach Passion blog is written by Fran Putney, writer, editor, storyteller and Principal at Intown Communications.

Enjoying, Protecting our National Parks

Two summers ago, while in Oregon, Taylor and I took a few days away from Portland where we were visiting our daughter to head over to the north coast.

We stayed in Seaside, the town where Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific Ocean after their landmark trek across the country. Intrigued with that history, we took an afternoon to explore the Lewis & Clark National and State Historical Park in Astoria, Oregon. It was then that we learned about a National Park entrance pass, which is a very fine thing indeed that admits you to all the wonders that the National Park Service (and other federally-managed public areas) has to offer from coast to coast. All of this comes to mind right now because April 21 - 29 is National Park week.

According to the NPS website, the national park system includes 417 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state and American territories and includes parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historic parks and sites, lake and seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and even the White House.  This link lists them all.

I am sorry to say that I’ve been to relatively few of the national parks.  We’ve discussed, but not yet taken, trips to the big parks like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon. Believe me, they are on my bucket list, and I am envious of the people who are well on their way to achieving the goal of visiting them all. 

But we have a number of wonderful areas and sites in the National Park system right here in Georgia -- including the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and the southernmost point of the Appalachian (National Scenic) Trail right in, or not far from, the Atlanta area.  Click here to find all that the NPS oversees in Georgia, and get inspired to explore.

From the mountains to the coasts, for those who love the natural and the diverse beauty and history of this country, the work done by the NPS to preserve these treasures is very important. If you care, it’s worth supporting organizations like the National Park Foundation or even volunteering with the NPS or one of its partners. It’s also worth noting that the NPS is a bureau of the Department of the Interior, whose director is appointed by the President of the United States, who may choose to take new directions or introduce new initiatives. Keeping up with and letting your congressperson know how you feel about such things is also a way to support the NPS in its efforts to protect our natural lands.

At Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, NW Oregon coast

Taylor keeps his NPS pass in his wallet. It’s such a deal that it not only admits him, but the both of us! Doubt I’ll ever see all the parks and sites on my list, but I do look forward to continuing to discover and experience many more of the gorgeous, wild, ecological and educational areas that are protected by the National Park Service. 

Peach Passion blog is written by Fran Putney, writer, editor, storyteller and Principal at Intown Communications.

Working to Make Walking Safer

A few weeks ago, I attended the PEDS Golden Shoe Awards, a celebratory event that recognizes people and organizations that are working to make ours a more walk-friendly region.  Co-incidentally, that very morning I had an experience that underscored just how necessary this kind of progress is.  

I’ve written about my love of long neighborhood walks and walking or biking on community trails and paths such as the Silver Comet Trail, South Peachtree Creek path or the Beltline. These are usually very enjoyable walks alone or with friends, taking in the sights, breathing the fresh air, people watching and getting benefit of the exercise.  But on this particular morning, I was footing for transportation. After dropping off my car for service I had no other way to get home.  

The distance wasn’t far, maybe a mile and a half, much less than I typically go for one of the aforementioned pleasure walks, but walking home along Briarcliff starting just north of LaVista would be a much different kind of experience. This busy state road definitely was not a route anyone would walk for pleasure.  In order to walk most safely, I found myself having to cross and re-cross busy Briarcliff several times in order to stay on sidewalks.  Even with crosswalks and signals, the traffic at major intersections like at Briarcliff and LaVista was dangerous and unnerving.  Crossing Briarcliff and Clifton, where Clifton is four lanes and cars are quickly entering and exiting the Emory/CDC corridor, was especially treacherous.  

I finally made it safely across that intersection to the corner at Pig N Chik and passed Sage Hill Shopping Center only to realize that I would soon have to cross Briarcliff yet again in order to find the safety of a sidewalk.  I got across the creek bridge, and before long there was no sidewalk at all on either side. I kept on the west side of Briarcliff since that’s where my street is, but I soon had to dodge a Georgia Power crew with a cherry picker truck working on the lines. They kindly gave me the go-ahead to pass, and I continued my journey home the last several blocks walking through frosty wet grass in ditches until I reached my street.  

As tricky as my relatively short walking trip was, it was nothing compared to people who, on a daily basis, have no choice but to walk in busy, dangerous and inaccessible areas to get to work, school, buy groceries or in order to catch public transportation. I appreciate the work that PEDS does to make our city and state pedestrian friendly for all and salute this year’s Golden Shoe Award winners, who represent a variety of inspiring projects and missions:

Walk-friendly Education: Good Urbanism 101: Ten Lessons for Designing Cities, a joint project of the Georgia Conservancy and Professor Richard Dagenhart of the Georgia Tech College of Design. Together, they’ve provided classes to over 1,700 people throughout Georgia during the past seven years. Topics include street design, land use and architecture.

Walk-friendly Advocacy: Marian Liou, for creating We Love BuHi, which is connecting people to a place and to each other. Marian has helped complete the Buford Highway Master Plan and developed numerous events that celebrate diversity, introduce new people to the community and encourage exploration.

Walk-friendly Journalism: Darin Givens, who is an outstanding storyteller and master of persuasion about urban issues, including land use, affordable housing, and transportation. Darin is co-founder of ThreadAtl and publishes in-depth stories in medium.com.

Walk-friendly Redevelopment: Walgreens, a beautiful restoration of an historic building on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. The new Walgreens creates a sense of place and is a walk-friendly destination that serves downtown residents.

Walk-friendly Suburban Retrofit: City of Sandy Springs, for developing the Next 10 Comprehensive Plan, the new Development Code, and the City Springs mixed-use development project. Together the Next 10 Plan and Development Code are resulting in an urban street grid, high density development, and a true city center and sense of place.

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