The weather in Atlanta has been beautiful for several days, and I decided yesterday that I haven’t gone camping in far too long, so after work I threw some basic supplies – and my long-unused camp kitchen – into the car and hit the road for one of my favorite car-camping spots, Sylco Campground. After a few hours on the road (and my trip was made about 15 minutes longer by the police department of White County, GA…54 in a 40), I arrived at my chosen spot and set up my tent in the dark.
It’s currently about 9:30 Saturday morning. I woke up at 4 this morning and the moon was so bright inside my tent that I thought it was about 8 and overcast. Once I figured out that it was still the middle of the night, I went back to sleep (and sleeping was wonderful), not to wake again until 8:45.
So far this morning, I’ve gotten things organized, gathered a bunch of firewood and made a pot of coffee. The sun came up over the mountain about 30 minutes and, by all indications, including my weather radio – it is going to be a glorious day to be in the middle of nowhere by myself.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
1:30 Saturday afternoon. I just got back from an easy 2-hour walk along the Sylco trail, during which I discovered an old graveyard that I never knew was here. The stones were mostly from the late 19th and early 20th century, though there was one from the early 1800’s as well as a number of uncarved markers that might have been older. The residents seemed to be members of three or four families – probably those who farmed the land around here 100 years ago.
Also found some bear poop, which is always fun.
I first discovered Sylco on a Memorial Day weekend in about 2003. During that weekend, I’d planned on going to a large campground nearby called Chillowhee, but it was completely packed. I spotted a sign near Cleveland, TN, for Sylco; and after what seemed an interminable drive up a twisty, bumpy, scary mountain road, I nearly drove past it.
Sylco is a fairly primitive camping area – in fact, I’ve often opted to just pull off the road and set up camp rather than stay at the campground proper – which is comprised of about 8 picnic tables and fire rings spread over about 2 acres along Old Highway 2 between GA and TN. In addition to the tables, there’s a pit toilet, which – I don’t care who you are – is a nice amenity.
At any rate, before my walk, I watched as 3 folks parked across the street and unloaded 3 horses. While they did this, I entertained their two dogs, Laser and Hobo, who brought me a stick and insisted that I throw it for them. Over and over and over.
Cute puppies, but they left with their owners, who rode off on the horses shortly before I went on walkabout and who have yet to return.
As I’ve been typing this, a family of three has started to set up camp about 100 yards away from me, and one if them is scrambling around looking for wood. Glad I took care of that this morning.
More later.
Got a nice fire going after typing, then made some hot dogs and munched pretzels while reading. The folks who’d come in near me were just here to roast marshmallows and they left after 45 minutes, but another couple showed up shortly thereafter and set up a tent across the road by the horse trailer.
A few minutes ago (it’s about 4:45), the horse people rode back to their camp, loaded up the horses and dogs, and summarily left. So now it’s just me and the new folks.
It has gotten chilly now that the sun has gone behind the mountain. I’ve had to put the legs back on my pants, roll down my sleeves, and I recently put on a jacket.
Still, it’s very quiet and peaceful here, and my fire is doing a great job keeping the chill away.
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