MimiMia Photography: Jive Talking and Jello Walking

Today, hubby and I set out for adventure. We were told about Amicalola Falls last year when we camped at Cloudland Canyon in Northwest Georgia. So, we set out. Amicalola Falls State Park with the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi river is located in Dawsonville, Georgia, only 3 1/2 hours drive from our home. Yes, I'm smiling. We had bright blue skies, a full tank of gas and our bellies had been fed with Sonic breakfast burritos.

Entering the park off hwy 52, we drove straight on in and arrived at a parking lot located at the reflection pool. We decided that we better head on back down to the visitors' center to take care of potty issues and look around before we make the climb up the trail.

With business done, a new patch purchased and Mark supplied with a fresh diet Coke, we made our way back to the reflection pool. It's a lovely spot to linger and, well, reflect.

The trail up the creek leading to the top of the waterfall is the Appalachian Approach Trail. There are several spots along the way for taking pictures and resting. The paved trail and metal steps are wide and inviting. We felt great after walking the lower part of the trail and the first 175 steps to the Lower Observation Platform. After taking a break to make pictures, I was eager to climb the 475 steps to the top of the waterfall. Walking up is easy for me, but difficult for my husband. He knew that I REALLY wanted to go to the top. I knew that he REALLY did not feel like making the hike to the top.

The next two images were taken handheld. The first is SOOC and the second shows the same image in which I corrected the camera distortion using PSE7. The most amazing part to me is the sky. I love how blue it is with only a circular polarizer filter.

I'm so glad that we decided to hike to the top another day, because going down is REALLY hard for me and easy for my hubby! After only a few minutes of going down we were laughing. Hubby commented that I sure was talking some jive about hiking to the top and crying for "mama" going down. He was right. Going down, my knees felt like jello. Hence, his phrase and our theme for the hike, JIVE TALKING AND JELLO WALKING.

We had one of our best days here. The temperature was just above freezing, but we were shielded from the wind by mountains as we hiked the trail.

After returning to our car, we drove to the top for more pictures and a visit to the lodge. We were seated at a table next to a row of windows with a beautiful view of a glorious Georgia sunset.