Video: Baby's First Video - Pine Mountain Trail

[Hawk-eye]

Right nice video! Thanks for sharing! Now ya got the bug ... fun stuff isn't it?

[SteelerNation]

Are you referring to the Pine Mountain Trail in GA or VA?

Pine Mountain Trail in GA. It is about 45 minutes south of Atlanta.

I really enjoyed that.

Thank you. Great to hear!

SN

[Buffalo Skipper]

Thanks for a great video! I was up that way back in January (the week after the ice storm) with the scout troop. We hiked about 18 miles from end to end, taking the Sawtooth and White Candle trails.

I am curious to hear more about the damage around the Dowdell Knob section. Was it east or west of the road? I know the section east was more precarious clinging to the side of the hillside. Any damage there would be major work to repair.

Great place. Thanks again for the great sights of a wonderful trail!

[SteelerNation]

Right nice video! Thanks for sharing! Now ya got the bug ... fun stuff isn't it?

It really is. I have a long way to go to figure out your special-effects mastery. I love watching your stuff and always look to see what it's possible to do

Thanks for a great video! I was up that way back in January (the week after the ice storm) with the scout troop. We hiked about 18 miles from end to end, taking the Sawtooth and White Candle trails.

I am curious to hear more about the damage around the Dowdell Knob section. Was it east or west of the road? I know the section east was more precarious clinging to the side of the hillside. Any damage there would be major work to repair.

Great place. Thanks again for the great sights of a wonderful trail!

Yeah, I saw you on the trail one time with a group of scouts. Things were hit pretty bad up there. Here is a summary that I've pulled from some of the emails:

The Pine Mountain Trail and FDR State Park was hit in places Wed April 27 around midnight by a very powerful F-2 tornado.

Some 3 running miles of trails were impacted and several other places the path of the tornado crossed our main trail and connector trails.
Bethel Creek Campsite is G-O-N-E.....
There is still one section of the Pine Mountain Trail NOT passable at this time. There are "trail closed" signs posted south of Ga. 190 from Mollyhugger Hill PL (Mile 11.4) for the PMT east all the way to near Mile 13.3 (intersection of the Pine Mountain Trail with the BootTop Trail) The Sawtooth Trail is open.
FDR STATE Park also has/rents out a "Large Group Camp" area (dining hall and 40 primitive cabins) and that area was literally 70% DESTROYED building wise and 99% tree wise. This is the area we had had our Pig Out dinners at. This area is currently being cleared of salvageable timber and then work can begin on restoration.
Updates on reopened/closed sections will be posted on this website.

This is what happened:

Wednesday night April 27 a series of storms raced west to east across Alabama and Georgia that most know about. One storm with a tornado came into Pine Mountain Valley just after midnight and seems to have a done a direct first hit on the Large Group Camp at FDR State Park. There were cabins, lodges and an open air area covered area surrounding the dining hall. ALL were impacted by the tornado. Some 70% of the building may be declared destroyed. Most all of the trees around the dining hall are wiped out.

The path of the tornado in FDR State Park (if you look at the map below ) started at the Large Group Camp...went across the lake and up the hill heading east. The area along the Grindstone Gap Campsite on the Sawtooth Trail was completely untouched... Whiskey Still Campsite is ok. There was no damage from Molly Hugger Hill down to Mile 12....BUT starting at the ridge near Mile 12....well the trees were "clear cut" from there in a wide path across Hines Gap Road east along Bethel Creek (Bethel Creek Campsite is wiped out) and on eastward to Dowdell Knob Ridge. The visible path up and over Dowdell Knob Ridge from Hines Gap Road is awful.

Dowdell Knob Road.....was closed till the Georgia D.0.T. cleared the road on May 12th of (initially there were trees down along .8 mile down along it.) The "hit zone" where the path of the tornado crossed the ridge is still quite visible. Trail Miles 15.8 back to Mile 12 were affected greatly by the tornado. PMTA volunteers working on May 7, 14 & 15 finally got the Dowdell Knob Loop passable (it is not pretty but you can walk it.) The Dowdell Knob Trailhead shelter is fine. The FDR statue is fine (unharmed) but two large oaks beside it fell all around it and were cleaned up May 12th.

Moving east down Dowdell Knob Ridge the tornado turned NW somewhat and cut a swath near Brown Dog Campsite and Hornet Knob (a few trees were cleared from Brown Dog Bluff up to the Boottop Trail intersection.) Brown Dog Campsite and Sparks Creek Campsite are fine. The tornado path crossed the Beaver Pond and White Candle Trail just as they come together near Ga 190 (volunteers cleared about a mile of trail in this area) ... Moving east the tornado moved across the Beaver Pond Trail again (north side of Ga 190) and impacted a path across the main PMT some .5 mile in from the Mile 23 WJSP-TV Tower trailhead for 2150' (nearly a half mile at trail Mile 22- 22.5) . There was massive damage at this point that was finally cleared on May 7th.

Couldn't get a photo out of the email, but there is a map that shows the tornado path.

SN

[Buffalo Skipper]

Er. Yea. We did meet. Sorry about that I had a...er...brain fart. I'm better now.

Wow! I was watching some of the storms on WX Channel that night, and I saw the large cell that was heading through that area. I heard there was a tornado but just didn't put 2 and 2 together, and I never heard it actually cut across FDR SP.

Thanks for the update. Post pics when you can. I didn't see the map you talked about.

[Buffalo Skipper]

We stayed at Bethel Creek campsite the day you and I met. Here are some of the pictures of Bethel Creek and the trail near Wiskey Still campsite.


Hanging at Bethel Creek



Bethel Creek Campsite



Bethel Creek Campsite



Hiking out of Bethel Creek (taken from the same spot as the previous photo)



Hiking near mile marker 12 on the ridge approaching Whiskey Still campsite

[STinGa]

First video? Wow, quite impressive. Keep them coming.

I was thinking about taking the STinGa minions down for a over-nighter, but ran into a $ concern. I can toss them all into a tent for ~ $25 or if we hang individually in the hammocks, it would be almost twice that. We will probably head there for some day hikes, but any over-nighters will most likely stay on the AT.

Cudos again on the video.

STinGa

[SteelerNation]

First video? Wow, quite impressive. Keep them coming.

I was thinking about taking the STinGa minions down for a over-nighter, but ran into a $ concern. I can toss them all into a tent for ~ $25 or if we hang individually in the hammocks, it would be almost twice that. We will probably head there for some day hikes, but any over-nighters will most likely stay on the AT.

Cudos again on the video.

STinGa

Thanks, appreciate it.

This doesn't apply if you stay in the normal campgrounds, but if you're talking about staying on the primative campsites on the trail, the fees are waived if you are a member of the pine mountain trail association. I get an individual membership ($25/yr) which lets me stay as much as I want. A family membership is only $35/yr, so if you stayed a couple of times it would definitely be worth it.

Just a thought.

http://www.pinemountaintrail.org/?page=21

SN

[STinGa]

SN,

Thanks for the info! May bump into you on the trail sometime.

STinGa

[SteelerNation]

Look forward to it. I'll be the guy that's taller in real life .

SN