Panther Creek

Sunday I went for a hike with a friend of mine and his son. We went to Panther Creek, up in North Georgia. I have hiked this trail a couple of times before, and it is a long tiring hike. Especially since I haven’t gone on a real hike since Buddy and I did the Palisades.

Panther Creek trail head starts off of old 441 in Habersham County. It is a single file trail that follows Panther Creek. This hike is not for the faint of heart. It is 3 ½ miles to the falls and the swimming hole (which means it is 3 ½ miles back). The trail is rooty and rocky during most of the hike, with most of it shaded by a large assortment of trees.

The falls and swimming hole is a nice rest spot. We had lunch and went for a swim (the water is cold there). The swimming hole is not too deep, so jumping off the falls is out of the question (unless you don’t mind broken bones (the bottom of the swimming hole is very rocky by the falls)). After climbing on the falls (and slipping all over the place (the falls are slicker than snot)), we dried off and headed back.

The bad thing about the return trip is it is up hill. Sections of the return are steep, and you know you are going up hill, but most of it you are going uphill and you don’t even know it (my Dick Tracy watch said it was a 600 feet of elevation gain). That is why it took us longer to return (gravity is not a fat guys friend).

By the time we got back to the car (about 4 ½ hours) I was tired and my friend looked like he would have stroked out if it was another mile longer. His son said it was a easy hike and that he didn’t want to hike with old people any more (we are to slow), but I did notice that he slept the whole way back to Atlanta (easy my ass).