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Kennesaw Mtn Burnt Hickory Trail
Overview
Because this trail is near me home, it is worth while, otherwise, I wouldn’t bother.

• Trail Mileage: 4+mi – mine was 5.4mi when done.
• Parking: Parked on Burnt Hickory Rd; it was almost full on a Monday
• I took the 2 Western routes when heading south of Burnt Hickory Rd. On the return/northern trip, I took the single East trail, crossed Burnt hickory rd and continues north to the Pigeon Hill turnoff. I climbed Pigeon Hill heading west and took the western trail back to the parking. 5.4+mi. Moderately difficult, especially Pigeon Hill and the Western routes.

Directions
Kennesaw Mtn Park

Notable Sights

• None really. There are lots of signs marking where something used to be, but nothing is left. Salem Church had a sign – no church, fireplace, benches, nothing. Good sign tho.

Watson Mill Bridge State Park
Overview
This was a long way to go for an ok hike. The day was beautiful, yet location this was just eh for hiking.

• Trail Mileage: multiple from 0.75mi to 2.5+mi. – over 3 hours I hiked 6.5mi
• Parking: multiple paved lots; I doubt they will all fill up.
• I parked just on the north side of the bridge and did these trails:
  • Beaver Creek
  • Old Powerhouse to the Pioneer III camping site
  • Returned on the Nature Trail
  • Then finished on the 2.5mi Hiking and Biking Trail – it has a name, just not on any of the paper I still have.

Directions
Northeast of Athens, GA – take US Hwy 29 to SR-72 east. Then in Comers, turn right on SR-22 heading south about 3 miles. Then turn left at the State Park sign and go 3mi-ish. You’ll know you are there when the 1 lane wooden bridge shows up.

Notable Sights

• Wooden Bridge
• Dam
• Old powerhouse
• None of the trails are really worth mentioning – all are easy.

Red Top Mountain
Overview

1. Homestead Trail Mileage: 5.4 miles total (my pedometer confirmed – 13k steps)
2. Total Time: 2+ hours 1st time; 1:40 for 2nd time
3. Altitude: approx 900ft above sea level
4. Parking: paved – room for 8+ cars; fills up on weekends and some weekdays
5. There are many more trails than just Homestead here. All the others seem shorter, but you could easily put 2+ together to get the hike length you desire. I enjoyed the length of my first hike so much that I came back 2 days later and hiked the same trail again, just in the opposite direction.
   On my first hike of the Homestead trail counter-clockwise loop, I did a run/walk for enough of it to cause my left knee to crackle and feet to hurt. I also didn’t eat enough breakfast to maintain my energy level for the entire 2+ hour effort. By the time I was hiking up the last hill to the parking lot, I had real concerns that my knee wasn’t going to hold out. A little google search at the end and I’m confident there’s nothing wrong, just a little extra fluid in my left knee. I had no pain.
   On my 2nd hike of the Homestead trail, I elected to go the clockwise loop. I found this to be much easier for me and my knee. At the first sign of knee issues, I took some Tylenol. Doing that minimized any further knee issues for rest of the hike. Since I was concerned about making it to the end this day, I elected to chop off a little from the hike and took a cutoff that made the hike about 4.3 miles instead of 5.3 mi.

Directions
I-75 exit 285 and head east (right). The road will take you to the visitor center turn in at the Camping Registration sign. You’ll need a Georgia State Parks parking pass – $3 or $30 annually.

Notable Sights
Nice lake Allatoona views.
There’s a stone chimney off in the woods – you’ll have to look for a small unmarked path to find it. It is about half a mile into the loop if you go counter-clockwise.

Top 10 Inventions of All Time in my opinion

1. Language(s) / writing
2. Agriculture / farming / plumbing / calendar
3. Money
4. Medicine esp. Germ Theory
5. Printing Press / Refrigeration (yes, these are related)
6. Calculus (differential/integral/N-dimensional) / Math
7. Vaccinations
8. Electromagnetic Theories (this is huge / radio/tv/telephones/networking/computers/etc.)
9. UNIX
10. rsync

Ok, there you have it.

Fire isn’t an invention, it is a discovery. I differentiate these categories by whether a human had to create it or not. Could it have remained completely unseen without someone to think it up?

Other lists of this type have lasers, TV, automobile, and computers in them. Eh, no. Without electro magnetics, forget that. Steam power, railroads, government are impressive inventions, IMHO.

Allatoona Pass
Overview

• Trail Mileage: 3.4 miles total (my pedometer confirmed)
• Altitude: ??? ft above sea level
• Parking: paved – room for 8+ cars; fills up on weekends and some weekdays
• The trail is fairly easy if you stay on the main loop. From the parking area, follow the levy towards the woods passed the STOP sign and head to the right. To the right are memorials to each state in the Confederacy, stop if you like or keep heading up the hill.
  There’s a 4-way cross at the top of the hill. To the right is a small loop that has a crows nest. You can hike around it or go in and back out then head back to the 4-way cross.
  Continue straight thru (since you were in the crows nest) and head up a small hill towards the Regimental Headquarters. Going pass the HQ takes you to the view of the Allatoona Pass.
  Head to the right following the pass until you are given a choice of veering right or left. Going to the right takes you to a small loop that returns back here.
  Veering to the left heads down a slope to a wooden and stone bridge onto the old railroad path (no railroad tracks remain). Head to the right on this huge trail and follow it about 1/2 a mile and take in the views of Allatoona Lake. The lake was extremely low when I visited. Along the way, there are a few offshoots with views of the lake.
  When you reach the end, there’s a STOP sign, turn around and come back.
  This road heads directly towards the parking lot. Just passed the bridge you’ve already crossed is a group of steps to the right that leads to the Star Fort. This was a challenging climb for me and I was out of breath well before the top. Sadly, it was another closed loop that required us to retrace our steps back into the pass and head towards the parking lot.

On a Monday in winter when I visited, mine was the only car in the lot when I arrived around 11am, but the lot was full when I left around 12:24p.

Directions
I-75 exit 283 and head east (right). Go over railroad tracks and from there it is exactly 1.0 miles to the parking on the left. No charge.

Notable Sights
None really beyond views of Allatoona Lake. All the sites listed here are simple signs – nothing remains except paths and mounds of dirt providing fortifications. You’ll have to imagine what it was like for the Confederate and Federal soldiers when they were here.

See the 2008 gallery for photos.

Kennesaw Mtn
Overview
*Trail Mileage: 1.1 miles up and back according to the signs (my pedometer confirmed)
*Altitude: ??? ft above sea level at summit
*Parking: paved – room for 30+ cars; fills up on weekends and some weekdays

• The first part of the trail is an up and down only, not a loop. There are 2 ways up. a) You can elect to stay on the paved road to the top which buses and private cars can take, or b) head off into the woods for a more challenging hike. Portions are difficult due to rocks and trees in the path. Portions are very steep and will challenge those with knee problems.

• There is more trail to the other mtn top, which I haven’t hiked recently. You reach it from the top of the first trail by continuing westerly.

Directions
TBD – follow the signs west of I-75 at the Barrett Parkway exit in Cobb County, GA.

Notable Sights
Nothing until the top – then you are treated to a lookout over Smyrna, Atlanta, Cobb, Perimeter and, on clear days, Stone Mountain. You can only see South-Eastern with the other directions obstructed by trees even in winter.

See the 2008 gallery for photos.

Pine Mountain Recreation Area

Overview

• Trail Mileage: 2.34 miles for the loop according to the signs (my pedometer says 3.7 miles)
• Altitude: 1,562 ft above sea level at summit
• Parking: Gravel – room for 6 cars or so.
• I was looking for a 1-2 hour hike for a Saturday when rain wasn’t expected. We’ve had 2 straight days of rain here, so I knew the tails could be slippery. I elected to head to the eastern section of the loop. That is the longer way to the summit of Pine Mtn, but a more gradual climb. The summit path is not part of the loop. You have to walk up to the summit off the "loop" then back down to the loop. It was almost 1,000 steps on this part of the trail – further than I expected. If you just want to get to the summit ASAP, take the western route of the Eastern Loop Trail. Both start and end at the same parking area.

Directions

There are two parking lots, East and West trailheads. The West trail head is right off I-75 and has 4x the parking of the Eastern trailhead.

East Trailhead:
I-75 Exit 290, east on GA 20. Almost an immediate right at the first traffic light after the exit onto Spur 20. Continue approximately 3.2 miles – keep going mostly straight ahead and don’t worry about the "No Exit" / "Dead End" signs. Spur 20 isn’t marked once you are on it. The East Loop Trailhead access and parking area is on the right, just past the turn to Bartow Beach and Gatewood Park, which is on the left. Directions Updated from here

West Trailhead:
I-75 Exit 288, turn right, then right again at the dead end. The parking lot is on the left about 500 ft down and marked with a brown Pine Mountain Recreation Area sign.

Notable Sights
Well, there really isn’t anything until the summit. Summit overlooks parts of Allatoona Lake and Red Top Mtn and I-75. On a sunny day, the views really area nice.

See the 2008 gallery for photos.

Georgia

• http://notatlanta.org/hiking.html
• http://georgiatrails.com/county/Cobb
• http://georgiatrails.com/city/Marietta
• http://www.jdmpics.com/trails/hiking-trails-ga.htm
  
  
• Tennessee Rock, Black Rock Mountain, 2.2 miles Loop Climb to the top of Black Rock Mountain and on to a panoramic view of wooded mountains in three States.
• Waterfall, Cloudland Canyon, 2 miles Out and back Descend into a dramatic gorge for close-up views of two beautiful waterfalls.
• Wolfden Loop, Pine Mountain, 6.7 miles Loop Georgia’s most southerly mountain is a long forested ridge of quartzite, complete with rock outcrops, clear streams and waterfalls.
• Canyon Loop, Providence Canyon, 3 miles Loop Often referred to as Georgia’s Grand Canyon, Providence Canyon offers hikers a unique setting of strikingly-colored gullies.
• Sliding Rock-Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge, 5.5 miles Out and back
  Descend from the rim into a world of quartzite rock, high bluffs and waterfalls.

As most of you know, I became very overweight since 2000 by over 100 lbs. As I’m losing weight, I figured that other people may be interested in what I’ve found that works for me. This isn’t a lose 50 lbs in 2 weeks plan, rather, it is a lose 3 lbs / week plan. My plan works best for logical thinkers, not emotional thinkers. If you are a scientist or engineer, it is really easy.

The Science There is no magic bullet. Caloric input (eating) must be less than caloric output (sitting, walking, running, sleeping, and exercise). You have to eat less energy than the energy that you use in any 24 hour period. Simple.
What you need to do

• Set goals – 50 push ups, 180 lbs, 5 mile run, 200 sit ups, Walk up 20 flights of stairs, etc.
• Diet – eat 500 calories less than your body needs to maintain your current weight. If you aren’t active, that number is probably below 1700 calories a day. Calculator
• Exercise – you’ll feel better, gain stamina, prevent muscle loss while dieting, gain strength and most importantly, look better. Oh, someone says that muscle burns more calories than fat.
• No gym membership needed. No fancy equipment, just normal tennis shoes, a few dumb bells and your body weight for push ups, dips, squats, and pull ups. Expensive equipment is just another delay. Gym memberships are a complete waste of money unless you’ve already proven that you’d use it 5+ times a week. DON’T SIGN A CONTRACT, period.
• Write down everything you eat. EVERYTHING except water, that is. Keep your food diary forever. Plan your food before you start eating. Plan the calories. Some calories for common foods
• Drink water. Lots of water. Filtered or not. Bottled or not. I drink tap water myself. Well over 32 oz is needed daily. 64 oz may be too much.
• Weigh in daily AND write your weight down – this allows you to adjust for any problems or eating mistakes quicker than weekly. I post mine on the fridge. Review where you’ve been every day. Every success, 1 day at a time, means something.
• Measure and track what you do – this helps you predict when you’ll hit your goal weight. That’s good for getting to your goals. I’m tracking weight, predicted weight, push ups, cardio exercise time, waist, chest, belly, neck and estimated % body fat using the US Navy estimation method.
• Graph what you measure! I have a graph that shows my actual weight and predicted weight if I keep losing 3 & 4 lbs/week. When I fall behind, that gives me purpose for my next workout and feedback on my daily eating so I can adjust or see where I went wrong.
• Avoid Starvation mode – don’t eat too few calories. It helps 1 day, but not much more.
• Count calories – ok, estimate them. It takes about 2 weeks to get good at estimates. Don’t be fooled. It is easy to guess wrong. For 1 meal a week, that’s probably not an issue. More than that – who knows? We all want to be successful with our goals, right? I try to eat about 1700 calories a day.
• Ski machine, free weights, walking, outdoor activities
• No caffeine, no soda, avoid processed foods. Portion control.
• Eat breakfast (400+ cal) and lunch (~700 cal) for most of your daily calories – healthy snacks (~100 cal ea) too
• Don’t eat too much fruit – never more than 2 pieces a day. That’s usually 4 servings.
• Avoid bread – I guess you can find whole grain bread and be fine. I choose to only have bread with my HEAVY lunch, once a week.
• Eat a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. I’ve usually not hungry when I’m eating it, but that’s the point!
• Fill in remaining daily calories for dinner – usually ~200 cal, so veggies and fruit or oatmeal work. DO NOT HAVE A BIG MEAL LATE In THE DAY. PERIOD
• Don’t go to sleep on a full stomach – ever.
• Don’t eat after 7pm. If I missed dinner, too bad.
• Nuts – there’s something about them is filling. Limit the serving to 1 handful per day and know that it is usually 200 calories, so plan accordingly.
• Have some kind of dairy every day for calcium. Yogurt, skim milk, and yes, cheese.
• Don’t eat too much protein, but have meat/egg protein with breakfast AND lunch. Dinner doesn’t need protein since it will be a heavy meal if you do.
• Don’t skip meals or snacks unless it is a "cheat day".
• Fish is good. White, salmon, cod, crayfish, lobster, crab – yummy. No butter, obviously.
• Avoid processed foods. If it comes in a box, don’t eat it. Fresh is best.
• Whole bran foods are good, but don’t believe the package. Read the ingredients and check the calories per serving and determine what YOUR serving size and calories will be.
• Avoid white rice. The missing husks are the problem. Brown rice is just normal rice without the husks removed.
• Avoid salt.
• Don’t avoid fat like you think. You need fat calories too.
• Avoid packaged foods, except for emergencies. A frozen meal has all the calories listed which makes it easy, but that shouldn’t be your main plain. Fresh food is best and ties you emotionally to what you eat. Soon, you won’t want to put anything processed into your body.
• Bring water and healthy snacks with you. Fruit and single portion nuts in a bag are best for this. I refill a water bottle and leave it in my car. Since I live in the suburbs, walking places isn’t an option.
• Take a multi-vitamin daily – you have cut your calories, so you need to be careful that you don’t cause malnutrition.
• Take an Omega-3 pill daily
  Ok, so you have a list of what not to eat.
  What do I eat? Some of my favorites:
• Fruit: Banana, Apple, Orange, Tomato, Strawberry, Blackberry, Raspberry, pretty much any ‘berry’ fresh or frozen,
• Nuts: Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts
• Vegetables: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Corn, Onion, Romain Lettuce, Mushrooms, shredded carrots (not too many), potato, Brussels Sprouts, Green Beans, Snow Peas, Fresh sweet peas (never frozen), lots of fresh beans (15 bean soup anyone?)
• Meat/Fish: salmon, tuna, cod, trout, snapper, crab, shrimp, crayfish, chicken, occasionally beef. Yummy.

Exercise

• Nordic Track Cross Country Skier
• Power 90 exercise tapes
• Comcast On-Demand Exercise Shows
• Walking
• Yard Work / Brush Clearing
• Park a little further than you normally do
• Take stairs or get off the elevator a few floors early. I used to work on 37th floor, so walking up/down all those flights is a 30+ minute commitment. I’ve never walked up them. I have walked down them – 4 times – during complete building evacuations. 1 was for real – fire on the 46th floor. My legs were very shaky at the bottom.

Final Thoughts
Everyone cheats. Don’t worry about it too much if it happens once a week. I plan on cheating at least 2 meals each week. That doesn’t mean I eat more calories that day. I just have to build them into the total or eat extremely light meals/snacks on that day. I’ve lost 30 pounds in under 2 months doing what this page says and I’m not exercising like crazy either.

What more do you need? Take some pictures of before and again every 10 pounds that you lose.

Typical Food Day | Cheat Food Day | Healthy Lifestyle Motivation Techniques |
Outside link – I didn’t read this until I was writing this page.

This is part of the How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off article.

Ok, so you’ve decided to get healthy, lose some weight, and be more active? Good. How do I stay motivated?

1. Decide and Do { as Yoda says, "do or do not, there is no try" ; as Nike says, "Just do it." }
2. Watch your tabular data and graphs. I get motivated to continue when I see my history of weight loss captured over months. This is my greatest motivation.
3. Hang out with healthier people
4. Join an activity or team; you aren’t thinking about food when you’re doing something else
5. Watch TV shows like the BBC You are What you Eat show. This show has changed the way I look at food. It just clicked for me. Maybe it will click for you. Find what does and use it.
6. Watch Exercise TV
7. Watch Food Preparation shows – quick recipes that taste good. I’m working on crockpot recipes myself.