Day 2
Friday, November 20, 2020
The first stop of the day was an easy drive south Hwy 93 through downtown Fort Gaines, such as it is.
One thing I didn't expect. This on the front window of the drug store...
Perhaps twenty minutes south of Fort Gaines is Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park. The Kolomoki lived in this area from 250-950. Within a small section of the park are eight mounds of various sizes, many of them preserved.
From a small parking area, there's an easy trail looping around four of them. Temple Mound is the largest and stands fifty-eight feet high. There are bigger mounds in other parks in the state, but this is the largest here. Bare in mind, this mound was made by hand, one load of dirt at a time.
The view from above... This field is believed to be central plaza of a community between 1,500 and 2,000 people.
The top of the mound...
The one mound you can see in the distance from above, was a burial mound. Using log supports, they buried their dead in layers, then covered them, eventually creating this mound.
From here you can either loop back to the parking lot, or continue a longer mile and a half loop through the woods.
The trail was a bit overgrown and obviously no one from the state park service has been through with a chainsaw lately. But, overall, not a bad walk.
On the other side of the park, there's a large parking area near the boat ramp to Yohola Lake. It's also the trailhead for two loop trails. Seen from the parking area...
Of the two trails, Spruce Pine is longer, clocking in a two and a half miles. It's a pretty easy trail with nothing really steep. Other that the downed trees, no real obstacles, either. And unlike in a few other state parks, it's clearly marked. From every orange blaze, the next is clearly visible.
The back exit from the park brings you to Hwy 27 and a straight shot into the town of Blakely, named for Johnston Blakely, Captain of the Enterprise. Seriously, he was captain of the schooner Enterprise during the War of 1812, sinking both the HMS Reindeer and the HMS Avon in separate battles. He's also credited with capturing a pirate ship. Blakely was born in Ireland and never lived or visited Georgia. His ship was lost in a storm in 1814.
I was just passing through headed west on Hwy 62. Two years ago, I passed through here and saw a mural of the Coheelee Covered Bridge. With no cell service(curse you Boost Cellular) I had no way of finding it. As an added bonus, directly across the street from the mural was a small parking lot and a food truck selling the most amazing barbecue.
This time, I knew where to go and easily found the bridge. Built in 1892, this is the southernmost covered bridge in the country.
As well as this sign...
As for the barbecue truck, the entire parking lot of fenced off. Shame since I was looking forward to it. I did ditch the car in the town square, right behind the Early County Courthouse. As I got out of the car, I heard church bells chime twice. Walking around the outside of the square, I also encountered numerous restaurants only open until 2P. So much for lunch.
Heading back towards Fort Gaines, where neither of their two restaurants would open until 5P.
After a brief respite back at the room, I simply drove out to the southern part of the lake and settled in for sunset. Considering the clouds, all bets were off as to what that would bring.
The clouds seem to thicken as the sun slid down towards the horizon. But, I learned a long time ago how to make the most of it. Just pull out the longest zoom lens and focus on the color you do have.
A quick stop in KJ's Grill for a pint and I called it a day.
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