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October 24, 2004
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I arrived at Amicalola Falls around noon. Because the weather was very nice, and the leaves were in full fall color, the park was very busy. So much so, that I was concerned about getting a place to park. Notwithstanding that point, I decided to forego parking and instead I drove to the base of the falls hoping to get a view. It was very foggy and the falls were completely obscured. It was still an impressive sight.
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The base of the falls is enclosed on three sides by the surrounding mountain. The mountains are very steep as they race to touch the sky. I was thinking how hard it would be to climb them. You'd almost have to go on all fours, trying not to tumble to the bottom.
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While I had been to the top of the falls a month earlier, I hadn't really explored the park. I decided to drive to the top of the falls. Only a month ago the trees were full of bright green leaves. Today they were the color of Fall. The view made for a very nice drive. The road to the top of Amicalola Falls is very steep. There are signs warning you that the road grade is 25%. I would learn just how steep the road was later that day.
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At the top of the falls there is a stairway that visitors can take to the bottom of the falls. There is a sign announcing that it's 425 steps down to the bottom. It also advises that the difficulty level is "STRENUOUS." I'm a brave sole, if not a foolish one, so down I went. I took several pictures of the falls from the side. Somewhere along the way down it occurred to me that the people who were going up were breathing very hard. It also occurred to me that I would have to go back up at some point.
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When you reach the bottom, the walkway is very nice and leads to beautiful views below the falls.
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Looking up toward the top of the falls is almost magical. The word Amicalola is the Cherokee Indian word for "tumbling water." These falls were aptly named.
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Despite my 425 steps down to the observation bridge, I was not at the bottom of the falls. Amicalola Falls drops 729 feet from the top, and I was little more than half way to the bottom. The falls continued below me.
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Another look up at the falls and I was off. I had to regain those 425 strenuous steps.
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Had I continued across the bridge, I would face another 125 steps downward and a downhill hike through the woods to reach the bottom.
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You can see the wooden stairway leading back up. The picture only shows a small fraction of the steps one must take to reach the top. I stopped many times on the way up to rest.
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