Cloudland Canyon, #13

CAMP (Y/N?): Y (1 Backcountry, 1 CarCamp)
MY ACTIVITIES: Backpacking; Hike
NOTES: Great Campground Hosts and Rangers; Amazing Vistas

​When I bought the new 2 person backpacking tent for my Sweetwater Creek State Park trip, I didn't necessarily have a backpacking trip in mind - just some future possibility of a trip.  That changed quite quickly - 2 days home from Sweetwater and I got the backpacking bug. Where to go? Where is my old backpack? How many miles? Is my sleeping bag going to keep me warm? Can I do it??
In Georgia State Parks, backcountry camping within park bounds exists at Black Rock Mountain, Cloudland Canyon, F.D. Roosevelt, Fort Mountain, and Providence Canyon.   For my quest purposes, Black Rock Mtn, Providence Canyon, and Cloudland Canyon were the possibilities for my first backpacking trip.  And I was ready.  Like let's-do-this and see-some-fall-colors-while-doing-it kind of ready.  Cloudland Canyon was the winner.  And soon too - 2 weeks was the time from "Dream" to "Do".

I asked for advice and help and gear loans.  My friend B loaned me a backpack. Facebook hiking groups suggested Cloudland Canyon.  A few friends, experienced and in-experienced, chimed in with interest and tips.  I planned to pack my tent, sleeping bag, new hiking sleep pad, emergency stuff, water in a hydration bladder, and food.  Not too much of anything, but not too little that I wouldn't be prepared.  I researched trail difficulty and length by calling the Park Office and looking online.  There were 2 backcountry campsites on Bear Creek Backcounty Trail (plus 11 'walk-in' campsites on the backcountry 2  mile loop trail).  I chose campsite #12, which is on the 7.3 mile loop and closest to the parking lot.  I did not do the entire loop, instead doing an out and back to the campsite with about 450 elevation change down & up, crossing the creek, each way.  This trip, although only about 2.25 miles (4.5 miles total), was strenuous.  And I rocked it. Woohoo! :) 
My adventure-loving cousin Jason Chumley (search his YouTube adventure channel - he is hardcore) was to join me, but I wasn't sure what time he would arrive, so I was hiking in by myself.  There were times I went extra slow and carefully stepped as I descended to the creek bottom with my wooden hiking stick and full backpack, but every step had me fully alive.  The rock wall overhang at the creek was jawdropping. 
Funny note is that Jason didn't research the trail and was asking me if I thought he could ride his bike to camp and about the direction of the trail as he progressed - see he didn't know I'd up'd my fitness and skill levels so he was expecting an easy stroll.  My 'cool' answers had him thinking he was on the wrong trail because it was so challenging.  :)  This is a source of great delight for me! Ha!
Jason and I hiked out early the next morning, just before the rain seriously started.  At the parking area, we spoke with a group of young men from Florida who were camping at the walk in tent sites.  I was feeling strong and capable as a middle aged woman who just completed my own backpacking trek.  After an early lunch at the diner atop the mountain just outside the park, Jason left for his next adventure - boudlering (a type of rock climbing) in Little River Canyon in Alabama.
I then went to the campground site I had reserved for my second night at Cloudland.  My longtime friend DeLaney, whom I hadn't seen in some time, was determined to join me, even though it was pouring rain and no end in sight.  She was going to car camp in her SUV for the first time.  I was car camping in my Prius as usual. Thanks to her and her big tent with vented top, we enjoyed a campfire in the cool rain of the night.  During a break in the rain the next day, we explored the top of the canyon with the Overlook Trail and then the West Rim Trail.  
We had decided on camping a second night in the campground, but family needed me at home so we cut it short. But only after moving sites (due to availability after we'd decided to stay the 2nd night) with the help of the Camp Host and a Ranger with his truck for our very wet canopy tent.  I had hoped for a simple golf cart ride for the tent to the new site and to load and unload ourselves, but these two jumped in and helped and even assisted in putting the tent up at the new site plus making sure it was tied down nicely because strong winds were expected that night.  The Camp Host said she didn't mind helping at all, and that the night before she, her husband, and the Ranger had help a group of backcountry campers (yes, that group of FL young men) after their tent had collapsed by hauling all their gear to the campground in the dark and rain.  She even fed them breakfast that morning! Good people exist.  I am grateful to witness kindness in all it's forms.
I did not do the main waterfall trail at Cloudland, but this gives me something new for the next time I go.