Saturday morning - a 3-day weekend! Let's get out of this house! For a while now we have heard of a place called Rocktown and have wanted to visit it, but it sounded like one of those places better seen in the wintertime. So, today it was sunny and not too cool, and off we went. It is about 60 miles west of here, near Lafayette, Georgia, on Pigeon Mountain. After following the forest service road 5 miles up from the valley to the top of the mountain, and after first passing the unmarked gravel road, we finally found our way to the parking area. It soon became apparent that we were not the only ones who had this idea. Passing parked cars, trucks, even a mini-bus, we noticed the licence plates were from near and far, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia. We also noticed the folks getting out of the vehicles, with their foam mats and rock climbing gear, young folks, probably college age. (We were definitely the oldest ones on the trail).
We followed the one mile trail, and at the end of the trail found a strange series of boulders and outcroppings, an unbelievable labyrinth of southern sandstone. The name Rock Town has been given to it because it does looks like a town, it is an area of house-sized boulders. According to history, more than 200 million years ago this area was once covered by ocean. The water washed away the softer limestone while leaving the other, more durable rock. In many places the effect of the water is apparent, from curved holes in solid rock to tiny mazes of stone netting.
We watched the young rock-climbers practice their sport. We climbed on the rocks and wound our way through the maze of rocks. We found the geocache hidden there. It was a very neat place to visit and we plan on taking kids grandkids back there, they would love it! Rocktown Our 'rockin' New Years Eve may not have included partying like those folks on TV, but we did make it home in time to watch the New Year's Eve television coverage of Times Square, and after my usual dozing on the couch, even watched the ball drop in Times Square!
