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Hiking Sweat Mountain

Sweat Mountain

You may not consider Atlanta to be a particularly mountainous place, but there are actually several large prominences in the area that are termed “mountains.” Stone Mountain is most well known, and I’ve also hiked up Kennesaw Mountain, Sawnee Mountain, and Arabia Mountain, all in the area surrounding Atlanta. Today I drove over to Cobb County for the next chapter of my Atlanta mountain climbing adventures: Sweat Mountain! (515 metres above sea level)

I made a virtual visit with Google Street View beforehand, and it looked promising. The mountain is in a residential area, with a lot of radio and cell phone towers on the top. I parked on Wigley Road just past the place where Summitop Road begins.

No TrespassingI only hiked about 0.7 km one way up Summitop Road, but it was quite strenuous (and yes, I did sweat!). I marched past lots of fancy houses, finally reaching a turnaround with another road leading off from it. Unfortunately, once I reached that point, I was greeted by a sign stating unequivocally “No Trespassing,” “Private Property,” “Private Road.” According to the satellite photos, this private road is the only road that leads to the top of the mountain, but being a law-abiding citizen, I decided not to proceed.

Mystery MountainEven though I couldn’t go all the way to the top, there was a decent view as I went back down, and I even spotted a little conical mountain that seemed to be located to the southwest. Looking at the map now, it looks like it may have been one end of Kennesaw Mountain that I was seeing, or maybe it was Blackjack Mountain, a peak hitherto unknown to me! That may be my next mountain climbing destination.

So if you are contemplating a trip to Sweat Mountain, I would recommend it if you live nearby. It is a nice little hike with good views. Just keep in mind that you cannot go all the way to the top, unless you want to face prosecution for criminal trespassing!

Creature From My Sink

The creature in the pictures below appeared in my sink this evening. Upon spying it, I was immediately taken aback, because it evaded my attempts to identify it. It greatly resembles a dillapede, and all I can say at this point is it is an invertebrate. It exhibits attributes of being an insect, except for the most obvious fact that it has way more than just six legs. And no, it’s not a caterpillar, because all those spindly appendages are most certainly legs. But neither is it a millipede or centipede, at least not according to appearances. I escorted it outside, but not before taking some pictures.

If you can help me identify this creature, please comment! I am most anxious to know what it is.

UPDATE: Upon consulting Wikipedia, it turns out this critter is a centipede after all, of the order Scutigeromorpha (see Centipede article). Learn something new every day!

Photos from S茅roule Park

When I went to Europe, one of my fears was isolation from the natural world. And while it did turn out that I was surrounded by civilisation and buildings nearly all the time, it was not long before I found a place of solace and retreat in the busy city of Verviers.

S茅roule Park was twelve minutes walking distance away from the building where I was staying. It isn’t anything spectacular, but it contains a small forest and a pond, as well as a nice network of short trails on which to wander. Here are some pictures of this special place.

My First Week in Georgia

Chattahoochee River photos on Flickr

Here are some pictures from the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area where I went hiking this evening. The weather was fine, and river running full and clear over the shoals. Over the next several weeks I’ll be exploring different places to hike and camp, and I’ll try to take pictures to share. And maybe eventually I’ll get used to driving in the city! Oh, how I miss the transportation and compactness of Europe.

In other news, today I finished my first week of work at Truth For The World. It has been very good so far, and I’m starting to get in the groove of working eight hours a day and making the most of that time. There are parts of the job I enjoy more than others, and things that I’m really looking forward to working on in the near future, but I try to do the best job I can with what’s assigned to me. Also, for the first time in my life I have an office, complete with a blackboard wall!

It was wonderful to worship with the Duluth church on Wednesday, and I felt very welcomed. My family there was so excited for me and my new job, and I’m looking forward to learning all their names and getting to know them. Now I can’t wait till Sunday鈥攏ot only will it be my first full Sunday at Duluth, but I’m hoping to go over to worship with the Spanish-speaking Christians at Buford that afternoon. Also, today I begin learning Korean! I’ve already been trying to decipher signs around town, and there’s a Korean-English language exchange group here in town that meets every week, so I’m hoping to attend that as often as I can to practice, and maybe to help others learn English, too.

God has certainly blessed me! Here’s a scripture thought for today: “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30) I am so thankful for Jesus Christ who stands in the breach between me and God, transcending the sin between us!