Back in the Saddle Again

Started the next section of the map 12/29/09 after a rest of a few weeks. This section is south of the big powerline and east of Flat Rock road. I picked the coldest morning of the year to do it which called for fingerless gloves. The camera refused to cooperate, even after I warmed up the batteries in an inside pocket, but I went out again the next day and managed to get a few pictures.

From Chattahoochee Bend

From Chattahoochee Bend

This area is very different. The river is far away - no floodplain here. Instead there are low hills, and cutting across those hills are the bare rock areas that gave Flat Rock Road it's name. I have only barely begun in this section, but already I have learned a few things:

• It's slow going - lots of detail that needs to be mapped - boulders, bare rock, rootstocks.


• the bare rock area has distinct vegetation. Stunted trees, because the rock is right there beneath the surface even if it is not visible; areas of grass and moss where trees cannot grow; complex patterns of green and white forest.


• the flat rock area is almost like a plateau, probably since it is resistant to erosion. It is deceptively flat, tilted down in a northeast direction.


• There are many more bare rock areas than are visible on the photo. Only the larger ones show up, so the photo is of limited use.


• The lidar contours pick out some of the largest boulders, which is very helpful.

This area will take a while. I know that, once I am off the plateau, there are huge boulders out to the east. I've already put more rootstocks in this area than in the entire previous sections, thanks to what must have been a mini-tornado that swirled across the side of one hill.

Construction is on-going on the new road to the visitor center. I am working east of the construction, but I still have to put up with the machine noise. The back-up alarm drives me nuts.