NE Beltline hike on 12/19

We had a great turnout (22 folks!) for our East/Northeast Beltline hike from Amsterdam Walk to DeKalb Ave and back- roughly 6 miles roundtrip. Jack Walsh from Georgia PBA was out filming (should be out in early Spring). The corridor is mostly cleared of rails and weeds. It's wide open folks! Go explore it for yourself!

Angel was kind enough to lead the group once again


behind Midtown Arts Cinema area


City Hall East (formerly the Sears building)


TONS of old rails


crossing the rickety bridge over Ponce de Leon


Noxious weed alert! This is Arundo donax, aka- "Giant Reed"- very invasive out west especially.


The plan


I think Angel called this rail device a "frog"


Great new mural alongside the beltline in Cabbagetown/Reynoldstown area


for my fellow botanical nerds- I believe this is a Sugar Pine cone on the table at Parish (the largest cone from the tallest pine in the world)... or is it from a longleaf??


nature wins! (don't be fooled though- these oak species grow REALLY FAST, so this could have only taken a few dozen years...still really cool though)



That wraps up another great urban hike! There's talk of a southwest Beltline hike the saturday after Christmas- see Angel for more details!

Looking forward to more exciting urban hiking exploration in 2010. Keep the ideas coming too! Where do we want to hike? What do we want to see? More history? More art? More nature? Lemme know!

~Eli
urbanhiking@wonderroot.org

SUNNY Beltline hike this Saturday- 12/19/09

I would like to invite everyone to come out and join Eli Dickerson and I for a walk in the BeltLine Corridor. You may have heard that the clearing of the rails has begun so that a temporary hiking trail could be installed until the permanent trail is in place. Construction on the permanent trail is planned to start l...ate in 2010.

Here's the plan.

We will meet behind Amsterdam Walk, parking behind all the buildings which push up right against the BeltLine and the Piedmont Park expansion at 10AM this Saturday morning, 12/19/09.

We'll check out the 53 acres of Piedmont Park expansion from the BeltLine and then head south in the BeltLine Corridor from the Piedmont Park area down 3 miles to Dekalb Ave. We'll then walk back up to the our starting point which will be a total of 6 miles of walking, 3 hours total. The weather for Saturday is forecast to be Sunny with a high of 46 degrees. It's going to be a beautiful day for a walk.

If you have ever walked this section before last month before the trail work started, your not going to recognize it now. No weeds, no kudzu and no rails. It looks great. Come check out the BeltLine and see how easy it is to use and exactly where it goes in the Northeast.

I'm including a link to a map that will show the area that we're walking and there are a few places in the walk that we can stop to use the bathroom or get some water and such. See you Saturday morning.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/North-East-BeltLine-walk-from-Amsterdam-Walk-to-Dekalb-Ave

~Eli
urbanhiking@wonderroot.org

West End Hike Synopsis in Photos

Saturday, December 12th, 2009- West End Beltline Trail, 37 degrees and drizzly!

This is where we started with a Beltline film crew taping us walking back and forth along this trail section. I'll post a link to the video when it's finished.


Beltline Trail looking north


Tunnel shots



Ground breaking ceremony at the end of our hike- Kasim was there!


Beltline signage


We were invited to a delicious warm holiday meal at the fire station with the whole neighborhood- delicious!


This trail is completely cleared and open for walkers and hikers. I highly recommend visiting when you have a chance. You can even ride MARTA to get there- it's just 2 blocks from the Ashby MARTA station!

~Eli

West End Beltline Hike on Sat. 12/12 RAIN or SHINE

Hey folks,
It's getting way too hard to plan these walks with the crazy weather as of late, so Angel and I made the executive decision to host a walk on the West End of the Beltline this Saturday RAIN, SHINE, SLEET, SNOW, or HAIL! Join us!

Where? Meet at the Ashby MARTA station: http://www.itsmarta.com/ew-ash-overview.aspx

When? 10am SHARP @ Ashby this Saturday, 12/12/09

What to bring? WARM clothes, rain gear, water, camera, MARTA card

Who? EVERYONE is invited, it's FREE

Why? We haven't walked this section yet and we've got a great leader (Angel) to show us.

We plan to walk to the "Go West" festival for the Beltine trail groundbreaking. Check it:
http://www.westviewatlanta.com/go-west/

Afterwards, it's off to Artichoke Bliss for a workday or to the coffee shop if we need a warm up.

Don't fear the forecast! Come out Saturday and hike the unexplored portion of the Beltline with us!!

~Eli

The Beltline is happening. When? NOW!

listen here:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1586042/Atlanta/Work.Quietly.Begins.on.Beltline.Corridor

12/5 Hike CANCELLED due to weather

I don't really mind hiking in cold and I'd LOVE to hike in snow, but the potential for mid-30's and rain is just miserable. Due to the forecast for inclement weather we will be rescheduling this hike for a later date. Possibly next weekend. Stay posted...

Artichoke Bliss workday is still on for 2pm Saturday. Meet in the vacant lot beside Dynamic Dish on Edgewood in the Old Fourth Ward. Easy to bike, walk, or MARTA to this spot.

Stay warm,
Eli

Saturday, 12/5/09- Hike to ATL's hidden forests

Hello UrbanHikers,
Join us this Saturday for an urban hike to some of Atlanta's hidden
forests. Here are the details:
What? hiking exploration of urban forest on the city's east side
When? meet Saturday @ 10am- Dr. Bombay's coffee shop in Candler Park
Where? Dr. Bombay's, 1645 McLendon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
http://www.drbombays.com/

Also note- there is an opportunity to help beautify the brand new green
space called "Artichoke Bliss" in the Old Fourth Ward following our hike.
This will start around 2pm.

I encourage you all to bike or ride MARTA to both the urban hike (Dr.
Bombay's is just 3 blocks from the CP Marta station) and to Artichoke
Bliss (just north of the MLK Marta station).

rough map of our route on Saturday


map of Artichoke Bliss

I hope to see you all on Saturday!

~Eli
Urban Hiking Guru and Native Tree Enthusiast
www.urbanhikingatlanta.blogspot.com

2 newly beautified green spaces in ATL

The past two weekend have afforded me the opportunity to help beautify 2 urban green spaces that until recently I didn't even know existed. I invite you all to visit these spaces and explore them on your own!

Reynolds Park- Kirkwood:

View "Reynolds" Park in Kirkwood, Atlanta, GA in a larger map
This park is owned by city of Atlanta and thanks to the efforts of KNO volunteers and a large group of Emory volunteers we have reclaimed this forgotten green space as a usable park! To access it, you can park in the back of the lot across from the DeKalb Health Center or the adjacent senior center.

removing invasive species from Reynolds Park



















creating a new trail
















Reynolds Park Plan (from the Kirkwood Neighborhood Organization website):























Artichoke Bliss- Old Fourth Ward:

View Artichoke Bliss in a larger map
This space was "discovered" by one of our urban hikers (Hayley). With the help of facebook we have pulled together over 30 community volunteers on 2 work days and converted this empty lot into a welcoming green space with a bench, 3 trails, and a swing! It's right beside Dynamic Dish on Edgewood between Boulevard and Jackson.



pictures from Artichoke Bliss:




























































































If the weather cooperates we're looking at having our last urban hike of 2009 on Saturday, December 5th. I'd like to hike some of the newly renovated (and accessible) trails along the Beltline and also visit Artichoke Bliss!

Final urban hike of 2009?

Looking at having a hike that highlights some of the recent work on the Beltline trail system the first Saturday in December. We'll probably end up in the Old Fourth Ward to highlight a recent renegade garden project next to Dynamic Dish off Edgewood. We're calling the greenspace "Artichoke Bliss" and it's pretty sweet!

Thoughts?

~Eli

**Our 1st Urban Bike Ride**

Hello UrbanHikers!
We WILL be having an urban bike tour this Saturday (tomorrow), 11/14/09.

Meet up location: Park Grounds- 142 Flat Shoals Ave SE, Atlanta 30316
Time: 9:30am
Destination: Piedmont Park Green Market... and beyond- bring cash for food
or drinks at the market
Who's invited: YOU and everyone else

This is a change from our normal walking routine, but let's see how it
goes... I know many of you don't have bikes, so fear not- we will be
continue more explorations on foot as well!

~Eli
Urban Hiking Web Monkey
www.urbanhikingatlanta.blogspot.com
urbanhiking@wonderroot.org

Brainstorming Session Tomorrow (9/15) @ WonderRoot!

Got an Urban Hike Idea? We want to know what you like/dislike/would like
to see in the future regarding our hikes.

Any new themes will be considered and all ideas are welcome- art
themes, science themes, entertainment/history themes, whatever!

Join us in sharing your ideas for future hike opportunities
on September 15 at 7pm at the WonderRoot Community Arts Center- 982
Memorial Drive, ATL 30316. Vegan cookies will be served!!

Email with any questions or call Eli at 404-403-0822

Have a splendid day and I hope to see you tomorrow!
~Eli/Urban Hiking Web Monkey

September Dragon*Con hike synopsis

Here's a map of the 6 mile loop we did today from Park Ground to the Dragon*Con parade downtown and back via the PATH, Freedom Parkway, and Inman Park.

photo's:

Angel was with us again to help drop some knowledge about the in-town neighborhoods and the Beltline project


About a dozen of us left Park Grounds, wound our way through Cabbagetown and the Old Fourth Ward in route to downtown and the Dragon*Con parade



I wonder who gets this money? maybe the Taskforce for the Homeless??


The parade was absolutley NUTS and completely fun! Such an interested social event. Very family-friendly too. Storm troopers high-fiving little kids and such.








Cardboard Star Wars characters!


Bananaphone!!!!


View near Highland and Freedom Parkway. We walked along a very new section of the PATH at this point. A very nice urban bikeway with dedication paved paths- I highly recommend checking it out!


All-in-all we did a nice 6 mile loop with great weather along the way. Next month's hike will likely be mid to late October due to some schedule conflicts... stay posted!

As always, you can get on our email list by sending a message to urbanhiking@wonderroot.org

Urban Hiking Web Monkey,
Eli

**UPDATE** hike starts @ 9am (not 10am) on Saturday

Updates were sent via email as well. We'll be meeting at ParkGrounds at 9am in hopes of getting downtown by the 10am start of the Dragon*Con parade!!

FREE urban hike this saturday, 9/5/09

Long time, no see!

After taking a break for the month of August I made the executive decision
to get our FREE urban hikes started again. Details are as follows:

What? September Urban Hike- exploring on foot from Reynoldstown to
Oakland Cemetery, on to 5 Points to (hopefully) see some of DragonCon!

When? Meet at 9am this Saturday, September 5th

Where? Park Grounds Coffee Shop- 142 Flat Shoals Ave SE, atlanta, ga 30316

Who? Everyone is invited- no age limits/restrictions! Dogs too!

Why? Why not? It's a Saturday and starting to feel like fall, so let's
go explore on foot around the city!

Here's a link to the proposed route: http://www.favoriterun.com/288647

I hope to see you Saturday morning at Park Grounds,
~Eli
UrbanHiking Web Monkey

If you want to know more about the beltline...

Beltline hike synopsis with pix!

Our most recent urban hiking outing was a 7-mile jaunt on mostly active rails in the west and northwest beltline corridor. It was warm, but not really as hot or humid as it could be in mid-July. All in all it was a great hike and many thanks are due to our fearless leader Angel.

Some of the rails we walked were active and we actually saw numerous trains- some a little too close for comfort.







Eli- Urban Hike Leader




tunnel near start of hike


peachtree creek


Norfolk Southern Rail


blooming native trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans)




nearing the end- that's Piedmont above all that kudzu (this is a section we cleared with machetes a week earlier to make it passable for the group)


The End... with Slimer