April Graffiti Hike

On Saturday, April 11th we embarked on the 4th installment of our urban hikes around Atlanta. Huge thanks to local artists Dosa Kim and Michi for making this one happen.

Once again, this happening seems to be getting more and more popular- we had record attendance with a total of 31 hikers (of course we stole 3 from the planned Beltline tour that was meeting at Park Grounds as well that morning).

I really feel that these tours have filled an important niche in the community as of late. I came up with the idea of "urban hiking" out of necessity. In fall 2008 we were in a gas crisis and I was not able to justify driving to north georgia for my normal monthly hikes on the Appalachian Trail. As a cheap alternative I decided to explore the city more by just putting on a daypack with food and water and trekking across Atlanta. With the help of a few friends and the good people at WonderRoot we were able to expand my initial idea into a community building "happening" that continues to grow.

I continue to be shocked at the positive response from the community. Little or no advertising is necessary on my part- just a few emails, a posting on the WonderRoot website and then a lot of word of mouth amongst friends. We continue to get members of the community to offer their expertise in leading themed hikes as well. If you or anyone you know has an idea or destination for a hike, then please contact me as well- urbanhiking@wonderroot.org.

Here's a brief account of April's Graffiti themed hike:

Local artist Dosa Kim- our leader for the day


Chris from WonderRoot describing the process of organizing dozens of artists to paint the wall along the tracks on Wylie St.





corner of Krog and Wylie



Krog tunnel



lunch at Parish in Inman Park


In total we did around 4 miles in 2 hours. Some folks continued further, but most people rounded out the hike by walking through Inman Park and crossing the tracks at the Inman/Reynoldstown Marta station.

Next month: Historic Tour down Ponce de Leon on Saturday, May 2nd!
Email me with any questions/comments or to get on the email list: urbanhiking@wonderroot.org