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