May 1st Ponce de Leon History Hike

Hi UrbanHikers!
It's been awhile since we did a hike other than Beltline or forest hikes,
so on May 1st we're going to walk from west to east down the Ponce de Leon
corridor and learn all about the history of this part of Atlanta from our
group leader Tom Zarrilli.

Details:

Where? Meet at the MARTA Station entrance @ Ponce and W. Peachtree.
(Across from the FOX, AT& T bldg)

When? 10AM start, finish around lunch time

Who? ANYONE and EVERYONE is invited. This is FREE as always.

Distance? 2.5 miles +/-

Stops? countless historical points and a stop at Krispy Kreme for coffee
and doughnuts and Whole Foods for restrooms

Other info? This is a 1-way hike, so either plan to stage a car with
friends at the Plaza on the east end (Ponce and Highland area) or take the
#2 Marta bus back to where we started.

We did this last year and got RAVE reviews. Don't miss out this time!!

RSVP to me if you're interested so we have an idea of how many to expect.
Thanks and see you in May!

~Eli
urbanhikingatlanta.blogspot.com

Urban Hiking makes the big time

check yourselves out!

next hike will likely be a tour down Ponce de Leon on Sat, May 1st- stay tuned....
~Eli

April 3rd tour of Old Growth in Fernbank Forest

Hello Urban Hikers!!
This upcoming Saturday I'm hosting a "Champion Tree Tour" in Fernbank Forest in collaboration with Robby Astrove from Trees Atlanta. The event is free and open to the public. If you have not explored this amazing green space, Saturday would be ideal time- perfect weather and wildflowers everywhere!


Event: 2 mile Champion Tree Tour and workshop in Fernbank Forest
Date: Saturday, April 3rd
Time: meet at 9:45, tour is from 10am-noon
Location: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 767 Clifton rd NE, Atlanta GA; meet at the dinosaurs out front

Contact: Eli Dickerson, 404-403-0822, eli_dickerson@yahoo.com -or- urbanhiking@wonderroot.org

2/13/10 Beltline walk and Tree Tour

Hi UrbanHikers and friends,
There's snow possible tomorrow, but saturday looks warmer and sunny.
Let's go for a walk!

Option #1- 12 noon Urban Hike on the Beltline with Angel Poventud:
We will be meeting at 12:00 PM on Saturday, February 13 at the end of Lena
St near the Washington Park Tennis Center and Natatorium (1077 Lena St NW,
Atlanta GA, 30314). The walk will take place mostly in the BeltLine
corridor in the section cleared for the temporary hiking trail. The entire
route is 5 miles and will take three hours to complete. It will start at
Washington Park and go south to Allene Ave. From there it will go to the
West End Marta Station, where we will ride MARTA to the Ashby station, and
walk from there to the beginning of the route. We will be taking and
answering questions about the temporary art project and the BeltLine on
the walk.

This is a rain or shine event. Please bring water, a snack, comfortable
shoes that can contend with kudzu and mud, $2 for the fare for MARTA, and
be ready to enjoy a beautiful walk through the Westside and Southwest of
Atlanta. See you on the BeltLine.

Option #2- Champion tree tour and workshop in Fernbank Forest:
Join Trees Atlanta and Fernbank Museum of Natural History on February 13th
from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to view and practice measuring giant trees in
the Fernbank Forest. We'll meet at 1:30 pm SHARP at the dinosaurs in
front of the museum- 767 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA. Wear comfortable
warm clothes! Plan to walk about 1-2 miles. More info:
eli_dickerson@yahoo.com

Get out and explore the city this weekend! Get rid of that cabin fever!!
Best,
~Eli

Beltline video from recent West End hike

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