Hey Ya'll! Hope everyone is doing great this week. I had a great week last week as I was on our annual Fall Colors trip that my photography club GAPC (Goldsboro Area Photography Club) takes each year. We try to go to a different location each year but most of the trips have been to the Appalachian mountains whether in North Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia. This year it was in Georgia! This was a new location for us and we didn't know what to expect. You can make all the itineraries that you want and research but until you actually get there you don't really know.  The leaves are the main attraction of most of these trips and you really can't predict what they are going to be like when you get there. There are so many variables that control when and how much the leaves change colors. We have to plan this trip months in advance and hopefully we get the timing right for the peak foliage color the week that we are there, but its a gamble at best and all you can do it try to pick the best week for the trip with the info that you can get from the internet. We were very lucky this year , depending where we were we had good color most of the time of our trip, Some spots at higher elevations were great and lower and further south not as much. But we did get to see lots of color. Now about our trip...

Our trip was planned by our Club President Caitlin. She made the house reservations and built out the itinerary .  She did a great job. The house we stayed in or should I say cabin was in a great place. It was probably the best house we have stayed in on our fall trips. We had plenty of rooms and bathrooms even pool table.  We were located in McCaysville Georgia on the Georgia and Tennessee border. I do mean on the boarder a line goes right through the town with one side in Georgia and the other Tennessee. From this base location we could travel to all of our places we wanted to go within a two hour drive max. to our destinations .

Day 1 & 2. The first day was mainly a travel day. From eastern North Carolina to our Cabin was about 7 hours drive not counting bathroom and lunch breaks, so even longer. We had also planned a trip to the Oconaluftee visitor center in the Great Smokey Mountains National park. There are Elk that hang out around the center and we thought maybe we could get lucky and catch one. But we were too late and they had gone somewhere to bed down. The park was packed with people
going to see the fall colors and the Blue Ridge Parkway was packed also. So we headed to the house. The next day rain was scheduled for half of the day so we reworked our itinerary to hang out at the house until the rain stopped and then go to some local waterfalls we visited Fall Branch Falls and Long Creek Fall and got rained on a little bit. But got some good shots of the falls.

Day 3. Called for more waterfalls and scenic lake. We started at Hole in the Wall Restaurant in Blairsville and it was by far the best meal for me on the trip. Highly Recommend.
We drove to Lake Winfield Scott and got some really colorful shots. We
then went to Vogel state park with Trahlyta Falls and then went to Helton Creek Falls. We then went to Dahlonega Ga and had lunch at Bourbon Street Grill. We spent the rest of the day walking around the town checking out small shops and decorated streets. 

Day 4. Chattanooga Day! Chattanooga is one of those border towns with half in Tennessee and half in Georgia. The plan for the day was Rock City Gardens. This was the surprise of the trip! I had not heard of it before but it was a great destination to spend hours looking at all of
the stuff they have there. Here are some of the highlights. Needle's eye, Swing-a-long bridge, High Falls Waterfall, Lovers leap, Seven States, Rainbow hall, Fairyland Caverns, Fat Man Squeeze, Balanced Rock, Elder Frame Art installation. It's a lot to see I can tell you.  It started to cloud up so we went to lunch in Chattanooga at the Tap house bar and gill and waited the rain out. We then headed to Cloudland Canyon State park went to a waterfall Hemlock Falls was only a trickle of a fall and then the overlook trail to see the canyon. Colors were Poping! We then Returned to the Rock City Gardens for night shooting!  The park was decorated for Halloween and lots of kids were there. It was very nice.

Day 5. Zoo Atlanta. We drove to Atlanta to visit the Zoo. This was also decorated for Halloween and lots of school kids were taking field trips there this day. Had fun at the zoo although I had gone to the NC zoo just a few weeks before and liked it more but it was still nice and got some good shots of some animals there. We had lunch in Atlanta and then headed to Amicalola Falls State Park. This is the park where the Appalachian Trail begins . A 2200 mile path from Georgia to Maine. We went and checked out the falls and they were very nice. We missed the Visitor Center by 5 minutes which I would have liked to see and get souvenirs. But a great day was had.

Day 6. NE Georgia waterfalls. This day started early with a sunrise at Dodd Creek Vista. Although not the greatest of sunrise it still was nice. Next shoot was Anna Ruby Falls my favorite falls of the trip. Has about a half mile uphill hike to the falls along a creek that has lots of photo opportunity's along the way. Next was Unicoi state park and Minnehaha Falls. After lunch we went to Mercier Orchard with lots of apple products to purchase from just apples to pies, doughnuts, breads and all kind of spreads. A must stop in Blueridge Ga. 

Day 7 and 8. Friday is our last full day and we went to the Ocoee River overlooks and then to McCaysville for lunch at Burra Burra on the river. Then we walked the town and finally back to the cabin for a well deserved early day where we could relax edit photo's and I washed clothes. The last day we left the house early to get to Oconaluftee visitor center again to catch the elk. By the time we got there there was one big bull there and he crossed the river for us which was cool.  We then headed home . 

Overall it was a great workshop but we didn't have the participation that we had had in past. But those that did attend had a good time of fellowship and photo taking. I was pleasantly surprised by the Georgia trip and found the towns and people were very friendly and the towns charming. A definitely go to if you  have the chance. I love these annual fall trips and can't wait until the next one! Until next week Get out and Shoot! 

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

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