Mountain Laurel Hike Tray Mountain May-8

Have you ever wanted to see the Soque Watershed from a birds eye view. Well this is your chance as we hike the Baker’s Creek trail through the Chattahoochee National Forest. This is one of the most scenic and beautiful trails in all of Habersham County and offers a unique perspective on our spectacular watershed basin. The hiking trail actually follows the ridgeline between the right and left forks of the Soque. Come along and bring a lunch for this half day hike. We’ll meet at the Watershed Association office (on the square) at 9:45am to arrange carpools then park our cars off the square before we head up the mountain. Trip should be completed by 3 to 3:30

Nora Mill - on the Chattahoochee River

Nora Mill is a fully operational grist mill(one of the few that still grind corn)
located on the banks of the Chattahoochee River outside of Helen, GA. Built in 1876,
the mill is four stories tall has 1,500 pound French Burr Mill Stones, a 100 ft. wooden
raceway and a water turbine rather than awater wheel. John Martin, a goldminer,
built the mill in 1876 and made Sautee-Nacoochee Valley his home. Dr. Lamartine
Martin, who became a Georgia governorfrom 1927-1931, bought the mill in 1901
and named it after his sister “Nora.”Today the mill is run by the Fain family and they now have the fourth generation of Fain’s coming up in the milling business. The Nora Mill Granary is a well known
destination for visitors to the mountains.
This is part of our quarterly sustainability tours which are outings into the Soque Watershed and beyond to learn about practices and places that work to enhance the long term use, protection, and enjoyment of our natural resources. For more
information visit www.soque.org or e-mail soque@windstream.net or call 706-754-9382

Though all the grist mills on the tour are a bit different from one
another, their basicworkings are similar. Most of the mills still
have their originalparts, but Nora Mill which uses a turbine
system rather than a waterwheel system is the only one that is
still in working order.
Please support our efforts to protect our natural and cultural resources—support sustainability!
A gristmill is a building that houses a mill powered by nature’s energies; either in
the form of wind, river or tide. The grain (or “grist”) of cereal crops such as
wheat, rye, oat, barley, or corn would be ground into flour or meal. Most mills
were enclosed inside of a building to protect them from the elements. The North
Georgia Mountains were a natural place to harness the power of falling waters
for use in grinding grain into flour. Many of these structures still remain as
reminders of our intimate relationship and dependence on the power of nature.

From the mid 1800’s until the early to mid 1900’s grist mills were a vital hub of
economic and community life. Most mills were operated seasonally with the
harvest; and the miller was paid for their services by exacting a toll or percentage
of the finished flour as their fee. This was called the Miller’s toll.
Many North Georgia mills were still in common use until the 1960’s, and a small
handful are still in use today. Visiting and studying gristmills can provide great
instruction on how to work with nature; everything from the simple mechanical
engineering, the broad axe shaping of timber, and of course the fine tuning of the
quite valuable mill stones. The expression, “keep your nose to the mill stone,” is
rooted in the millers quiet attention to detail, carefully evaluating each grind to
insure that the stone’s are placed just right, for the perfect grind.

Rocket's Flyfishing Tales of the Past

Yes , there were Trout fishermen,before Helen was German occupied territory,freeways,and 4 wheel drive SUV,s appeared! My first intro.to the sport was in joining the Izack Walton League,that preceeded TU,and included in the membership,the few and elite of Atlanta Trout fishermen,including Charles Elliot,John Martin and Everett Roach! College days were shared with a job in sporting goods,at Wathour and Hood,@ 5 points,while weekends found me-brother-pals on the Hooch in Atlanta,before Lanier created a tailwater fishery, casting flys/spinners for red eyes and other still warmwater fish,till the no. Ga. trout season opened! We did not know it, but we invented float tubes,by buying a patched up truck tire,tying it to our waists,and floating between deep pools,while wet wading.......not as a young stud statement,but for the sake of poverty adjustment! Thru sporting goods shop talk and Izack Walton meetings,this adult talk of fishing for such beautiful Rainbows,in the FAR OFF mtns.,caught our interest,so before long and under seasonal rules, we were off on a new quest! Now, kiddies,Helen and Robertstown, in 1959,were wide places in a valley floor,the river was not stocked,and the roads were mostly dirt,when you left the few state highways,past Cleveland! Dirt? Actually most were hard packed-slick RED CLAY! Our mode of transportation, was my 1939 Ford opera coupe, with narrow 16 in. post war el-crapo tires, that saw us , more than once, calling on the still active farmer,s to pull us out of ditches, on the way to Dukes, Coopers,Waters, Dicks,and many others! Stocking, if any, was minimal, as was our knowledge, but with our cheepo bamboo or NEW fibreglass rods we faithfully cast/flipped/drug our offerings in any direction,we could manage, resulting in mostly 1- 5 0r 6 fish per outing, followed by a 3-4 hour drive back to Atlanta,after our usual dinner stop at the Smith House,when funds allowed! With a pretty large circle of friends, that shared the love of outdoor adventure{ and to pool up enough cash to make it BOTH WAYS!},There were usually as many as 5 late teens, in that coupe, but we were lean,tough and broke, so it worked,to fuel my 60 year addiction to the outdoors, that led me finally in 1990, to retire to these mtns.! I still wade fish all year long, drive a 4 wh. dr. truck,wear waders, and still have my original fibreglas/short 5 wt. small stream rod......and a few wet flies from BACK YONDER times! Not sure I covered opening day memories, but thanks for the opportunity to share some start-up memories.......but WAIT, there,s more to come.....I make em ever-day! Regards, Rocketroy

Fishing Report Toccoa River 3/25/2010

Fishing Report: Toccoa River D/H


Date 3/25/2010

Time of arrival 9:00AM Departure 4:00 PM

Partners: Dennis (fish vacuum) John S, Sid, Dick, myself Robert

Condition

Stream Flow still cranking about 550 CFM (should be at 400)

Air Temp 58-61 (but seemed cooler with the wind)

Mostly Cloudy over cast and till the end of the day then got some rain

Wind 5-10 SE/SSE

Water temp: 50 / Clarity: Clear/Cloudy

Fishing: We all caught fish, Dennis (again) caught the most, I think he said somewhere around 25.

But, the best report was from John that caught a Bass, he said about 2-3 lbs

Sid did well, till the end when he lost his rig in the stream.

I got videos of Dick catching a nice trout off a dry fly.

And I think my total was 8

Flies: Zonker , Rubber leg flies dark color, Prince Nymph, Parachute Adams (grey body)

And do not forget split shot BBs, lots of them!



In conclusion

I am telling you that from a previous dunk in the cold months, I have a lot of respect for this large body of water! It took me a little time to get the courage up, so what I did was go down stream to the Pine Island near the Shallowford bridge and then work on some more challenging parts. If you going in the next couple of days, watch yourself.

But the fishing was great because no one has had the courage to fish in it this year. The trout were very healthy,, beautiful vivid colors.

Mine were all in the 10" to 15" inch range



It was nice to fish back in Georgia, we do have some beautiful streams!



Robert

Creekwood Resort

Creekwood Resort's monthly news letter contest entries

If you do not recieve our first newsletter in Jan go to www.creekwoodresort.com and submit your email address to recieve it.


Creekwood Now has a monthly news letter that includes:
A Story Contest that you can join in on.  This is a sample of fun, funny, sweet, and then the others for the first months entry's.
A warning, these didn't make the cut and may be to off color for some people, that is why they are not on the news letter.  Your choice to read or not........

Here is how it works. We give you the first paragraph and you decide the second paragraph etc. Take it wherever you care. Each month you will help it grow. Your creative ideas of how the story should continue will be welcomed and rewarded. All you have to do is email us one paragraph tittled"Story Contest" , and watch to see if your story addition gets published in our next News Letter.
This months winner won a free night in the RV Park, check out the March 1st News letter for the name of the winner. 
So here we go...
Creekwood wrote the starting paragraph:

One cold wintry day a group of us decided to go up to Mr. Mountain and do some target shooting. The ground crunched under our feet and the air was bitingly cold. It was a different kind of Georgia day and there was an ominous glow as the sun rose over the ridge. The day held promise as we hiked into the back woods when suddenly…to be continued (by you).

Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:52 PM

Steve H. wrote:

when suddenly... Nancy Pelosi peaked out from behind a tree. I didn't have a gun, but Robert did, so I went to grab it, but he already had a bead on her. Well, I wasn't about to let him rob me of my dream, so I tried to pull it away from him, but, evidently, he had a dream also. Being younger and stronger, Robert easily pulled the gun out of my grasp, but about that time....

Friday, January 29, 2010 1:50 AM

D. K. wrote:

.....when suddenly a huge black bear (or brown or whatever color you have in Georgia) appeared from nowhere. Standing on his hind legs ,he appeared to be 20' tall and extremely hungry! We took one look at him and decided since we didn't want to be "dinner", we had better ........

Friday, January 29, 2010 6:38 AM

Paul T. wrote:
The day held promise as we hiked into the back woods when suddenly... in the distance we were stopped dead in our tracks by an eerie howl coming from further up the mountain. We looked at one another for a brief moment too stunned to speak, afraid that asking what could have made such a bone chilling noise may cause it's source to materialize before us. A few short moments that seemed like an eternity passed with no other sound beyond a chilling breeze passing through the trees tops above us. Slowly, we mustered our courage, laughed off our feelings of fear and pressed on with our quest for the perfect location to set the targets and proceed with our shooting plans....
Friday, January 29, 2010 8:30 PM

HARRY W GAUGER (this is Melissa's Dad and not eligible to win but still a very funny story, being we are outside of the city of Helen GA, that has the longest running Oktoberfest in the USA) wrote.

The day held promise as we hiked into the back woods, when suddenly out from behind a tree jumped a figure, dressed in leather shorts and a feathered alpine hat. It was a huge chicken doing the man dance, yodeling "October Fest, October Fest, its never over up here". Robert was jumping up and down yelling "dont shoot him, he's half shot now! Apparitions such as this are common up here, they call them "Helen Vapors" so we cautiosly slipped past him and contined on.....

Rusty B. wrote...
“………..three county sheriff’s deputies pulled up, lights ablazin’, just as Rusty was about to shoot an empty Bud Light can off of Priscilla’s head with his father’s deer rifle. It was their 30th anniversary and Rusty wanted to show her how much he loved her. After successfully disposing of the first can, Rusty allowed all of the deputies to try their marksmanship. Please mark your calendars for next June 30th when we will have a memorial for Priscilla on Mr. Mountain. Rusty will be bringing his new wife for us to meet. He says “while she just graduated from college, she is very mature for her age” and……….

Miya B.(again Melissa's sister and not elidgible, but her heart is in it, showing her love and feelings for us and what Creekwood is all about).
She wrote...
two figures appeared climbing slowly out of the woods and with the sun rising behind them it was hard for Melissa to make out who in the world would be climbing up the back of the property at Creekwood, they were a young couple and were very lost. " Don't shoot the tall young blond yelled out " we broke down down the road a ways and have been looking for help but we must of made a wrong turn somewhere and realized we were lost. Robert noticed they were both shaking from the cold mountain air and motioned towards the roaring bonfire they had just built, come on and get warmed up. You may have made a wrong turn but your safe now. Robert and Mark took the young man aside and started asking where they had broke down, and what they were driving. It turned out they could get it towed back to Creekwood with Robert and Melissa's 4 wheel drive truck. They would get the rig to Creekwood before the days end. No one seemed bothered that their shooting adventure would have to be postponed to the following day, after all they had all come to celebrate Roberts birthday and what a party it had been. All of them felt good about getting the young couple out of harms way. They had entered the world of Creekwood as strangers but were now becoming friends as so many people before them had found Melissa and Roberts little heaven in the Mountains. Melissa listened to the young couple tell how they had fallen on hard times back in Savannah, GA, and were looking for a new start, they weren't sure where they were heading, they had the wind at their back and the mountains ahead of them. Melissa would learn the young couple names were Harrison and Ella and listened to a story that would break a persons heart, but with a sense that had always come to Melissa naturally she knew what could be done to help, Monday morning she would.....
Sunday, January 31, 2010 7:42 PM

Mike A. wrote...(self appointed Sheriff of Creekwood, badge and all)

. . . when suddenly we heard three shots ring out through the crisp morning air. Puzzled as to who might be at the shooting range so early, we quickened our pace. As we neared the range we could see a familiar silhouette standing beside a body on the ground. The long coat, the wide-brimmed hat, and smoking .357 indicated the person was our own Creekwood sheriff, Zeke Deacon. Lying on the ground in a pool of blood was Chuck, the guitar-playing Community College professor from Jacksonville, Florida. As we cautiously stepped closer, Zeke turned to us and muttered in his southern drawl the familiar words we have all heard him speak before, “we don’t tolerate lawlessness here at Creekwood.” Here’s how this chapter ends:
Zeke then glared at Robert and said, “Robert, fish the dark side. That’s how it’s done, son.” Robert’s screams could be heard echoing through the forest as he disappeared into Mister Mountain. He is now known as the “Mister Mountain Howler.”
"I know, I know, I have an overactive imagination! What can I say, sometimes ya just gotta make your own fun! Thanks for the opportunity. LMFAO!" The Sheriff.

Who will be next, just good clean fun...........Some we just had to keep to ourselves, if you want to read them you will have to come to Creekwood and ask to see the ones left out.