Saturday, October 20, 2012

Stone Mountain Hike


Our science lesson for the day: a monadnock is an isolated rock hill or small mountain that rises abruptly from a plain.  An exfoliation dome is a rock (like granite) that is submerged under the earth and under great stresses.  When the ground above wears away, it exposes the hard granite but also releases the stress.  This causes layers of the rock to expand and break off over time.  Stone Mountain is both of these things.
 

We visited a smaller exfoliation dome in Texas (http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/01/enchanted-rock.html).  It was 425 high and a 0.6 mile hike.  It wasn’t a difficult hike but certainly wasn’t easy.  Stone Mountain is 786 feet high and the trail is 1.3 miles long.  Add in the 90 degree temperatures and I was sweating like a pig!  The trail was full of people, mostly in their 20’s or young couples with children so I felt like an old timer.  But we saw one older gentleman in a full business suit walking with his family!
 

Frequently there was graffiti on the path carved into the stone.  Some of the carvings were from 1800’s and up to 1970’s.  It’s been a popular place to visit.
 

Great view of the Atlanta area at the top and worth the hike!

 

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