From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
The second day of hiking at Giant City was again very nice weather at
70F with nice gentle breezes. I ended up doing a little over 8 miles
hiking and 663' of climbing.
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The hiking this day was better than the day before because of finally
getting up to the higher woods where the "GIANT" rocks were. You could
tell when you were getting to the top as the winds picked up and the
sound was amazing. Especially having it all to myself. It was actually
loud at times, and really a neat thing to feel. Here's some various
pics of the hiking I did.
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I saw some cool things like this twisted Sassafras tree. Sassafras
seedlings are trained to make those twisted wood pieces they make
walking sticks out of that you've probably seen. This was just a mother
of all twists and I studied it for quite some time.
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I didn't go by the park visitor center, but did stop by the Lodge as it
was right off a trail. It is a really cool place with probably about
20-25 rental cabins, a small store, and a restaurant that is famous for
it's fried chicken and all you can eat dinners. I didn't eat, but a guy
at the campground did and said it was good and about $15.
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When I was leaving the Lodge, I saw a persimmon tree with loads of fresh berries falling off. They were beautiful purple and looked tasty. I
tried one and they weren't very sweet. Then I remembered my future FIL
had pranked me when I was a young kid down there across the river in
Missouri dating his daughter and had me try one telling me how great
they were. They all laffed at me when my cheeks puckered up. Pretty
tree, though.
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Made my way back to the campground and took a few more pics. It is a
nice roomy place.
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Across from my site there was this interesting wood carving on a big
tree stump. At first I thought it was all carved out of the stump, but obviously I was mistaken and the owls must be attached. Neat idea, though
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My spot was underneath a bunch of sweetgum trees. They get these
beautiful deep red and maroon colors in the fall, but what they get a
bad rap for is their seed balls. They should be called seed spikes.
They come off the trees green, and as they dry turn brown, the holes
open up with each one containing 2 seeds that the birds and small
mammals eat the hell out of. But, they can be painful if you step on
them wrong and do make a mess. To me the colors make up for it. In the
first pic the sweetgum are the two taller ones on the outside starting
to turn colors.
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https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kn60p9v895wd03t9pdb2d/Sweetgum-Seed-Ball.jpg?rlkey=z6z6ehgoqhu0exe5w3t9y3fxr&dl=0>
No steak or burger pictures, though that is what I had. The fire rings
were good here, and their firewood burned fine. It was twice as
expensive as most places with a bundle being $16. But, it was also
twice as big. This is what $16 of wood looked like here.
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All in all, just a great and peaceful day. I did enjoy this place and
will probably return at a similar time of year. It is a couple weeks
south of me in the temperature range, so it makes for a good late fall
place.
--
Science doesn't support Darwin. Scientists do.
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