Fern Frenzy on Green Mountain Trail
Discovering Aska Trails
Across the street from the Deep Gap parking lot in Aska, Georgia awaits the connector to the Green Mountain Trail, part of the Aska Trails system. The Long Branch Connector Trail begins off Aska Road and follows along to the aptly named Green Mountain Trail for 3.7 miles (one-way) to Lake Blue Ridge. Having undertaken a 6.5-mile hike the day prior, we agree to traverse the Green Mountain for as long as our legs will take us or as long as the weather cooperates. Dark clouds swarm overhead as we embark on the connector along Aska Road, with our gaze upon the lime green rectangles leading the way.
Green Mountain Trail
The Long Branch Connector
Immediately swept into the luscious greens of thick rhododendron and mountain laurel, we barely notice the brief stint of highway alongside the narrow, grassy trail. Before long, the woods fall silent, and we fade amongst its creatures as if we belong. The gradual climb is grueling in certain legs, but overall, the Long Branch Connector contains moderate inclines leading toward the summit of Green Mountain. Birds chirp and bugs buzz in my eardrums, red mounds of clay pervade the trek, and deep valleys encompass my vision. Bountiful broken rocks hang onto the rims of the trail until our feet shake the ground to unearth them from their precious spaces, and they tumble down to the deep depths of the green valleys beyond sight, only heard tumbling. Gazing down into the valley, timber and branches create wooden beds to break one’s fall from the switchbacks of the narrow mud maze of trails.
Green Mountain Trail
Green Mountain Trail
Hiking along the crest of the ridge, we eventually reach a signed junction that throws us for a loop! Do we ascend along the Upper Mountain Trail or descend to the Lower Mountain Trail?
Luckily, we select to continue the path along the Upper Ridge, as we later discover that the Lower roadbed merely loops one mile back to Aska Road. Following the lime green rectangles to yellow diamonds, the path twists and turns, opening up to a full panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in between the barren trees.
Green Mountain Trail
Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Now about a mile from the start of our hike, following a deep descent, we reach another fork in the road, circled by dark green branches luring passerby’s into Long Branch Loop, a 2.3-mile loop trail. Squirrels chase one another around the dark flatwoods. I chuckle as I watch them while tripping over my own uncoordinated feet on the rock-induced hike. Bright green fern blankets the banks alongside the trail. Yet, we are suddenly snapped out of the serene landscape when we come upon the trail’s intermission at a residential area. We pause to have lunch here on the gravel driveway containing a small circle of cabin homes. We imagine a life such as theirs.
In our haste of hunger, we almost miss the continuation of the Green Mountain Trail, but poof! It appears almost magically once we conclude our lunch, like a secret passageway that waits only for us and links us to a world unexplored. The trail continues on the side of one cabin home driveway, on a narrow path of scattered branches, down trees for us to hop over, and hanging oaks signaling us to duck down. Winding stump along the path opens up to a wide, bright green forest with bark in disarray and wild foliage run amok. A vast open road in the distance calls out, luring us further into the forest, deeper into the unknown. Following the wide path, we approach a quaint slippery creek that flows into Lake Blue Ridge, but due to an impending storm, we leave Lake Blue Ridge uncharted. Having to turn around, we trudge back the way we came, in wonder of all that we missed behind us.
Green Mountain Trail
The afternoon grows ominous with dark clouds cast overhead, the moisture in the air grows increasingly obvious, and the breeze picks up a few knots. The wooded forest is so dense that I feel truly lost with no sign of reprieve from the steep ascents and descents of the Green Mountain. Looking down into the valley abyss, the rain begins to drizzle on our bodies until a torrential downpour ensues. We hunker down in our rain jackets and haul through red, mushy puddles of rocky red clay earth. I try to look up but struggle to ascertain a clear path ahead. Streams of blood-colored puddles rush down under our sore feet, and the cold pellets of rain cleanse our salt-sweated bodies. The smell of fern and hemlock fills my nostrils. Crisp, wet rain soaks through my clothes, my boots sink in the muck, rain drops fall from my eyelashes. I feel alive, inhaling the Green Mountain air. Every sense in my being roars that I belong in this forest, amongst the sky-stretched trees, the red rocky soil, and the mountain waves beyond comprehension.
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