Providence Canyon - Backcountry Loop - June 14, 1997 - Member Trip Report

Hike Name:	Providence Canyon - Backcountry Loop
Country:	United States
State:	Georgia
Trip Rating:
Trip Date:	June 14, 1997
Duration:	2 days
Trail Conditions:	Good
Trail Traffic:	Light
Trip Weather:	Sunny, Partly Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy
Trip Winds:	Moderate
Trip Precipitation:	Rain, Showers, Thunderstorms
Trip Temperature:	High: 81-90, Low: 71-80 degrees Fahrenheit
Trip Report:	6/14/97 (Saturday): Woke up to some major rain this morning and it stayed with us for most of our drive south from Atlanta. Pixie left the house by 8am, and The Kidd was here by 8:30am. We loaded up his car and drove to Providence Canyon State Park with a brief stop on the way at Waffle House to wait out the rain. The sky cleared to partly sunny (as the Weather Channel predicted) by the time we hit the park. We watched the park movie, then hit the trail around 2:30pm for the inner canyon. The Kidd and I spent an hour or so in Canyons 1-9 before starting the Backcountry Trail. We decided to stay at Campsite #6 which had a new shelter that was built by a local Boy Scout troop. The sky looked ominous and within an hour some thunderstorms crashed through late this afternoon. The rain was on/off for the next few hours but by sunset the storms cleared out, and we had a nice evening with many stars. The Kidd and I roasted some trash left in the shelter by other campers and had a big fire as a result. We decided to pitch the tent under the shelter since we were alone tonight and the rain was fairly consistent in the late afternoon. After seeing many people on the Canyon Trail, we were surprised to find ourselves entirely alone on the Backcountry Trail this evening. All the other campsites in the area were empty. 6/15/97 (Sunday): The Kidd and I woke up by 9:30am and hit the trail within an hour. We finished the seven mile Backcountry Trail loop and had some great views on the route around the canyon crest. We stopped briefly at the Interpretive Center upon our return then hit the road for Atlanta. Made it back to town by 3pm and spent the afternoon unloading the packs and cleaning up the backpacking gear. This included a quick fix off a broken stove.