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In 2004, shortly after I moved to Georgia, I made a section hike of the entire Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails. These trails are located mostly on an old rail bed. The Silver Comet passenger train once ran on this route, so the Georgia section is named after that, whereas the Alabama section is named after a local Indian Chief from long ago. The route connects Smyrna, Georgia, near where I live, to Anniston, Alabama. A few sections are not yet complete, but progress is being made, and perhaps in a year or two, the gaps will be closed.
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There is much wildlife on the trail. I've seen many birds, including Turkeys and Pileated Woodpeckers, wild mammals such as Squirrels, Deer, and Rabbits, reptiles including Copperheads, Rough Green Snakes, Skinks, Green Anole Lizards, and Turtles, frogs, fish, large spiders, and etcetera. Even though some of the trail is in town, much of it is wild, and the animals are right there to see.
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A typical view of the pavement rolling on and on.
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Larry and I once took a long bike ride from Rockmart to Smyrna, where he lives. I hadn't ridden a bike much in years, so I was pretty much hurting afterwards. Here, we stopped for some lunch in Rockmart after retrieving the car we used to shuttle to Rockmart.
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Oil on water in the Cleburne County section. When I walked it in 2004, this county's section was completely unpaved, and there were a few mud puddles to get around.
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The Pinhoti Trail, which runs the length of the Talladega National Forest in Alabama and continues northeast to link to the Benton Mackeye and Appalachian Trails in Georgia, crosses the Chief Ladiga Trail in Cleburne County, Alabama. I've section hiked the entire Pinhoti.
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When Larry and I were riding towards Smyrna, this Rough Green Snake crossed the trail.
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The Brushy Mountain Tunnel, in the west end of Paulding County, Georgia, is a great place to listen to echoes. There are also many trestles and bridges left over from railroad days.
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There are many of these turtles along the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trails.
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A wasp's nest.
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In 2007, I decided to walk the entire distance again. By mid June I had walked from Smyrna, Georgia, to Anniston, Alabama, plus side trips down the creek in Heritage Park by the Civil War era woolen mill ruins in Smyrna, and on the Wildhorse and Lucille trails in Powder Springs. In 2004, the trail stopped just west of Rockmart and picked back up in Cedartown, but now it reaches Grady Road, 7 miles west of the ballfields in Rockmart. East of Cedartown, the pavement ends at US 278, but a dirt right of way has been built another mile or so east. There are new campsites, and possibly a flagged trail, near the Grady Road trailhead. In Alabama, the easternmost 5 miles of Cleburne County, Alabama, were newly paved, and all Cleburne County Bridges were repaired, a big improvement. The last few miles of the Cleburne County section were to be paved by September 2007, but all there was to see indicating progress were survey stakes. There may also eventually be a couple of extensions on the west end to various parts of Anniston. I'll keep an eye out for news and go walk any new sections when they're done.
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It's July of 2009, and all of the sections from Smyrna to Anniston have now been paved for about a year. Right now I'm walking about a dozen miles a day, mostly on the Silver Comet Trail, to train for my upcoming hike in Wales on Offa's Dyke. This morning I walked the section from Hendrix Road to Cedartown. This section passes a garbage dump, which to me is interesting. I stopped to watch a big hydraulic tilting ramp dump a huge trailer of trash. For people who prefer more traditional hiking scenery, I also saw a turtle and several deer.
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