Valley of the Giants

On July 1st we decided to take the kids on a hike up in North Georgia.  There was a trail near Cooper Creek scenic area in Suches, GA.  The trail led to the Valley of the Giants and we thought it sounded like a fun place to hike.  Caroline was on her 3 week trip with Grandma & Grandpa Urbanawiz, Alyssa and Lexie (she went to Utah, Idaho and various landmarks along the way), so it was just the boys and Matt and I.

Matt had a great idea that we now use on all our hikes.  We found landmarks along the way.  It is great for the kids as they are paying attention to things around them to see if they can find something different enough to stand out and be recognized, and on the way back it gives them something to look forward to and to gauge how much time is left on the hike.

Our first landmark was the Alligator log

The trail had so many Rhododendron trees along the trail--they were in full bloom and were absolutely beautiful!

This is one of the giants that the"Valley of the Giants" refers to--the tree was enormous!

We wanted to see if everyone could reach around it together--the three of them got just over halfway.

I love this picture that Matt took--pictures can't really convey what an amazing sight this tree was, but this one does a pretty good job.

We didn't actually ever make it to the actual valley--it was starting to get dark and the kids were getting tired--it was definitely a hike I want to do again.