Berry College House of Dreams Part 2: Mountain Goat Trail

This is a much longer trek up to the House of Dreams. If you have time, this hike takes about five hours or more, and is worth the scenic views. The best way to attempt this hike is with more than one person and to park two cars: One at the Old Mill and one at Frost Chapel (noted on the map as the circled trail heads).

Distance from Trail Head: 9 Miles
Rating: Moderate (incline and distance)
Berry College Trail Map

Preparing for the Hike

You have a few options on this hike, and they are all relatively long. I would suggest bringing a snack and plenty of water. If you choose to hike all the way to the House of Dreams, I will suggest a trekking pole coming down the back side of the mountain.

Where to Begin

Where to begin is up to you. You can begin at the House of Dreams Trail Head or the Old Mill Trail Head. I will suggest the House of Dreams Trail Head if you want a trip with fewer inclines. Once you are at the top of the mountain, the trail is mostly flat or downhill.

The House of Dreams Choice

One mile into your hike to the House of Dreams, there is a trail to the left. This is the Mountain Goat Trail. You may choose to go on to the House of Dreams, and the hike will be nine miles. If you take the trail to the left, your hike will be closer to seven miles.

Short Hike

At the one mile point, take the trail to the left. This trail is a bit less strenuous on the joints as it levels out and follows the trail on the side of Lavender Mountain.

This trail has a nice, sandy feel. It's very easy on the joints, and relieves some of the pressure from the uncomfortable gravel trail up the mountain.

This side of the trail is very peaceful. It does not see a lot of foot or bike traffic.

You will experience a few inclines, but not many. The path is soft, and it's easy on your joints. The path is also relatively shady and breezy in the spring and summer.

This hike will take you by the reservoir.

You will end the hike at The Old Mill (where, hopefully, you parked the other car).

 Long Hike

On this hike, you will go all the way to the top of the mountain to the House of Dreams. Stop and take a break, because the hike will be tough for about a mile and a half.

Once you are at the House of Dreams, walk behind the house and walk towards the green barn. Go behind the barn and follow the narrow bike path. This is notated on the map as the thin, light grey line. I felt a bit odd walking behind the sheds, but there was, indeed, a trail there.

This is where you will need the trekking poles. This trail is quite steep and has several washed out places. This bike trail will intersect the Mountain Goat Trail.

This trail is also quite shady with views of Texas Valley. There is quite a bit of sweet shrub on this side of the mountain, and the smells can become intoxicating.

The path is very soft back here, and the next few miles will be easy. You will maintain a level path. Soon, you will begin seeing the reservoir.

From the dam, it's about a mile to The Old Mill. The trail is a bit rough through here, but wide. You will be able to clearly see what is ahead. It is mostly downhill, but there are a few inclines near the chestnut tree grove. If you've made it that far, you've gone nine miles!!! Hive yourself a hand!!!

 

This is my favorite hike. It gives me the opportunity to reflect and enjoy the beauty of the Appalachian foothills of northwest Georgia. Although I'm usually tired by the end, I feel accomplished and revived.

Pain

I thought the next post was supposed to be on the Mountain Goat Trail at Berry College!

Well, It was supposed to be, but I was asked to consider posting about pain because this is an inevitable part of hiking for me and many of you. This blog is written by myself, but I have to give credit to Kena Womack, my friend and collaborator. She gives me awesome artsy ideas and perspectives as well as motivation to go the extra mile. Today was originally planned as a reconnaissance mission on the Mountain Goat trail at Berry, but life interrupted, and we ended up taking a very brief hike through her pasture to bounce ideas.

We walked about half a mile, picked flowers, took a break. This wasn't necessarily supposed to be a documented hike, but ideas cropped up, the day was beautiful, and we were inspired by the parochial views.

On the way back to her house about 3/4 of a mile, the pain in my ankles decided to go from niggling to full on ablaze. I always have some level of pain while walking, and I usually take steps to avoid this, but we were only going a mile, and I didn't take the normal precautions as I would on a 3- 10 mile hike.

Fighting Pain

I won't discuss with you my medical treatment specifically, but my doctor and I have discussed what I do to prepare for a hike. Needless to say, I just don't get up and decide to hike, I have to begin preparing roughly an hour before I begin the actual hike. Today, I didn't. It was just a walk through the pasture. No worries there, right? WRONG!

There is the ever present pain, there is pain I can walk through, and then there is the ungodly, pain of a flare in the wings waiting to happen. That's what happened today. You know this pain. It feels like white, hot, searing coals have replaced your joints and there is no end in sight and short rest breaks do not help.

I sat at first. I gathered a few ticks in the shade, and regardless of how I situated my ankles, they would not ease in the slightest. You know inflamed joint juice hates disruption, and I stuck my ankles in the air....like that would help (It actually has before, but not during a flare) but it only made it worse. There was no way I could move my ankles to ease the pain.

After five minutes, I got up, picked off the ticks, and began hobbling the next quarter of a mile at a rate of one mile an hour. My ankles became even more angry with me. I could see my car, and began having evil thoughts and fantasies of Kena coming to pick me up even though I was only about 1,000 feet from her house. This is how bad the pain was.

About 200 feet from the house, I gave up again and laid down in the grass. Once again, there was no rest in the pain from my ankles and I was in direct sunlight. After a few more minutes, I got up and hobbled again to her porch.

I ripped off my shoes and contemplated every way to make them feel better. I massaged them; held them against the cool concrete. Nothing helped. As I was sitting there, my ears began to ring. I thought, "Oh Hell no! You aren't going to pass out! Lay back down!" I did, and I didn't faint, but that's how bad the pain was. Kena whipped up some ice packs for me, and I felt a little better after about half an hour and was able to drive home.

Ten hours later, my ankles are still aflame. I've iced all afternoon. I'm not 100 % sure why the pain is so bad today. I did a rather taxing two mile hike in Tennessee yesterday that took it's toll on my knees and hips, but I wasn't in pain when I began. I wasn't in pain the first half mile. It just cropped up.

Unfortunate Truth

I look completely normal, well, actually, that is entirely debatable, but to look at me, you wouldn't think I have severe RA - not yet anyway. The swelling, mostly, isn't very noticeable. I keep telling myself that I cannot stop. I can't give in, but unfortunately, some days I have to. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a day of rest and repair- lots of anti-inflammatory rubs and icing. But I'll be better in a few days, and I can go get my much needed photos of the Mountain Goat trail. I'm really looking forward to it. I just have to know my limitations, and It's something each of us need to discover and understand.

The time on this is incorrect. The hike actually took 50 minutes, but when my phone loses service, the GPS will only time where service is captured and will draw a straight line from point to point. We didn't actually hike that straight of a line