Kevin Bae: Today we're at dead man's branch near Tacoma falls
about three and a half mile out and back trail. I'm going to
think I'm going to continue on though too I already forgot what
it's called contentment falls I think and some kind of railroad
trellis thing so we'll see how that goes today so right off the
bat we've got some logs to scale which I guess maybe that's why
they call it dead man's branch down branch I had no idea
Unknown: but trying to scale this at the same time
Kevin Bae: holding the camera and not dropping everything I
went well I'm back out here with Godfrey you want to check out
any of his pics you can go to gluteus maximus and Instagram
that's where I post all of his stuff
all right early on to there's a
Unknown: stream to cross
Kevin Bae: not big it's not deep
Unknown: no bridge
Kevin Bae: let's see how we get across
just rained the last couple of days
Unknown: in the water swamp is not too bad.
Kevin Bae: I hope I don't end up in a drink and have no
Unknown: piece of cake
Kevin Bae: I got free of course he's no bridge
Unknown: and we go
Kevin Bae: I should point out that finding the trailhead is a
little difficult. There are no signs at all for the trailhead.
I was using the all trails app to find that just kind of
walking around to see where the hell it was. It's behind there's
a building for a nature center and you go and you walk past
that through their back lawn and then you'll see the trail
opening at the back there but there still is no marker that
says that man's branch trail or or that the trail is open or
anything
Unknown: you just kind of see the trail opening at the end of
the line
Kevin Bae: and the trail is is well worn through markings
Unknown: here's another trick stream crossing
Kevin Bae: is my dog's got to get
Unknown: the stuff branches
Kevin Bae: here again a difficult stream crossing the
views your balance might get your feet a little wet
Unknown: right somehow I lucked
Kevin Bae: out on the weather because it's late spring in
Georgia and this is really cool morning. It's been a pretty cool
spring as well. hasn't even been that humid. But today as I
starting starting off is about the left 330 in the morning and
the temperature when I arrived at the parking area. It was
about 6768 degrees
Unknown: or so.
Kevin Bae: And I don't think it's supposed to get over over
the mid 70s today. So kind of a perfect day for this
Unknown: very small stream crossing
Kevin Bae: since we had a bit of rain the last couple of days
some of it was pretty heavy trails a little wet a little
muddy you could see how a lot of the runoff was run down this
trail but it's
Unknown: it's very passable still
Kevin Bae: no climbing over this one go under
Unknown: without getting stuck
Kevin Bae: crouch down and we made it and there's another one
right after
this one of these that I have to get down on my knees
got this narrow sort of rocky incline
might be considered more moderate for some isn't that
just the flat trail some spots are a little slippery to just
kind of watch your step
some slippery mud
Godfrey Godfrey
these little stream crossings which might cause my dog to get
a drink
it would be good to know sometimes if there was a lot so
then I had to carry water for my dog because it definitely adds
weight to the pack. All right. This one will go into the side
and over rather than trying to bend down into that thing
because, well I'm okay I'm definitely not that bendy.
Somebody should do the trail walking limbo. There's something
neat on the trail. little plaque here says Colonel William
Wilford. Soldier. The American Revolution, died January 3 1825.
In Habersham County, Georgia developed the Wilford
settlement, and the story of his life is inside here
Godfreys not having it let's go
got to do bad things got three
definitely the
Unknown: first one on this trail this morning
Kevin Bae: first clues where they will be in the parking lot
Unknown: the second clue
Kevin Bae: that I'm walking through all the spider webs
feel for ourselves and come up with silk suit
Unknown: to shut this thing off
Kevin Bae: come some more down trees let's see oh okay it's an
easy around sorta down below that one all right
think my microphone popped out so I'm not sure what this audio
is gonna sound like well hopefully the on camera audio
wasn't too bad maybe you won't even notice the difference who
knows
now in the reviews of this trail some people were calling it
boring because there's nothing to see but you know I'm still
new to to Georgia being from Chicago there was nothing like
this within driving range for me right you just go start out
early in the morning and get a hike in for half a day and go
back home so all of this stuff still you know maybe it's just
too new to me but I just like walking in the woods regardless
What's not to like, what's what's the what's boring about
it in that you got to stream nearby. You got small stream
crossings and you're out in the woods so we ran across this
little baby deer. I can't tell if it's hurt or just hiding so
alive. Then I can touch them just kind of walk past My dog
ignored him thank goodness we'll just keep going. Poor guy or
girl so we've reached the top half of Dead Man's branch and I
can tell if there's a guardrail and like a dirt road, but we're
gonna continue on there's another trail that takes us to
contentment falls. So I just got to take a left and then we'll
see where that goes here we are the start of the next trail.
Unknown: Godfrey Wait Wait
Kevin Bae: let's go drill the contentment falls
this one should be easy because it's also for ATVs and off road
vehicles
should I go over under under it's going to be the way to go
yeah
it's gonna make sure I'm on the right trail trail because I hear
water and I'm not exactly sure where these falls are. It's not
really clear from the map where they're supposed to be but I
hear water falling so I'm gonna check that out campfire
Godfrey Godfrey I think we're at the top of the falls got free no
no
I can't get too close to the edge because of my dog
Unknown: frayed
Kevin Bae: you might try to look over the side and then that
would be the end of him so we're going to continue on I believe
that's the top of the falls we'll find out that Emily was
the top of the falls and if my dog would have gone over that
would have been the biggest disaster ever so we're making
our way down
we'd like to get over hopefully inside of there see a little bit
of scrambling but it's not bad
Unknown: this is cool
you Marie Godfrey
Kevin Bae: you can make it you can make it the voice over here
right. I got free
water, which is understandable. He has never been this close to
waterfalls before
My dog likes to destroy the natural beauty of everything. We
back after the waterfall is not super clear, there's sort of a
trail. But it's obviously not walked a lot. I had to check the
map a couple of times just to make sure I'm in the right, I'm
on the right trail. So there's like sort of a path, but it also
looks like it's just some of it looks like it's just water
runoff but we're still on track this part of the trail here is a
prime example of what I was just talking about. It just kind of
looks like runoff it doesn't actually look like a trail it
just looks like something that was carved from a lot of water
running. And it doesn't seem to be that there was a whole lot of
people here lately
so that trail map comes in handy real handy the wrong turn with
the trail that doesn't sort of look like a trail looks like
more like a washed out run off so had to go back to the map
because that's not highly accurate either No, I think I
may have found it again
felt like we were like kind of bushwhacking through the forest
there for a while like it was walkable and it was that pseudo
trail but definitely wasn't the trail so let's see where we are
now. We are officially back on track oh this area is muddy I
gotta find a way around that because maybe just walk on the
site it'll be fine my shoe got to get out of there. My shoes
are waterproof but I don't want to have like mud caked on me
makes it heavy to walk all right hey bridge What do you know
so either I have a poor GPS signal because of all the trees
or the all trails map is not all that accurate or it's just some
combination of the two this is an obvious trail it's going in
the same direction that I need to be going in but the map does
not show that I'm quite on the exact trail and sort of on the
side but there's really no other place to go so we'll just keep
heading in this direction appears to be a get your feet
wet crossing let's see how wet my feet will get too deep watch
oh god free I don't need to make room for me buddy. All right
let's go looking for this train trellis thing that's
Unknown: super tall.
Kevin Bae: And I couldn't find it and I'm looking up and then
it's right here in front of me. I have no idea if it can really
be seen
Unknown: through this through the trees
Kevin Bae: whenever I can get over there
looking for a way
I don't know we'll find out. So we found our way over there. We
just kind of
Unknown: cut through the forest a bit
is this cool?
Kevin Bae: Godfrey
he can cross the stream I cannot looks like there's a beaver dam
here
I gotta somehow make my way back up on shore because I run out of
room
you're gonna make a t shirt for Godfrey nature abhors a Godfrey
can't quite fit that in Kenya
how's that? That's better
Alright, we're kind of trip back here Godfrey. I'm gonna have to
concentrate so I can make my way back
all right, so we gotta shut this off so we can get back to the
forest. said these guardrails in weird spots. I'm not exactly
sure what it means or why Well, I figured there's a trail we
weren't we went and sort of bushwhack through the forest to
get to the train overpass and there's a trail that goes that
way. I didn't see it on the map. But it's here let's just go
check it out
the figures went through a whole bunch of crap in the woods
hoping is not poison ivy. I get fit find out about that later
Unknown: too. I guess. Easier to get to than trying to bushwhack
through the forest
Kevin Bae: kind of an incredible view
Unknown: looks like there's lots of crap that falls off the
railroad railroad ties railroad spikes
Kevin Bae: I don't think I want to be under there when a train
goes over
let's go back Godfrey.
So the rest of this trail is not an out and back. It's a loop so
I'm not going back the same way I came. Thank goodness so far.
This is way better. This is extremely clear. Clear that
there's a trailers very wide. Again, I think it's for ATVs and
stuff off roading mountain biking and hiking. But I don't
know maybe I made a wrong turn on going out to that train
trellis I think that's what they call me at a train trellis but
we get some kind of a drop off here
Unknown: it's a stream crossing. But it's small. It's nothing
Kevin Bae: just from back there. It looked like it was gonna have
to go up and down somewhere to get across this but I said dead
rotten tree and of course if I don't break my neck over the
easy things
Unknown: I'll survive. So after the Falls
Kevin Bae: it's a loop And we're on the backside of that now.
Unknown: Hopefully it stays nice and clear
Kevin Bae: inclines on the way back here
I always prefer steep inclines at the beginning of my trails
that in the middle of the end
Unknown: but it is what it is
this is definitely
Kevin Bae: for off roading although it must be closed
because there are a lot of downed trees going right over
the road
come to the end of the contentment falls trellis loop
and then we head back to Dead Man's branch trail and finish
off the last mile and three quarters. And then we're done
for the day. For a dead man's branch, again, there's no
marking here to tell you that it's here but this is the top
end of that trail
Unknown: so on our
Kevin Bae: on our way back.
Kind of a nice way to end this hike is this last mile a three
quarter stretch
Unknown: because it's quiet.
Kevin Bae: It's mostly downhill I believe that's when you figure
out what to remember I just walked it. So it's mostly
downhill, you got to scramble over and under some downed trees
but it's not terrible. But I've been on somewhere you know, I go
down you go downhill on the way out. And it's all uphill on the
way back and then it becomes a bear. But this this is a little
bit more pleasant
one thing about hiking in, in the woods in unfamiliar places
or in the woods in general is that you can't take your mind
off of what you're doing. I mean, your mind will wander and
it's sort of fine but you got to be you have to pay attention to
the step in front of you. So you have to be mindful of where
you're at. And your next step because if you're not paying
attention you know, some of these
Unknown: drop offs are pretty steep.
Kevin Bae: Your turn your ankle and that won't be pleasant on
the way out. So yeah, you have to be you have to have your head
in game
Speaking of which, I gotta crawl under this thing.
Unknown: So I say that while I record and this is not exactly
easy.
Kevin Bae: to crouch it wasn't too bad. I complain to nothing.
A little careful walking on the way back here because some of
these rocks, rocks, rocks. So many rocks are moss covered to
get a little bit slippery?
Unknown: You just gotta
Kevin Bae: watch your step in the mosquitoes are really coming
after me right now even though I have on bug spray they're not
biting they're just buzzing but we're getting close to the
middle of the day now I think it's around living little after
11 o'clock in the morning just word of caution on these rocks
got really quiet like there are no birds just the sounds of my
feet. My dog huffing and puffing and a distant airplane I don't
think I've ever been walking in the woods when it's been this
quiet
I know I came this way for some reason it's gonna be easier
cross but it's not
get any easier than that crossing.
are getting close to the end now. I shouldn't let let people
know that that little baby deer was no longer on the trail and
we came back so apparently it wasn't heard or at least not
heard enough. It may have just been sitting there hiding. I'm
scared not wanting to move but at least it was gone by the time
we got back.
Unknown: So that's it we're
Kevin Bae: coming to the end. This was dead man's branch trail
to contentment. Follow the trail
Unknown: to the Trussell loop.