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Come on, Godfrey. Let's go.

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Let's go up. Up. So, we are at Raper Creek, 
the Raper Creek Falls Trail Loop. And most

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of this trail, or at least a good portion 
of it, supposed to be this uh service road,

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which isn't the worst thing. It's easy for Godfrey 
to hike. We just went down to see the falls

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because it's the first thing right where I park. 
Um, it's a bit of a scramble, so that's why we

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did actually do it this time. Godfree's arthritis 
medication seems to be working pretty well. So,

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I get the scramble out of the way. Um, I 
would have never done that in the middle of

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the hike with him cuz I don't think he'd have the 
strength. But, at the outset, we just decided to,

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well, I just decided he can't decide [ __ ] 
Um, I decided, let's just give it a try. So,

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we went down to the falls and of course it was 
slippery. and I went right in the water. But I

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live to tell the tale, but the rest of it should 
be relatively easy because it's just forest

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service road for most of it. I think we'll find 
out as we go. So, this is about as late as summer

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or summer latest spring hike as you're going 
to get. The first day of summer is tomorrow and

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uh the heat and humidity has already started here 
in North Georgia. It's not so much hot today,

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it's just humid. Due points are like at 70°, 
so it just makes the air a little bit thick.

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So, we are hiking. We started out at about 
9:30 and you can already feel the humidity,

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but the temperature is not bad. And 
at least for now, we're walking in

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uh a lot of dappled shade, so that's enjoyable.

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Summer's coming up and next week 
supposed to get in the 90s. Let me

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check my map and see which way I'm supposed to go.

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So, we've come to the end of the Forest 
Service road, little bridge that crosses

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the creek. I'm going to take Godfrey 
down to the creek and let him drink.

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Go drink. Go drink. Got to go drink.

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Go drink. Don't bite logs.

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So, the part beyond the sign that 
says no motor vehicles is still like

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an old more narrow forest service 
road, it seems to me. But at least

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there are no more supposedly no more 
motorized vehicles beyond this point.

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So, there are tire tracks, so maybe people 
ride dirt bikes and [ __ ] back here.

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So, we're getting close to where the trail hits 
the loop. But, I just wanted to show that the

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roodendrrons are now in bloom. They really bloom 
kind of late over here. And my dog is sitting in a

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mud puddle. If you ever wanted to see what a white 
dog looks like half covered in mud, this is it.

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So, I cut the hike short. Um the main reason is 
uh there's like a suspicious guy um at the start

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of the the trail where motor vehicles aren't 
allowed after the bridge and it just didn't

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sit well with me. He's just sitting there in his 
pickup truck and it's probably nothing. But when

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somebody's sitting there and you're walking by 
with your dog, they don't even look at you at

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all to say hello or just to acknowledge that 
you're there or even glance to see you. Uh,

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you know, cuz I was looking at him the whole 
time cuz I've got my dog, so I want to, you know,

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I'm aware of what's what my surroundings are in 
case I've got to put the leash on him real quick.

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So, at first we just continued hiking. Yeah, I 
noticed Godfrey is a little slow from scrambling

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up from the fall. So, and I still had that 
sitting in the back of my mind. So, I'm like,

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you know what? We've already gone a couple of 
miles. Godfreyy's probably tired. Uh, let's just

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head back to the Jeep and satisfy my curiosity. 
I'm sure I'm sure it's just my cityorn paranoia.

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Uh, but you know, when you're out here in the 
North Georgia mountains and you're like the only

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one, you just see one other guy that just doesn't 
even acknowledge you you're there. Just left a bad

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feeling. So, this is probably just the city guy 
in me kicking in that needs to go check it out.

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Even though, let's say, my Jeep is stolen and is 
gone. Not a whole heck of a lot I can do about

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it. But the earlier I get started walking back 
out of here, the earlier I can call police and

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get me a ride home. It's better I do that now 
before I get another few miles in, you know,

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and Godfrey is really not able to walk anywhere. 
So that's my story. I'm sticking to it. So we're

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almost back to where my Jeep should be. Godfrey 
is only on a leash because I'm trying to keep

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him out of the mud. I got most of that stuff 
cleaned off of him in the in the creek. So,

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I'd like to keep him as clean as I can when we 
get back cuz you got all these ruts with mud. And

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hopefully uh my uh paranoia is just paranoia. 
We'll find out soon. Okay, so my paranoia is

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indeed just paranoia. Thank goodness. That's 
all I have to say. Short hike, dog. That sucks.