Elijah Clark State Park, GA; November 18-22, 2023
Site #51 - BEST!
Other preferential sites: 23, 28, 31, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 43, 49, (Campground 1: 93, 97, 98, 99*, 114*)
Great lakeside site!
Geraldine as we just pulled in!
Technically, this trip was pre-Thanksgiving, as we went home for Thanksgiving 2023 to spend with my Mom, who we didn’t want to be alone for the holiday. That said, we *really* needed this getaway and it was the perfect length of time to get nice and relaxed prior to the holiday.
It was just the 4 Spiveys who went on this trip, as Auntie couldn’t find a dog sitter for Zepp. And we had our trusty dog sitter stay at our house with Sam and Lila, so we didn’t even have canine craziness on this trip!
We were excited to get back to Elijah Clark SP, as it is one of our favorites. Our trip earlier this year, during the summer was fated to not happen, given some strong storms that ripped through the park off the lake in late July. So it was nice to get here at all in 2023. One of the first things we noticed was the number of trees still down all around the park, clearly showcasing that even months later, the park still had some clean up to do. Fortunately for us, that meant there was abundant firewood around to go cut ourselves and we didn’t need to buy any the whole trip!
We also noticed the water was significantly lower in the lake than in our previous visits. In fact, the “shore” was easily 30 feet bigger than in previous visits. Upon looking up the lake, we found that here were significant drought conditions, which had driven lake levels incredibly low.
Not to be deterred, we set up camp and set out to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage that still existed and the beautiful lakeside views.
What a view!
Mommy and Kaety working set up
The first hammock up!
This tree was magnificent.
Sporting my 1971 pride ;)
Gracie relaxing by the lake - this hammock got a lot of use in our few days here!
After setting up and tooling about a little, we were given the first of several of the most beautiful sunsets we could imagine..
Watching the sunset from the hammock…
Me and my love at sunset
All the lights that came on across the lake were gorgeous!
After an awesome dinner of smash burgers (no raccoons took them this time!), we decided to sit out by a gorgeous fireplace because it was fairly temperate and nice out and the moon was GORGEOUS - almost full. The girls were able to make s’mores and we told ghost stories.
Happy Campers
Lovely
Unfortunately, while we were sitting out by the fire, a fisherman was out on the lake spotlighting to try to see fish and he sat right outside our campsite on the water and shone his light at our site, directly into where we were trying to talk and tell stories. He was there for over 20 minutes and it was blinding, so we had to go into the camper and abandon our campfire fun.
The next morning was just a bit chilly, but with hot tea and a warm fire, sitting out by the lake was simply gorgeous. Kaety even came out and joined us and her sister in the hammock!
Morning smiles are the best!
These sweet girls…
Morning by the lake = magic
Steve wanted to do a little fishing, so he set up his reel and threw out a traught line to try to catch a catfish. We set off to go cut some wood, as our two fires had pretty much burned up what we brought. By the time we got back, his line was taut! He pulled up a good 2 foot catfish, who had unfortunately swallowed the hook. He brought the slimy guy up and worked to free the hook, to no avail. The fish was not happy and thrashed about quite a bit, breaking the line. Steve had to figure out how to grab him and get him back down into the water without a great hold. He did it though, and we (he!) returned the fish to the lake. Steve didn’t try fishing again after that!
Steve and his catfish
Ready to go back to his lake home…
That night, we enjoyed another gorgeous sunset, a bonfire with our freshly cut wood and some more s’mores and stories. Fortunately, our fishing spot lighter menace did not return!
These sunsets don’t suck!
S’mores smiles
Apparently the wood we cut was smiling too…!!!
We were expecting storms the third day, but not until the afternoon, so we tried to make the most of the day early on. Grace made friends, as she always does, with some local ducks. She named them Daisy, Daffy and Freddie. LOL.
Grace and her ducky friends - feeding them canned peas!
Late morning, we hit up the putt-putt golf course they have at the park up by the park office. We haven’t ever taken time to do this before, and it was a lot of fun. We made it to the course and got going about 20 minutes before a group of about 16 people showed up to play! We were glad we were ahead of them and finished strong - I even got a hole in one!
Grace got a hole in one!
Kaety LOVES to golf!
Steve and me at the cool cabin we had to golf thru … note the HUGE group behind us!
My sweet girls
I wanted Grace to come with me on the 3 mile loop trail, which starts and ends at the golf course, but walking back to the car from the golf course, she stepped in a hole and twisted her ankle pretty good. :(. So she was out for the walk.
Steve and I went to cut some more wood, then I set off on the 3 mile hike on my own. It was a beautiful loop (that my watch told me was actually only 2.25 miles), and I got to see some lovely foliage and views of the lake from the loop.
Such amazing trees on this trail!
Fall foliage at its best
Views of the lake
Back at camp, we picked up rugs and other outside items, expecting the rain that would come overnight was going to be significant.
The next morning, we were certainly glad that we picked up the night before. It was our last full day, and it was definitely rainy, but not so much so that we couldn’t enjoy being outside under our canopy. Grace and I got some painting in and it slowed/stopped that night so we could have another bonfire and roast some more marshmallows.
Painting in the gloom and rain
A warm file under another beautiful moon
Kaety loves marshmallows…
And so does Grace!
It was a great trip to Elijah Clark - even though it was late in the season and we didn’t get to go out on the lake (Kaety asked at least 5 times!). We will definitely be back!
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