Georgetown, LA

Wild Azalea Trail

The plan was to spend 2 or 3 nights hiking on the Wild Azalea Trail. I wanted to get some intense backpacking in, now that my hip was back to normal.

When I got to the first trailhead for Wild Azalea I noticed that it was in the thick of Deer hunting season. I explored the forest roads for a place that I felt safe to park the jeep and get prepared. After moving everything in the back of my Jeep around in order to pack my bag I departed. It was already 3pm or so when I started. I needed to really make some ground if I was going to find a place to camp that was away from the roads.

The trail took me to some deep woods. It was a pretty warm day around 75, with a slight breeze. I was wearing my neon yellow t-shirt to hopefully show the hunters in the area that I wasn’t a deer. I constantly heard shots all directions around me. I ended up bringing my bear bell, just as another hopeful early warning system.

This was a pretty cool area to hike through. It was unlike any scenery I had seen yet. About a mile or so into the hike I saw a spider. But this wasn’t any ordinary spider. It was a big ass tarantula!! It was walking down the middle of the path coming right for me.

My immediate reaction was fear, I felt my body start to turn and run the opposite direction. Looking a bit longer, I noticed that this was just a friendly guy who was moving at a pretty slow pace. After a few photos and videos I was on my way.

As I continued on the path I noticed a bunch of ant hills. They seemed to always be at the top of hills. I assume to stay dry, but who knows. The main path was completely covered with pine needles, fallen leaves, and other brush. As I’m looking closely at where my feet are landing I notice little mini cleared out paths carved into the main path. I slow to look closer and I see a train of ants with leaves and food on their backs. They cleared out a 1” wide road for themselves all they way back to their homes. It was really a cool thing to witness. If I hadn’t slowed down and checked out the nature I would have just walked right over it.

Right around dusk I found a flat spot to call home for the night. It was a warm night so I decided to leave the rainfly off. This was the first time in the wilderness that I ate a cheeba chew. If I remember correctly it was a sativa. It really got my mind running. I ended up having all types of wild ideas and made sure to jot some of them down in my phone.

Early the next morning I packed up camp and decided to head back to the car. I had a website that I needed to get done, so I decided to cut this hike short. I’d like to go back to that trail if I can.

About 2 minutes after I walk out of my camp I come up to a deer hunter and then another. It probably wasn’t safe for me to be hiking there anyway.