Stone Mountain "Sky Hike"

Since Carolyn had her Girl Scout event at the park Sunday, we spent the day out there. We started with hiking the mountain. We parked at Crossroads and rode the train around to the walk-up trail. It took us about 40 minutes to walk up. With my knee, Carolyn and I rode the sky cars down while the boys all walked back to the base. Then we had lunch at "Miss Katie's" restaurant at Crossroads. They have very good food and I enjoy cooling down and taking my time eating there.

The highlight for the kids was the Sky Hike and ropes course, though. We all took the time to try the Sky Hike. Only the first level was open, there will be three in the long run when it's completely finished. The first level is approximately 10-12 feet up. Each level up is of course higher. The whole thing is in the area where the Tree House used to be. Some of the tree house is still there, but not a lot of it.

Anyway, they help you put on a harness, then hook you to a rope that hangs overhead from a steel girter. You can then walk "plain" wood beams, or try the variations of rope walks. The boys all tried the harder portions. My daughter and I varied the route. Here's a pic of each of us on various parts.

I have the admit that the harness thing is not a good tool for flattering your body. My nephew's main complaint was the wedgie it caused him. On the side of the Sky Hike is the small ropes course (very similar to the sky hike, but with ropes and only a foot off the ground) that was there last year. There's also a couple of rock climbing towers. All three enjoyed those multiple times, racing even though they weren't supposed to. The nice thing about the smaller course is that there's a zip line at the end that the kids can ride. That may happen on the upper Sky Hike areas, but isn't there now.