IF YOU GO
Hard Labor Creek State Park
Encompassing 5,804 acres, it is Georgia’s second-largest state park. Its 24 miles of trails take hikers and horseback riders through a mosaic of upland pine and hardwood forest, steep-walled creek bottoms, granite outcrops, old fields, broad floodplain forest and man-made lakes.
- Fishing and boating are allowed in the 275-acre Lake Rutledge.
- Several night-time paddling programs are being offered this summer.
- A lakeside beach is open for sunning and swimming during summer.
- The park's 18-hole golf course has a driving range and rental carts.
- Restroom facilities, camping areas, rental cabins and group picnic shelters are available.
Directions: From Atlanta, travel 50 miles east on I-20. Take Exit 105 and follow signs to Hard Labor Creek State Park.
Cost: $5 parking fee. Extra fees for special, optional programs.
Park office: Hard Labor Creek State Park, 5 Hard Labor Creek Road, Rutledge, GA 30663. 706-557-3001, www.gastateparks.org /HardLaborCreek
To us outdoor lovers, nature’s sounds on a midsummer night are as soothing as a mother’s lullaby.
That’s what drew us one night last weekend to Lake Rutledge in Hard Labor Creek State Park in Morgan County, a 45-minute drive east of Atlanta.
With our friend Phil Delestrez, a state park naturalist, leading the way, we paddled our kayaks around the peaceful 275-acre lake to enjoy the sights and sounds of a perfect July evening away from the city grind.
The night was cool, calm and clear. The only sounds were nature’s. The only light was from a first quarter moon and the stars and planets shining brightly in the dark sky.
As we left the boat ramp, the plaintive call of a chuck-will’s-widow rang out from the woods. To me, the calls of the chuck-will’s-widow and its close cousin, the whip-poor-will, are the essence of a summer evening in the rural South. They lulled me to sleep on many a summer night when I was growing up on Johns Island, S.C.
Now, when I hear them, they bring back happy childhood memories.
Next, we paused along a marshy area lining the shore, where a chorus of frogs serenaded us. Phil picked out the short trills of gray tree frogs; the loud, nasal “queenk, queenk, queenks” of green tree frogs; the rapid “click, click, clicks” (like two marbles clicking together) of tiny cricket frogs; the banjo-like twangs of green (or bronze) frogs; and the piping, bird-like whistles of bird-voiced tree frogs.
Competing with the frogs in loudness were the katydids. No Southern summer night, of course, would be complete without the loud racket (though not unpleasant) of katydids.
A barred owl hooted faintly in the distance. Some yippings I heard probably were from red fox cubs.
We paused in the middle of the lake, where Phil drew our attention skyward to a reddish dot nearly touching the moon. “It’s Mars,” he said. Above us, etched clearly in the dark sky, were the seven stars of the Big Dipper, its “handle” pointing to the North Star, a reliable navigation aid that for centuries has helped travelers find their way.
IN THE SKY: The moon will be full Saturday night — the "Ripe Corn Moon," as the Cherokee peoples called this month's full moon, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. Mercury is low in the east just before dawn. Venus rises out of the east about an hour before dawn. Mars is in the west at sunset. Saturn is in the west just after dark and sets around midnight.
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