Chamblee54

They called it BYOM…bring your own machete. The plan was to meet at the bridge over the tracks on Piedmont Road, just north of the park. Next, go down to the proposed beltway path and clear out enough weeds to make a hike the next week feasible.
PG got to Ansley Mall a bit before 10, and found what looked like a shaded parking spot. The sidewalks were full of people leaving the end of the Peachtree Road Race. PG hung out by the bridge, and waited for hikers. Finally, a few minutes before giving up, Angel showed up.
Angel was the organizer of the hike. A few weeks ago, Creative Loafing called him one of the happiest people in Atlanta. ( PG proceeds to waste 15 minutes trying to find a link to the article). Angel said that others were late because of the Road Race.
PG asked Angel if what they were doing was legal. Angel said he thought so, and the police were probably busy with the Road Race. Within a few minutes the other four choppers had arrived. PG said that someone needs to be first, and started down the hill to the tracks.
PG had brought some loppers, and very quickly found them to be useless. He had a small pair of hand clippers that he used. Clearing weeds from those tracks with hand clippers was like draining a swimming pool with a coffee mug. For a while he was pulling up masses of kudzu with his hands, and had someone else cut them with a machete.
This process very quickly resembled work. Even though it was mild ( by Atlanta July standards), PG was soon light headed and covered in sweat. After a while, one person got out a small saw, and gave PG his machete. Swinging a machete was also a workout, and PG despaired of making much of a dent in the greenery. It was the plant kingdom against the animal kingdom, and the plants were winning.
The good news was, with six people hacking at the underbrush, a surprising amount of progress was made. Before long, the troops reached the Montgomery Ferry Bridge, which was the turnaround. PG went ahead to get some graffiti pictures, and came back to the sweltering choppers. The return trip went much faster than the trip out, even with cutting back the kudzu growth from the previous hour.
At the Piedmont bridge, one person had to leave. The rest went down the rail bed the other way towards Piedmont Park. There is a bit of acreage that is being added onto the park. A new road has been built to provide access to a parking deck. There is a lot of silt fences and bulldozers at the moment, but before too much longer this will be another green space for the city.
One of the cutters is involved in a project with big trees. There was a tulip poplar nearby that he wanted to measure. It was 11 feet around at the base. The remaining hikers walked back on a dirt road. While Piedmont Park is reputed to be air conditioned, the dirt road beside it was hot. When the kudzu killers were back on Piedmont Road, they took “after” pictures of the rail bed. A man from LA fitness came by and gave them 7 day passes. PG wonders if that includes parking at the Spring Street facility.