Garland Mountain Horse and Hiker Trail
Committee Members

Larry: “I am a lover of nature and horseback trail riding and am prepared to volunteer as best I can to develop and maintain well-designed trails suitable for equestrians, mountain bikers and hikers as our land and maintenance resources are very limited.” Larry is a certified and practicing Crew Leader graduate of Mike Riter’s education program for trail design, construction, and maintenance. He is a certified USFS chain saw operator and has experience operating mini-skid loaders and other equipment used during trail construction and maintenance.

As a Director for the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association, and crew leader for a major section of the Georgia Pinhoti Trail (GPT), Wheat interacts with several USDA-U.S. Forest Service (USFS) personnel within the Conasauga Ranger District of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests in Georgia.

Ellen: “My favorite pastime is trail riding - experiencing America’s wild and scenic wonders from the back of my horse. I am dedicated to preserving that pleasure and willing to devote my time and talents as a volunteer to help ensure there are natural places and trails to ride today and tomorrow. I’m delighted to be part of the Garland Mountain Horse & Hike Trails team, and thankful that we’ll have a beautiful and safe place to ride and enjoy nature, close to home, that we can truly call “ours”.

Ellen is a veteran volunteer. She has served on the Boards, as an Officer and on Committees for all kinds of horse-related organizations including the Atlanta Equestrian Society, the Georgia Horse Council, the Chattahoochee Trail Horse Association, the Southeastern Equestrian Trails Conference as well as the Cherokee County Saddle Club. All that led to interaction with USDA Forest Service and Georgia DNR and State Parks regarding the development of trails. Ellen is a certified Trail Crew Leader and trained in the practices of proper trail design, construction and maintenance. She has personally accumulated and documented over 400 hours of physical trail work.

Ellen and her husband, Bill, have lived on their horse farm in Union Hill for 32 years. They enjoy traveling about the Southeast from Virginia to Florida with their Tennessee Walking Horses, Belle and Breezy, to camp and trail ride. From her experiences, Ellen designed a parking lot for horse trailers that will effectively work well at Garland Mountain. She also designed the GMHHT logo.

Marianne: “Being a past board member for many years with Little League and a roller hockey league in Florida I was always very involved in volunteering. I love the Saddle Club, was honored to serve as its President for several years and now I am totally excited about being the Club Liaison for GMHHT.”

I always wanted to have a horse and after blowing out the 40 candles on my birthday cake, I decided it was time. My daughter and I took lessons and now I own a small herd of horses and various trailers including a horse camper trailers for some serious overnight horse camping.

Cindy Young: “I love and have been involved with horses pretty much all my life. As an Endurance Rider my Arabian horses and I have logged 6,500 miles in our career together. That’s a LOT of Trails. I am also an avid hiker and I have seen our public access woods and natural forest slowly disappear to commercial use. The green space at Garland Mountain is so exciting to me because it will always be there for us to ride and hike.”

The Volunteer position on the GMHHT Committee is not for the faint of heart or those of little energy and anyone who knows Cindy, knows she is the proverbial Energizer Bunny. Not only does she solicit volunteers but is responsible for getting the right volunteers for the work to be done on the work days. She is a member of CCSC, AERC and GERA and has a farm in Waleska with her husband.

Dr. Ken Humber: “I have always been at home in the woods. As an avid horse backpacker, trails are as important to me as roads are when I’m driving an automobile. In 1985 my wife Brigitte and I bought our 150 acres ranch at the base of Pine Long Mountain in Waleska. Back then there were so many places to hike and ride in the Pinelog and Garland Mountain areas. Now, there is so much building going on that our pristine mountains are rapidly shrinking. I was very excited when I heard that Cherokee County using their Garland Mountain greenspace for horseback riding and hiking. I wanted to volunteer me and my excavator to build trails!”

After several productive days working on the trails, Larry Wheat encouraged Ken to attend a trail master (crew leader) certification course given my Mike Riter, owner of Trail Design, Inc. Mike is the former Georgia Trails Education Specialist. He now provides crew leader training and trail consulting, design and construction services throughout the United States.

“At first”, Dr. Humber says “I was reluctant to take the course. After all, I have been building trails for many years. Why would I need to take a course like this? Well, I did and am so glad. I learned basic theory on sustainable trail design and long-term maintenance techniques. Training on efficient and safe crew leadership was covered as well. I highly recommend this course to anyone who loves to explore our great outdoors by bike, horse, or their own two feet. Trails not only take you somewhere, but also offer exercise, tranquility, and discovery in nature.”

In the Summer of 2002 Brigitte and Ken spent the summer and fall guiding pack trips and trail rides in the Wind River and Gros Ventre Mountains for Bridger Wilderness Outfitters in Wyoming. When they came home to Georgia for the winter and fall months, they concentrated on turning Humberland into a guest ranch and after three years they were ready to focus all of their attention on Humberland.

Dr. Ken, a semi-retired Orthospinologis and his wife Brigitte who majored in music at Reinhardt College, offer a beautiful log cabin for overnight guests, access to 800 acres for trail rides, pack trips, archery, fishing and much more.

Carolyn: “I have had horses all of my life, have a background in radio/TV, film production and public relations and am a member of CCSC. Before starting my own businesses, Horses From the Ground Up, I taught horseback riding and led trail rides up on Garland Mountain. It seemed that every day there was more development and less area in which to safely ride. As a member of CCSC I was thrilled to find out that there would be a forever greenspace preserve for riding and hiking. I had to help get the word out.”

Carolyn is also a member of Chattahoochee Trail Horse association and Back County Horsemen’s Association and lives right outside Waleska with her “animal farm” and husband Kris Maltby.