By Guest Columnist MARK PENDERGRAST, an Atlanta native and author
When I was a child growing up in Atlanta, one of my favorite family outings was the hike up Stone Mountain, a monadnock which rises dramatically to the east of the city. A huge granite “pluton” formed over 300 million years ago, it offers an easy, gradual hike up the southern slope, though we had to take care not to fall over the steep northern edge when we reached the top (there was no guard rail then, as I recall).
