DLC Camping Trip: GA Traverse June 19-21 (1 Viewer)

[Bama4door]

We decided at our last club meeting we would setup a camping trip June 19-21 weekend to run the GA Traverse.

Last time, Brent me and Clarence ran it West to East. It was great being able to get on the trail in just a couple hours from Bham, but it’s definitely not as scenic as running it East to West. Having to fight Atlanta traffic if we start East to West is a huge downfall too. But we just won’t let Clarence lead the convoy through ATL traffic this time Any suggestions?

Tentative plan is to leave Bham around 11am Friday morning.

Who’s in?

 

[bamabrock]

I think I am. I have to knock out some maintenance beforehand.

edit: my renovation is wrapping up with the goal of listing it the first of July, so i'll probably have to be out. I behind schedule on the landscaping and garage repairs, which are my parts.

 

[Bama4door]

I think I am. I have to knock out some maintenance beforehand.

Should we schedule up a wrench day to prepare for GT?

 

[DPV7070]

I think I'm in as well.

 

[booradley]

In.

 

[matt32]

I'm in if we can leave after 11 (work and junk)

 

[Bama4door]

I'm in if we can leave after 11 (work and junk)

Yea we can leave at 11:30. Main thing is trying to beat ATL traffic.

 

[matt32]

Actually in the not middle of the night kind of thought mark me as a maybe. So If y'all need to leave at 11 do it and I'll leave work early or play catch up.

 

[bamabrock]

Should we schedule up a wrench day to prepare for GT?

Probably so. Any ideas of dates?

 

[Bama4door]

Probably so. Any ideas of dates?

I'm busy every weekend up until GT trip, so I'm out.

I know Drew mentioned we could do a wrench day at his shop in Avondale Sat June 27th.

 

[bamabrock]

Recent GA traverse intel:

I ran this Memorial Day Weekend east to west. Camping is going to be REALLY hard with that many vehicles. We struggled to find space for 3-4 vehicles (one guy had to bail on us at about the 40% mark). Maybe y'all should look at some of the established pay camp grounds? You aren't going to find dispersed sites for a group that large.

The sections I know we had to detour because of gates were:
Abe Gap/FS 32C and the connecting Coleman River Rd 1 & Coleman River Rd 2. We ran south continuing on Patterson Gap Rd and then hit Persimmon Rd to meet back up with the track.

We also had to bypass Dicks Creek shortly after Charlie's Creek. Just continue south on Lookout Mountain Scenic Hwy (Hwy 76) and then turn southwest on Hwy 197 and it'll join you back with the track.

The last detour we had was to get around Tray Mountain Road. Stay southwest on Hwy 356 and then northwest on Hwy 75 to jump back on.

I'm pretty sure we didn't have any issues from that point on. We took one little detour that wasn't because of gates to refuel the much thirstier rigs. I used a fullsize iPad in a mount that was easy to access which made navigating a bit easier, but if you have a human copilot put them in charge of navigation and make sure they learn how to use Gaia. I used the MVUM and streets map overlays which really helped.

 

[Bama4door]

Do we want to start near Dillard, GA like we did this time last year? We could also start around Helen, GA (German town where we stopped for lunch) that would cut down Friday road time and avoid some ATL traffic.

 

[TankTheLC]

Hate that we're going to miss this one but hopefully we'll make the next ride!

 

[booradley]

Bump.

Want to meet at the Leeds exit at the gas station at the bottom of the hill from Bass Pro, gassed up and ready to go at 11:00?

 

[Bama4door]

Bump.

Want to meet at the Leeds exit at the gas station at the bottom of the hill from Bass Pro, gassed up and ready to go at 11:00?

Yea that sounds good to me. I think it’s a Chevron, the one right on the corner?

 

[matt32]

Ah the good ole Fuzzy Mule location.

 

[bamabrock]

Pics?

 

[Bama4door]

Quick trip report: @Forerunner @booradley @RusticMtn

Friday -

Clarence, Stephen, myself and my dad left Bham around 11:15am and made our way towards Dillard. We did the GT this same weekend last year with the club, but had a few more people last year come on the ride.

Drew @RusticMtn was gracious enough to let me and my dad borrow one of his trailers for the weekend. I brought my 80 on this trip and had my RTT mounted up top along with Drew's trailer (which has it's own RTT).

Per usual, we got stuck 3 different times in ATL traffic, but finally made it onto I-985 to head North. Once we got to Dillard, we stopped in at Ingles and got groceries for the weekend. We ran into a few guys that were looking over our Cruisers that had just rode dirt bikes up in KY and NC for the past week. From there the trail head was about 15 minutes away and once we hit dirt we aired down and grabbed a beer.

Our plan was to hit the campsite we camped at last year. Right after you get on the trail to the campsite, there’s a pretty cool creek crossing you take. The water was a lot colder this year than I remember. After the creek crossing, we headed up the trail about a mile and took an open campsite that was right next to the creek.

There was a couple down at the campsite in a Jeep that wasn’t camping, but “hanging out” (meth or sex, either one sorry we interrupted!) and told us the spot was ours. The guy then proceeded to tell us the bears were “on the move” this time of year. Oh goodie....

 

[Bama4door]

Creek crossing

 

[Bama4door]

Campsite Friday night