Georgia Traverse - Feb 2-4 (1 Viewer)

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I won’t be making it today, possibly I could try to meet up tomorrow.
 
Greetings from Hickory Knob.

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All I have to say right now was it was awesome. Had an absolute blast. Great trails. Really cool camping spots and some amazing scenery and water crossings. We need to bring a saddle for the kids to ride Zoro.

Blue was one worn out dog.

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Thanks to everyone who came out. You made it a great time! Tons of ideas for repeat trips just for the area we covered.

Day 1: We departed Burrell's Ford campground after noon with a full load and a fresh chainsaw, and were in Georgia within minutes. The trail was easy going, mostly dirt with a few sections of blacktop, and the recent rains killed any dust. We made our way across the East side of NatGeo map 778 and the shadows were starting to get long when we found our first locked gate on the route. It didn't take too long to figure out a reroute and we came to the Tallulah River ford. It was a fun swim up river and we found a cherry of a campsite shortly afterwards. Tents up, fire lit, ready for a cold night in the mountains.

59.2 miles, Peaked at 3469 ft.

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Glad I made it out Saturday and somehow got lucky in tracking you all down....thank you HAM! Wish @Izzyandsue could hear us last night on the Ham, we heard your conversation and tried making contact to tell you where we were. And too bad we didn’t get pics of the Jeep recovery and me peeling his bumper end off....oops.
 
Day 2: There is a phenomenon called Needle Ice where the air is cold enough to draw water out of the ground. As described on this trip, it looks like some kind of fungus colony sprouting from the earth. I didn't have a thermometer, but nearby Hiawassee, GA weather stats showed it to be 17 degrees that morning. Breakfast done, we hit the road. We meandered through a mix of North Georgia farmland and easy switchbacks before dropping into the dense forest around Dick's Creek and across multiple stream crossings. Any standing water was frozen solid this morning and south facing hillsides were covered in icicles. We were able to add another to our group thanks to radio communication and started ascending to Chimney Mountain and Tray Mountain roads.

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Day 2 continued...THE CLIMB
Tray Mountain is a popular destination for offroaders. We learned that Toyotas travel the rough sections east to west (uphill), and Jeeps and Ford Fusions go the other way to take advantage of the maintained road on the west side. This is where things got a little slippery at times, and a little wheel spinny at others, but it was good fun and zero damage. After this excursion we bypassed Helen and tested our cooling systems with a climb over Hog Pen Gap, then a check or transmissions/brakes coming down the other side. We turned off the highway back into the woods to cross another stream and find our camp for the night.

63.8 Miles, peaked at 3722 ft,

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Day 3: Rain. Starting around 2am the familiar patter was heard on the vehicles. It didn't stop. Not nearly as cold as the previous morning, coffee was still very welcome. Some bacon didn't hurt either. The rain faded just in time to break camp and almost make our planned departure time. We barely got moving when a pretty good waterfall was spotted and we had to check it out. Photos never do these justice. During the summer this would make a great stop to cool off.

This completed the rest of map 778. Once we got going again it was back onto the blacktop and descend through the fog across an Appalachian Trail crossing. We made our way to Helen for some sauerkraut and beer then back to the Carolinas. Ready to do it again.


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Ah man! I couldn’t catch up, we got to Trey, doing the obstacles in pitch black and looking for a place to camp, finnaly stopped around 7. Could hear you guys on and off, lots of interference. Looks like an awesome trip!
 
That looks like a great trip, and I was hoping I could make it. Last week, what I thought was a minor problem turned into a coolant leaking head gasket. Next year.
 
Great pics.
The last ones before the group shot, was that Tray Mountain?
Reminded me of dear departed Cullowhee, but spread out bigly.
The roads in and out are pretty swell too the big paved ones. Looks like you could do some good cherry picking for the funner more remote spots and sections yet get to them on fun remote mountain carving roads. Which I admire largely over the NC ones.
When can we do it again?
 

Interesting gauge cluster photo. Or, issues?? 199,999 rolling to 200,000 miles? Also, I hope your fuel gauge is not working properly and you had more fuel than shown....

Great pics from all. It sounds like a great trip. Once I get a few items buttoned up on my 40, I will be heading up that way for a long weekend. I'm glad everyone made it back with no issues.
 
Interesting gauge cluster photo. Or, issues?? 199,999 rolling to 200,000 miles? Also, I hope your fuel gauge is not working properly and you had more fuel than shown....

Great pics from all. It sounds like a great trip. Once I get a few items buttoned up on my 40, I will be heading up that way for a long weekend. I'm glad everyone made it back with no issues.
Yup, cluster working just fine. No D light and photo taken as it rolled to 200K. Fuel gauge was fine and we were 10 minutes from a pit stop.
 
Had a great time, can't wait for the next trip. Thanks Bryan for organizing .
 
I’m sure all the 80’s on the trip were in the 200’s on the climb up the one pass but I was the only one that could see actual numbers. Considering I had the yellow radiator I was the only one really worried about the number when it got over 208.

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I’m thinking we will be doing more than a couple trips this year and maybe part or all of over the mountain tour.
 

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