2011-04-01 34 -83

Location

On north side of Highway 17 (Toccoa Bypass), 4.75 kilometers from Toccoa, GA.

Participants

tomkf61

Plans

I immediately liked the look of this hash. It's located on the highway right-of-way so I didn't expect any access issues. The area surrounding has a few places I'd like to visit. The North Georgia Mountains are one of my favorite places, ever.

Head out from home around 11:00 AM. Travel up Interstate 85 and go to Toccoa, GA from the south. Enjoy the drive.

Expedition

The weather was absolutely glorious today. I got a late start at 11:30 AM.

Missed turn lane for I-85 N at GA 20, darn. I decided that this was serendipitous when I realized that I could get to Toccoa more easily on I-985. I particularly like this stretch of highway. I used to drive this way to visit my dad in Blairsville, GA. The drive was scenic and smooth all the way to the hash.

My map survey shows the hash to be between two small access roads running north from Highway 17. I was somewhat concerned that the embankment on the north side of the highway would be too steep to access the hash.

I traveled down Highway 17 from the West and felt lucky that there was a median cut-through right where I needed it at the western access road just before the hash. I was able to turn left onto the access road. Parked the car so that I didn't block the road even though it seemed disused (see picture).

Was able to walk straight to the hash along the road about 149 meters, and then turned left for a couple of meters to the spot. The road embankment was in fact quite steep and overgrown with weeds, etc. Luckily, the hash was quite close to the top of the embankment. I danced the GPS around until I was on the hash. I really need a better GPS for this. I took pictures and marked the hash with a pile of bird seed that I brought.

The views from the area were quite nice. To the south the vista is dominated by Currahee Mountain, approximately 2.6 kilometers to the south. The mountain's summit is approximately 240 meters above the surrounding terrain.

On the downside, the shoulder of the road was marred by litter. A lot of trash has been thrown there, and the DOT hasn't done any clean-up lately. I spent a few minutes cleaning up the area immediately surrounding the hash.

Got back to the car and headed to the nearest convenience store, a Shell station about 1.4 kilometers SE. Got a Slush Puppy frozen grape drink and some roasted peanuts to cool-off and tide me over to dinner.

As I had time, I proceeded to do some sightseeing. Somehow, I've managed to live most of my life in northern Georgia without once visiting Toccoa. The complete sum of my knowledge about the town prior to researching for this expedition was that it figured prominently in the history of the US Army Airborne during WWII (Camp Toccoa), and the failure of the Kelly Barnes Dam in 1977 (39 people dead, $2.8 million in damage).

I toured the town and found it to be charming. I recommend a visit to the historic downtown. I considered visiting the Currahee Military Museum but was put-off by the admission price and lack of time.

After leaving town I traveled to one of my favorite places in NE Georgia, Tallulah Dam and Tallulah Gorge (see picture). The gorge is over 900 feet deep and the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi.

Had to head back home about 3:30 PM to do my usual Friday tasks. This was the best outdoor adventure I've had in over a year. Round trip travel about 245 miles, 6.0 hours (including sightseeing on the way home).