Category: Hiking

Bly Gap

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 6.0 miles
Elevation gain: 1,631 feet
Type: Out and Back
Trailhead: Pull off on dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)

I’m still working on finishing up the GA 4000 Challenge, and have six peaks to go. All six are in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness, just inside Georgia near the North Carolina state line.

While researching the final six on Peakbagger.com, I found a route that linked all peaks in one long day. So, I decided to scout one end of the route to see what it looked like, and was very pleasantly surprised with the route to Bly Gap that I didn’t know about. Here is an AllTrails link

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Horsetrough Mountain and Spaniards Knob

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 11.67 miles
Elevation gain: 3,350 feet
Type: Out and Back
Trailhead: Gravel parking from paved road. (map)

Another day working on the GA 4000 Challenge, this time starting at Jacks Gap. We started by hiking south on Jacks Knob trail to the junction with the Appalachian Trail (AT). The two trails meet in Chattahoochee Gap. The headwaters of the Chattahoochee River are a short way down a side trail from the gap.

AllTrails.com map here.

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Rich Mtn, Tickanetley Bald & Big Bald

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 13.1 miles
Elevation gain: 2,830 feet
Type: Out and Back
Trailhead: Pull off on dirt road (FS 338), passenger car accessible. (map)

Knocked out three more peaks on the GA 4000 Challenge today. One aspect of the Challenge that I really enjoy is exploring new areas, especially when you come across intriguing things, and this hike was did just that. Two things stand out as needing possible future investigation. First, there is Native American history in the area. There are signs on Big Bald Mountain warning people to leave artifacts alone. Also, we came across what is likely a “trail tree” along the route from Rich Mountain to Tickanentley Bald. Read more about trail trees at Mountain Stewards The other cool thing was a trail leading off the dirt road. I can’t find any information, so may need to re-visit the area and just see where it goes.

AllTrails map here.

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Coosa Bald, Slaughter Mtn and Blood Mtn

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

Summary
Distance: 9.7 miles
Elevation gain: 3,077 feet
Type: Out and Back
Trailhead: Gravel pull out, paved road. (map)

This hike was the start of my participation in the Georgia 4000 Challenge. We started out with the intention of only doing two peaks, but Blood Mtn was so close that it seemed to be a good idea to knock it out while we were in the area.

Georgia Hwy 180 gave us a perfect place to start. The road gave us access to Wolf Pen Gap where we parked, and allowed us to eat a snack and change out of wet clothes between the peaks as we were hiking during the remnants of Tropical Storm Delta.

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GA 4000 Challenge Overview

~ steve houghton ~ Leave a comment

The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club offers the Georgia 4000 Challenge which consists of climbing 32 peaks in Georgia that are over 4,000 feet high.

The hikes are almost always off trail near the summit. Some hikes are mostly trail or dirt road, while others can involve a lot of off trail travel called “bushwhacking”. Black berries are not my friend anymore after being shredded on some of the bushwhacks.