Well, thought I'd entertain a few with a trip report. Being from Florida, you jump at a chance to find some cooler weather so when Skeeter Magnet and I had 4 days off for Labor Day we decided to head north.
We left Jax about 11:30pm Thursday night and drove straight through. After stopping in Cleveland for groceries at Walmart around 7am we headed north of Helen to scout out a site for the weekend. Our 1st stop was Upper Chattahoochee River Campground. The water seemed too low for fishing at the sites so we drove down to Low Gap and found the same situation. We decided to look at the free sites on the river and of course those were all full. Early bird gets the worm. We decided to check on Andrew's Cove then. Found a great spot on the creek. The place had easy access to the main road for when we went to Helen and I had some family dropping by and knew they wouldn't like driving on the one lane gravel mountain roads.
We set up our site and quickly went to sleep seeing as how we'd been up over 24 hours at this point. A few hours later we got up and drove down to River Rd. for some fishing. NOT A SINGLE BITE!! Turns out they hadn't stocked the river yet so we figured we would try Saturday. Had a paper on my goals and aspirations that was due Saturday that I was too lazy to complete during the week, but had some great inspiration while sitting on the creek, so I finished that. Went to bed that night thinking it was gonna be too warm for the KAQ UQ. I was wrong. I believe the low was around 65 that night, maybe a bit lower. Had a few cold spots so the next night I threw it on and I was nice and toasty.
Saturday we tried some fishing in Helen to no avail. Drove up to Neels Gap and completed a section hike at Walasi-Yi, all 50 yards of it. Woot!! Got to have lunch and dinner with my Georgia family which is always a treat. Then watched the second half of the Gators game. Smh... Then it was back to the woods.
Woke up Sunday morning and got a down pour while making breakfast. Huddle House it is!! Since we were in town we decided to tube the hooche. Now I haven't down this since I was a little boy and while I loved it I distinctly remember my dad not being the happiest person after walking a good bit of the river. lol. Guess it was my turn 20 years later. Didn't actually walk and but i got stuck several times and was able to maneuver my way around by my flailing arms and legs. Skeeter Magnet fared better and ending up taking a few breaks to wait for me. All in all enjoyed the river though. Way different from tubing the Itchetucknee in Florida. Tried one more go at fishing. No luck.
Drove to Unicoi State Park and hiked up Anna Ruby Falls. That an amazing waterfall right there. Then it poured again on the way down. Came back to the site and made the most delicious thing ever. A Bacon and Egg Cheeseburger on toast. Holy Crap this thing was good. Immediately when dinner was over the heavens opened and didn't close again till about 12 hours later. This was our first real storm in our hammocks. We fared pretty well compared to the tenters but definitely noticed some things for the future. IE: hang my tarp tighter. Woke up the next morning, packed up and headed out to meet my family who grilled out some steaks for us then headed back to the 904.
Such an awesome trip. Great weather (even with the rain). It was so nice to get away from all our distractions for a few days and just relax. Can't wait for the next one. Pics to come bout looks like I deleted the one of the Bacon and Egg Cheeseburger. NO!!!
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