My wife and I decided to get out of the city to recharge & decompress with a short excursion up to NW Georgia this weekend. Specifically we wanted to make the entire loop around the Cohutta Wilderness which as you all know is a portion of the Georgia Traverse.
We drove up to Blue Ridge, GA to fuel up, grabbed a few snacks to supplement our already packed dinner & breakfast then took Hwy. 2 (Watson Gap Rd.) up to intersect with FS Rd. 22-2 then headed northerly in a counter-clockwise route.
Weather: Broken clouds with some sun and low wind on Friday, wind picked up Friday night as a front moved in (we set up camp on a ridge top which amplified the breeze impact). Saturday was thin overcast and blustery with rain pending. Started to rain around 3:00 PM Saturday but remained light and pleasant. High temps were in mid to low 40s with low just above freezing during Friday night. Our RTT and zero degree sleeping bag (a double bag which promotes cuddling in winter :)) were excellent performers once again!
Road conditions: Last rain in the area was about 3 days prior so we only encountered a few puddles and a limited number of minor ruts on some of the steeper hills. The entire route could pretty easily be completed in a 2 WD sedan with, of course, a little patience and good judgement.
Traffic Load: We saw 6-8 other vehicles over the time frame we were off pavement one of those being a TN Game Warden. There were several folks in the area hiking, some day hikes and others with full-on backpacks loaded for longer trips. I was expecting more hunting activity since this was the final weekend of deer and bear hunting in the area. We did see one PU with dog boxes in back and another, later in the morning Saturday, with an antenna array to track his dogs.
Closures: FS Rd. 221 is the main road of the loop and was open completely but most of the side routes going to creeks, falls, camping etc. were gated. Some of that is seasonal and some, I assume, due to needed road repair after our significantly rainy fall/winter this year.
High and low points: Great to get out with so little vehicle and human traffic on a cold January weekend. As expected the vistas were outstanding with all leaves off trees and shrubs (except Rhododendrons in the lower bottoms). We were hoping to make the entire loop around the Wilderness but encountered a gate closing W Cowpen Rd. at the intersection of GA 630 so we had to exit the loop and head over to Hwy 411 Chatsworth and return home.
We drove up to Blue Ridge, GA to fuel up, grabbed a few snacks to supplement our already packed dinner & breakfast then took Hwy. 2 (Watson Gap Rd.) up to intersect with FS Rd. 22-2 then headed northerly in a counter-clockwise route.
Weather: Broken clouds with some sun and low wind on Friday, wind picked up Friday night as a front moved in (we set up camp on a ridge top which amplified the breeze impact). Saturday was thin overcast and blustery with rain pending. Started to rain around 3:00 PM Saturday but remained light and pleasant. High temps were in mid to low 40s with low just above freezing during Friday night. Our RTT and zero degree sleeping bag (a double bag which promotes cuddling in winter :)) were excellent performers once again!
Road conditions: Last rain in the area was about 3 days prior so we only encountered a few puddles and a limited number of minor ruts on some of the steeper hills. The entire route could pretty easily be completed in a 2 WD sedan with, of course, a little patience and good judgement.
Traffic Load: We saw 6-8 other vehicles over the time frame we were off pavement one of those being a TN Game Warden. There were several folks in the area hiking, some day hikes and others with full-on backpacks loaded for longer trips. I was expecting more hunting activity since this was the final weekend of deer and bear hunting in the area. We did see one PU with dog boxes in back and another, later in the morning Saturday, with an antenna array to track his dogs.
Closures: FS Rd. 221 is the main road of the loop and was open completely but most of the side routes going to creeks, falls, camping etc. were gated. Some of that is seasonal and some, I assume, due to needed road repair after our significantly rainy fall/winter this year.
High and low points: Great to get out with so little vehicle and human traffic on a cold January weekend. As expected the vistas were outstanding with all leaves off trees and shrubs (except Rhododendrons in the lower bottoms). We were hoping to make the entire loop around the Wilderness but encountered a gate closing W Cowpen Rd. at the intersection of GA 630 so we had to exit the loop and head over to Hwy 411 Chatsworth and return home.
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