108 miles and 15,000+ vertical feet of the Pinhoti.
We were dropped off Friday at a trailhead in Summerville, GA. It was pouring down rain and 41 degrees… I was skeptical and debated for a moment about riding. Two of the guys (there were 6 of us) decided to stay dry and warm and took the cars into town for some beers and to buy dry firewood for that night. They were going to meet us at that night’s camping destination. It only took a few minutes to be completely soaked and ok with it. We would shiver any time we stopped moving so we tried to just keep going. We covered 38 miles and over 4,500 feet climbing on gravel road and amazing single track all while it continued to pour. We had our ~40 lb packs on just in case we didn’t make it to the camp site. It was an insane adventure and we were met by our dry friends at the site with hot coffee, dry socks and firewood. We camped at the Snake Creek Gap 17 mile trailhead. It finally stopped raining around 8PM the stars came out and we decided to use the cars to check out Jim's Family Restaurant. That way we could save our packed food and not have to re-up on groceries in Dalton.
The second day started with a welcomed sunrise and a high of ~60 degrees. All 6 of us were ready to roll with all of our equipment for the next 2 days. We covered 40 miles and another 5,000 feet of climbing before we found a really great camping spot. We rode the final 17 miles of Snake Creek Gap (which is an entirely different animal with a 40lb pack and the contents of a seatpost rack slapping you in the bum). We then had to make it to Chatsworth on pavement, so we refueled in Dalton and proceeded with the strangest looking paceline I’ve ever seen. The last few gravel miles before the camp spot felt like 20+ degree grades and I ultimately snapped my chain and bent my derailleur hanger which would haunt me later.
The third day was intense. The sun skipped through the huge hardwoods very early. It was hard to get any sleep so I didn’t mind… My back wouldn’t allow me to lay flat - on my back or stomach, and my hips didn’t like me being on my side… not to mention that we had three dudes crammed into an oversized two man tent. To start the day off, we got lost a couple times and found a nice creek to filter and refill on water. We had used all of our water for dinner and breakfast which were both amazing. Apparently there are some really great JetBoil recipes out there. One we found the Pinhoti again, we climbed some serious grades for what seemed like forever. The views were fantastic and the payoffs were insane! We came out of the woods after several hours to highway 52 and the Cohutta Overlook. It was cool to see the land we had ridden through on the horizon. From the overlook we bombed down the mountain and then over another pass on the most fun single track of the trip which dumped us into Bear Creek. We made it to Elijay where our buddy was waiting with a 15 person van to shuttle us back to where we had left our cars. Day three covered only 30 miles but over 5,500 feet of climbing.
There were surprisingly few mechanicals and no significant crashes – even with all the gear on. It was great to be reminded how vast even north GA is. The riding was very challenging and rewarding. I had previously convinced myself that I had to go to Pisgah in NC to get this type of all day riding in but in reality this stuff is only 60ish miles away.
