The View from Blood Mountain
Georgia is not blessed with an abundance of mighty, towering peaks, but the northeast corner of the state does offer some beautiful scenery and fun rock scrambling.
Olivia and I were pressed for time and were only able to make a short day climb so we opted for an easy climb up scenic Blood Mountain whose name is derived from a legendary Indian battle between the Creek and Cherokee which took place in nearby Slaughter Gap. |
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At only 4,500 feet elevation and less than three miles into the wilderness, Blood Mountain is easily conquered and has become one of the most popular peaks in the state. The trail was even more crowded because it was the first warm Sunday afternoon of the spring and tourists were everywhere. Most tourists and dayhikers evaporate five or six miles into the wilderness or around 7,000-10,000 feet altitude, whichever comes first. But since neither barrier exists on Blood Mountain we ran into more climbers on this trip than all other trips combined.
Olivia and I didn't depart until 11:15 am. After only a mile or so we were enjoying spectacular views from the south side of the mountain, which turns to massive slates of rock near the summit. The first panorama was a rocky outcropping that overlooked the southern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From that point, vistas are seen every few minutes for the rest of the way to the top. The trail remains rocky and slightly strenuous in a few places, but the scenery is so rewarding that you don't think about it.
The summit was capped by a monstrous boulder the size of a small house. Climbing to the top of it brought 360 degree views in all directions, with Brasstown Bald visible to the northeast, Yonah Mountain to the southeast, and even the Atlanta skyline visible some fifty miles away on the southern horizon. Olivia and I plopped down, shed our backpacks and prepared a freeze-dried lunch of chicken teriyaki and rice, complemented by gourmet side dishes including peanut butter crackers, peanuts and vanilla cookies for dessert. It was like having lunch on top of the world... or at least on top of Georgia.
After an hour on the summit, we pressed on down the western face of the mountain and tried to follow the poorly marked trails which became even more confusing when they left out several camping loops that split off the main trail. We still saw plenty of other dayhikers until we crossed Byrd Gap and decided to go off trail and make a run for another nearby peak called Turkey Stamp. From that point on we didn't see a single soul nearly until we got back to our car.
Turkey Stamp is a minor summit along the ridge that connects the western face of Blood Mountain to Gaddis Mountain nearly two miles to the southwest. Its always fun to knock out two peaks on the same trip and this one looked like a piece of cake, so we tried it and for once things actually went easily. We stomped our way through the brush to the summit and were rewarded with a great view of the rocky peak of Blood Mountain where we had eaten lunch less than two hours before. It wasn't much of a conquest, but after all the miseries that other mountains have handed to us we figured we had an easy one coming. Our second peak came with the added advantage of having beaten the crowd... now several miles into the wilderness, we hadn't seen another human being for quite a while.
We left Turkey Stamp behind us and made our way back, which was about a two hour trek with the sun setting on the other side of the peak behind us. The trip back was beautiful as well, but something of an anti-climax after the splendid views from atop Blood Mountain. The afternoon heat also detracted from the journey home. At less than five thousand feet elevation you get very little relief from Georgia's humid temperatures... about halfway back we were wishing we'd been ten thousand feet higher.
Blood Mountain hardly qualifies as a challenging mountain climb, but I was traveling in Georgia and it was the best climb available so we gratefully took it without complaint. The scenery was unforgettable, my time with my daughter was irreplacable, and we were reminded of all the reasons why we love to climb mountains in the first place.
Olivia and I didn't depart until 11:15 am. After only a mile or so we were enjoying spectacular views from the south side of the mountain, which turns to massive slates of rock near the summit. The first panorama was a rocky outcropping that overlooked the southern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From that point, vistas are seen every few minutes for the rest of the way to the top. The trail remains rocky and slightly strenuous in a few places, but the scenery is so rewarding that you don't think about it.
The summit was capped by a monstrous boulder the size of a small house. Climbing to the top of it brought 360 degree views in all directions, with Brasstown Bald visible to the northeast, Yonah Mountain to the southeast, and even the Atlanta skyline visible some fifty miles away on the southern horizon. Olivia and I plopped down, shed our backpacks and prepared a freeze-dried lunch of chicken teriyaki and rice, complemented by gourmet side dishes including peanut butter crackers, peanuts and vanilla cookies for dessert. It was like having lunch on top of the world... or at least on top of Georgia.
After an hour on the summit, we pressed on down the western face of the mountain and tried to follow the poorly marked trails which became even more confusing when they left out several camping loops that split off the main trail. We still saw plenty of other dayhikers until we crossed Byrd Gap and decided to go off trail and make a run for another nearby peak called Turkey Stamp. From that point on we didn't see a single soul nearly until we got back to our car.
Turkey Stamp is a minor summit along the ridge that connects the western face of Blood Mountain to Gaddis Mountain nearly two miles to the southwest. Its always fun to knock out two peaks on the same trip and this one looked like a piece of cake, so we tried it and for once things actually went easily. We stomped our way through the brush to the summit and were rewarded with a great view of the rocky peak of Blood Mountain where we had eaten lunch less than two hours before. It wasn't much of a conquest, but after all the miseries that other mountains have handed to us we figured we had an easy one coming. Our second peak came with the added advantage of having beaten the crowd... now several miles into the wilderness, we hadn't seen another human being for quite a while.
We left Turkey Stamp behind us and made our way back, which was about a two hour trek with the sun setting on the other side of the peak behind us. The trip back was beautiful as well, but something of an anti-climax after the splendid views from atop Blood Mountain. The afternoon heat also detracted from the journey home. At less than five thousand feet elevation you get very little relief from Georgia's humid temperatures... about halfway back we were wishing we'd been ten thousand feet higher.
Blood Mountain hardly qualifies as a challenging mountain climb, but I was traveling in Georgia and it was the best climb available so we gratefully took it without complaint. The scenery was unforgettable, my time with my daughter was irreplacable, and we were reminded of all the reasons why we love to climb mountains in the first place.