Georgia Overland

Traversing the Atacama Desert in a rented Toyota Hilux 4x4

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:33:00 +0000

My good friends, Daniel and Paula, recently rented a Hilux and explored the sand and dirt tracks of Northern Chile. A flight into Iquique, a drive to Pica and they were off into the lands unknown, traveling through the Atacama Desert along the way. Daniel sent the following account of their visit to share with the Georgia Overland readers. Enjoy! -David

About Paula and Daniel

As I sit in Paula's Santiago apartment and look out over the Andes, I try and remember all the small details of the last four days we spent in the Atacama, the driest desert in the world. I'm still a little tired from our overnight flight from Calama, Chile, back down to Santiago.

First off, let me tell you a few words about myself. My name is Daniel (Ed. note: his screen name is zolo on the ExpeditionPortal.com Forums) and I have been friends with David a while now. We met a couple years ago, before my motorcycle trip to the Arctic Circle and Deadhorse, Alaska (Ed. note: visit ATLtotheArctic to learn more about this fantastic ride for the Susan G. Komen Fund). Since David has been to the Arctic Circle a few times, he was a good resource for information and maps. Since then, we have been friends and I have been a big supporter of Georgia Overland. I like the site, the maps and the idea of remote off-pavement travel.

Now about Paula, my beautiful Chilean girlfriend or polola, as they say in Chile. A world traveler, she has visited the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, New Zealand and Australia, as well as traveled all over South America, Central America and Europe. She is a High School Biology teacher in Santiago, Chile. Her sense of adventure is great and we have a lot of fun bounding around Chile. We have also traveled together in the US. With her relaxed, adventurous spirit, Paula is nice to travel with. She also has a knack for picking out the good places to eat and drink. And when the times are rough, like when we had a wheel bearing failure on my Tacoma in the middle of Texas, the day before Christmas, she didn't even balk. What a woman!

Iquique to Pica

We left for Iquique, Chile on Thursday morning, May 3, 2012. We arrived in Iquique, located on Chile's northwest coast around 9:30am, which left us the whole day to explore and start making our way southeast. Iquique is a really wonderful city in the north of Chile. If you are a Dakar Rally fan like me, you may have watched Dakar 2012 highlights from Stage 10. The race had a spectacular finish, racing down the huge sand dunes right to the ocean. It was one of my favorite highlights from Dakar 2012 and now I was there. Unbelievable.

At the airport in Iquique we rented one of my personal favorite trucks, a new Toyota Hilux 4x4 diesel. In this part of Chile they have huge mining operations all over so if you are renting a truck it's likely you will get a bright red 4x4 and most likely it will be a Toyota Hilux.

Our Hilux

Many miners move around and all of the rental agencies rent these trucks already prepared for the mines with the correct safety equipment. Our particular Hilux had an internal roll bar in addition to the bed mounted external roll bar, full size spare tire and tools, and a blue, roof mounted mining light for safety. The blue light did not include a cover...which we nearly got a ticket for. More on the rules of the Chilean mining truck lighting requirements later.

We left the airport heading north into town, passing the Dakar 2012 finish line and stopping at the first road to the Pacific Ocean to snap a few pics before heading to the beach in town. Surrounded by a desert with giant sand dunes, Iquique is a great city to visit and, as with most places in Chile, has great food. On the beach we found many places to eat, drink and hang out and, from what I could tell, it was a perfect surf spot. We were ready for lunch at noon but found no open restaurants. I'm learning that in Chile things take time. Lunch is usually around 1pm and since it's an important meal for most, people take the time to have a nice lunch with friends and family. As lunch would not be possible for another hour, we ran errands. After locating cash, snacks and drinks, we topped off the Hilux with diesel in preparation for our push into the Atacama. Once lunch finally rolled around, ceviche was washed down with a local beer.

Perro in Humberstone

We left Iquique and headed east toward Pica, Chile. Along the way to Pica, we stopped for a look around the Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works. Located in the north of the Atacama desert, it was originally called La Palma and was built in 1872 by the Peruvian Nitrate Company. As with many old 'company' towns, it included everything necessary to be self-sufficient; tools, machines, trains, housing and even a theater for the hard working nitrate miners. At its peak, the town had 3,700 inhabitants. We toured the town and could see that everything was much the same as it was when it closed in 1959. The nitrate field and town went through many owners over the years and Paula found this old ghost town a little creepy and unnerving. I was interested in the giant lathes in the machine shop and old trains still present. It was impressive to see that so much work was done with such old technology. Certainly it was state of the art at the time, but still quite impressive. With another 100 miles before we reached Pica, we wanted to take it slow and explore the small towns along the way. We found a few, very poor towns that appeared to exist solely to support or house the nearby mining operations.

After a slow drive and a full day, we arrived in Pica, Chile. Pica is a very small, poor desert town with huge sand dunes, desolate salt flats and remote dirt roads. We were fortunate to locate a nice place to stay in a small hotel for traveling tourists. The hotel was located on an active fruit farm surrounded by grapefruit and mangoes...needless to say the drinks were great. Having depleted our cache of snack and drinks, we were eager for dinner. The cook and kitchen staff arrived around 9pm, but this caused no undue stress as consumption of Pisco sours and house made grapefruit sours kept us relaxed. Pica is a usually visited by tourists traveling south along the main road (Highway 5) to the desert. As such, most tourists return to the highway and continue their travels. But we had a 4wd Hilux, so the road east through town, into the dunes and over the mountains was the road for us.

Pica to Calama

The road out of Pica to the east was dirt. Most tourists and visitors arrive from the west on the main paved road. We had planned from the start to visit Salar del Guasco, whatever the road condition was and this was a major reason we rented the Hilux. The route we wanted to take was very remote and our research indicated we would find two-track desert roads. Unknown roads and road conditions found in this zone of Chile required a solid 4x4 Toyota. I also really wanted to drive a diesel Hilux to see how it compared to my personal Tacoma.

At the start, the road was pretty decent and it gained elevation quickly as we entered giant sand dunes. Completely desolate and completely silent. It was impressive how silent it was. We stopped a few times to see the dunes and just take in the desert surroundings. We also began to notice that the higher we went, the worse the road surface became. The surface soon became a 1st and 2nd gear, two-track road. While the road was rocky and sandy in places, it did not require engaging the 4wd since the Hilux had a low first gear and climbed well.

A lone sign to Yuma

We soon noticed the landscape was changing. From completely sand with no vegetation to rocky ground covered with a few plants, to many plants and birds. As we drove, I kept thinking we were at the top and just over that horizon we would be heading back down to the salar, but we continued to climb for over an hour. I'm not certain what the elevation was, but it was high. Later that day I got an idea of how high we had been all day from one lone sign in the abandoned village of Yuma, Chile, along the Bolivian border and high in the Andes mountain range.

Laguna de Huasco

We arrived at the "top" or summit for this road and headed down the other side to arrive at Laguna de Huasco. It was beautiful and hard to describe. The salar, or salt flat, was teaming with wildlife. We noticed the llamas and flamingos as they came into view. The flat areas where still water had pooled beautifully mirrored the Andes and the Bolivian border. We only saw one other truck during our visit, so once the truck left we had the whole place to ourselves. I was amazed at the salt flat and the salt water in it. It was very bright and very desolate and I found the silence was quite nice. The flamingos didn't mind us as they were busy eating and the llamas didn't mind a few photos either. We wanted to stay, but we had many more salars to visit and many more kilometers of dirt to cover before we made it to San Pedro de Atacama.

Our Hilux near the Bolivian border

We headed south on a sandy dirt track that required four wheel drive a couple times. After traveling sixty kilometers, we reached a split in the road. One direction headed to a very large mining operation and the other direction was a less traveled dirt track heading south. The southern track would take us way up in elevation to Yuma, Chile, a town right on the Bolivian border at 4,400 meters. Yuma was an old village sight with an abandoned stone building and an old rail road track. Very cool place. From here, the road just ended up getting worse. The funny thing was we were in a very remote area on a two-track, and out of nowhere we see a road sign pointing to different towns..some of which were likely abandoned too. Our next destination was Ollague, Chile.

Ollague is a town on the Chile / Bolivia border and, as far as we could tell, had a legal crossing. The town was in a salar and directly under an active volcano that was puffing while we drove through. Ollague is an old town, with a rail station used primarily for the local mines.

During our visit we saw a train leaving town, heading south to Calama. I'm not sure what was in the giant, red pot-like basins on the rail cars but they must have been heavy because they were placed directly over the train car wheels. It was very cool watching it leave town and head south across the salar, disappearing into the distance.

Once the train had passed we did the same and headed south across the salar on another very sandy road running parallel to the railroad track for a while. This was a very long salar with many things going on. Salt mining, road construction and a very tiny town. We were headed for Chiu Chiu, which marked the start of paved road again and was at the north edge of Calama, Chile. We wanted to make it to Calama to fuel up and make it to San Pedro that night. The brief stop in Calama was fine with me because it was a very busy mining town and totally crazy. The road to San Pedro de Atacama was all paved. We arrived at night and that was likely the worst way to show up as the town is a crazy dirt road maze. We finally found our way to our hotel and passed out after a very long day of cruising the desert.

San Pedro de Atacama and Surrounding area
On Saturday morning we headed south of town to Salar de Cejar. In this area were seven different salt water lagoons that were so high in salt content that one could float. After visiting one lagoon we heading to the one open for swimming! We jumped in and whoo hoo it was cold, but there was no need to tread water because we just bobbed around like a cork. It was hilarious and took a minute to get used to it.

Daniel floating in Salar de Cejar

After 31 years of training to not drown and tread water, it was strange to just lay there and float around. It was such an awesome experience. My swim shorts dried up like paper once we left the salt water; they were so stiff with salt. Paula was smart and had a change of clothes. On the road again, heading for the deep, double lagoon of Ojos del Salar. An interesting lagoon compared to the others.

Salar de Cejar

And now a word about Chilean Mining truck lights. Remember the blue, roof-mounted light on our Hilux I mentioned at the beginning of this story? Well, the blue light is there for mining safety and when you are not using the truck in a mining-related capacity, you need to place a cover over the light...a cover we were never given. In the United States we associated blue lights with the police. In Chile, the local police use red lights on there cars, so no problem there. Unfortunately for us, the PDI (Chilean FBI-equivalent) uses blue lights. It's all very confusing actually. And to make things more confusing, the local police and ambulances often drive around in the city with the lights on, but no siren. That took some getting used to.

When Paula and I were leaving San Pedro to explore when we were stopped by a local officer. He was very intimidating with his big aviator sunglasses and old school officer hat like the US military uses for full dress. He was not happy about the blue light with no cover. We, of course, had no idea about the mining light rules. The rental car company provided the truck as it was sans blue light cover. The light wasn't even hooked up! Paula translated for him and I handed over my passport, international driving license and the rental form required to legally take the truck from one zone to another zone within Chile. All three documents were important.

Our Hilux and the problematic blue light

The officer gave Paula a hard time and said she should know the rules because she had a driving license. She responded that we obviously did not know the rules and that the truck was a rental. He did not like her answer. I was fumbling around as this was my first international police experience and I was a little nervous. Historically, the Chilean Police are known for being very fair and uncorrupted. They neither take bribes nor do they ask, and they follow the letter of the law. They are a great police force compared to many other South American nations. After a few minutes of arguing with Paula (a losing battle no matter who you are), he relented and told use to remove the light and move along. I did as I was told and laid tracks out of that situation. We laughed about it the rest of the day because Paula is a skilled arguer and he didn't stand a chance at giving us a ticket.

In all seriousness, if you rent a truck in Chile's mining zones make sure when you are given the truck you and the rental agent go over every scratch, every tool, every dent, the light AND light cover. Make certain it is noted on the agreement because it shows that you were given the truck as-is and you did not intentionally break any laws.

Valle de la Luna or Valley of the Moon

After a full morning, it was time to head back into town and have a nap. We were beat after the drive the day before and our police experience, so we headed back and rested. That evening we had plans to head to Valle de la Luna, Valley of the Moon. We wanted to watch the sun set and the moon rise in the same spot. Lucky for us, we were treated to a spectacular moon rise and a full moon!

Sunday was our last day in San Pedro. We decided to stroll around the town and see the small shops, market and church in the center of town. It was a little touristy after having spent the last couple days driving the truly remote areas of northern Atacama but it was nice nonetheless.

Church in San Pedro de Atacama

We had lunch in a small restaurant in the town square and feed some of our pizza crust to the many local dogs. They are not wild dogs, but not completely domestic either as they belonged to no one. This Chilean dog phenomenon was first revealed to me when I visited Valparaiso, Chile on the coast. San Pedro was just as crowded, with dogs running about and hanging out like they were all on permanent vacation. Our particular perro that was taking advantage of our crust must have felt very satisfied after shrimp pizza because when we finished feeding him he promptly passed out asleep. It was hilarious.

Just as we arrived in San Pedro at night, we left at night too and headed for the airport in Calama. We were booked on an 11pm flight and had to return our amazing Hilux before our two hour flight back to Santiago. Chile is a great place. If you ever have the chance to come and visit and possibly tour around, please take the chance and don't hesitate. Don't be concerned about the language barrier if you do not speak Spanish. My Spanish is pretty terrible. I can understand more than I can speak. However, I found in Chile that if you are nice and at least try, most folks are totally cool and seem to treat you well no matter the communication barrier.

I hope you enjoyed the pics and the story. Cheers from Paula and Daniel!!!

Coming Soon! Traversing the Atacama Desert in a rented Toyota Hilux 4x4

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:03:00 +0000

Yes, you read that right. My good friend Daniel Palazzolo has a story to tell involving a woman, a desert and a diesel Hilux.

Yuma, indeed.

Thoughts on the Adventure Travel Film Festival 2012

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:27:00 +0000

Simply fantastic! I attended the Film Festival last weekend (May 4-6) held at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which turned out to be the perfect location. Thanks again to the friendly staff at NOC for pulling the facility-side of this festival together.

The film festival was hosted by the massively interesting and terribly funny adventure travel duo of Austin Vince and Lois Pryce. It was a genuine pleasure to finally meet and chat with them in person. Thank you, Austin and Lois!

I listed all the films in an earlier post, but here's the list of the films I was able to see:

Friday
Wakhan
First Overland
Himalayan Adventure

Saturday
Dream: Above and Beyond
Back of Beyond
Twice Upon a Caravan
Call of the White
Mondo Enduro

Sunday
Grass
MotoSyberia 2.0

I returned home a bit early on Sunday, but I was able to hang around long enough to catch a couple films. All of the films were excellent and unique in their own way, with Austin and Lois selecting a diverse and interesting collection of films. My personal favorite was Above and Beyond a Dream (http://www.aboveandbeyondcanada.com/) for its honest and emotional punch, but all of the films were really quite good. Austin provided a short, one hour overview on how to shoot your own documentary. The tips and suggestions were excellent. It was only $75 for a weekend of great films and great folks. In addition to the variety films, all of the presentations were interesting and well worth the time. I look forward to 2013, and the return of the Adventure Travel Film Festival to the Southeast. If this is something you are interested in, let them know you want them to return!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdventureTravelFilmFestivalUsaSoutheast
or http://www.adventuretravelfilmfestival.com/.

Lois during her Alaska to Argentina presentation
Read her book, Lois on the Loose!

Great event schedule signs!

NOC

Another view at NOC

One of the NOC restaurants
Great view and the Veggie Sherpa was excellent

I ran into my friend, Matt...owner of this amazing Tacoma.
He and his wife dropped by during his visit to the nearby Tsali MTB trails

A quick pic with Austin before heading home

Update to the Adventure Travel Film Festival 2012

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:18:00 +0000

I posted last month about the unbelievable 2012 Adventure Travel Film Festival arriving May 4-6 in our backyard at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, North Carolina.

If you have not bought tickets, you need to...3 day, 1 day and by the film tickets available so no excuses! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see sixteen incredible adventure films, listen to live music, and meet the legendary adventure travellers/filmmakers/writers, Austin Vince (Mondo Enduro, Terra Circa, Roadside USA) and Lois Pryce (Lois on the Loose, Red Tape and White Knuckles) and attend travel and film workshops.

Still don't believe me? Look at this list of films playing May 4-6 (link to descriptions here):

Above and Beyond Dream (2010)
Back of Beyond (1954)
Call of the White (2009)
First Overland (1958)
Grass (1924)
Himalayan Adventure (1958)
Le Grande Detour (2009)
Mazungu (2008)
Mondo Enduro (1995)
Motosyberia (2007)
Paddle to Seattle (2010)
Ride the Divide (2009)
The Headless Valley (1957)
Twice Upon a Caravan (1933)
Wakhan (2009)
Yenisey River Expedition (2001)

And they recently released the film schedule, workshop and presentation specifics so you can plan your visit.

Watch the trailer and tell me this doesn't look like a great time: Adventure Travel Film Festival 2012 Trailer for the Southeast USA.

I'll be there with Georgia Overland decals, so come find me and demand one!

-David

Rich Mountain WMA to the Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness Loop

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:13:00 +0000

This collection of a few dirt and gravel roads is an attempt to capture as many off-pavement opportunities as possible for visitors as they transit between Rich Mountian and the Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness Loop.

Download the Rich Mountain WMA to the Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness Loop .kmz file.

View the Rich Mountain WMA to the Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness Loop .kmz file in Google Maps.

Reader Submission: Musterground Road and Horsepasture Road

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Georgia Overland contributor, Randall Warren, is back with a report from Musterground Road near the North Carolina / South Carolina border. Randall also sent along some pics from Horsepasture Road. (Randall first reported on Horsepasture road here).

Since I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk.

First, let's visit Musterground Road...

Randall writes:

This trip originates from one of my two haunts. South Carolina Hwy 11. It can also be accessed from my other haunt, US 64 in NC.

Start at the intersection of SC 11 and SC 130. Go north on SC 130 for 10.4 miles. (Side note: it can also be accessed from NC 281). SC 130 turns into 281 at the border. After 10.4 miles, turn into Bad Creek Hydroelectric Station. Go 2.2 miles and turn left at the sign. Go .4 miles into the parking lot. On the left is a trailhead for the Bad Creek Spur hiking trail. Musterground Road is to the right.

It's open two times during the year, March 20-May 10 and September 15-January 1.

Check the South Carolina DNR website for hunting season dates. The road is pretty easy going for about the first 2.5 miles, with good views of Lake Jocassee. Then you start climbing hills. After about 5.5 miles, you cross a bridge over Whitewater River. Good photo opportunity here. In another 3.3 miles there is a side road closed off with yellow tape. It appears to go for about .5 miles and reconnect to Musterground Road. More hills after this...uphill most of the way, but some nice rollercoaster-type hills on the way down. Total distance of the road is about 13 miles.

There are some side roads on top that either loop around or dead end. Forest Service was doing a controlled burn when I was there...I got tired of breathing smoke. This road is somewhat rough. I would recommend good tires, maybe 6 inches of ground clearance and 4wd just to make it easier to climb the hills. I saw a couple of DNR folks driving Ford Expeditions with all terrain tires on top of the mountain.

There are also some hunting camps along the way, again check DNR site for info.

The following are pictures provided by Randall from Musterground Road:

And here are a few of the picturesque views waiting for you from the Horsepasture Road area:

Thanks for the email, Randall!

-David

Daniel, Decatur Garage and ATL to the Arctic

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:08:00 +0000

I met Daniel back in 2010, though I knew of the guy for many years as we have a couple friends in common. It was during the lead-up to his inaugural ATL to the Arctic charity ride to Deadhorse, Alaska that I finally had the opportunity to get to know him. As co-owner of Decatur Garage, Daniel (or Zolo, as some on the forums know him) turns his highly-skilled wrench on every motorized (and at times, non-motorized) vehicle imaginable.
Rolls-Royce to Porsche, Toyota to Ford, pick a make and he has probably worked on it. Seriously. From modifying four wheel drives to building race cars to prepping motorcycles. He even repaired and welded the frame on my ancient Fantic downhill gravity kart. He is a very talented mechanic, fabricator and tinkerer...as well as a great friend, offroad zen master and world traveller. Here are a few photos of his very cool custom trayback Tacoma and KTM 990 Adventure. Enjoy, and look him up if you need an excellent mechanic.

-David

The Adventure Travel Film Festival 2012 in Bryson City, NC on May 4-6

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Great news! The Adventure Travel Film Festival (All Thanks to Austin Vince and Lois Pryce) is coming to the Southeast during May 4th-6th and it is bringing along a bunch of really fantastic films that you are certain to enjoy. It will be held nearby in Bryson City, North Carolina.

A brief introduction from the site:

The Adventure Travel Film Festival is the brainchild of film-maker Austin Vince and travel author Lois Pryce. Here’s how it all came about…

‘Over the last ten years or so we have been sent tons of fantastic travel films from all over the world by largely unknown film-makers. They came from all over the globe and covered every form of transport — boats, bicycles, buses, motorcycles, 4x4s and even hitch-hiking and train-hopping. The ‘adventure travel’ shows we saw on TV, although polished and professional, were nothing in comparison to the real-life dramas that were arriving in our letterbox.

As time passed we gradually realised that we were accruing a fairly extensive and possibly, definitive, collection of adventure travel films. It occurred to us that this had to be the tip of an iceberg. Once we started searching actively, films came to the surface that were absolutely mind-blowing. We were amazed, and excited, that adventures of this quality, old and new, were essentially unknown by the public.

Our mission is to change all that.

Film festivals don’t usually have manifestos — so here’s ours!

1.To showcase the best independent adventure travel films ever made

2.To guarantee a platform for future adventure film-makers

3.To bring together the adventure travel community

4.We know that making a good film isn’t difficult — we will show you how

5.To have loads of fun while doing all the above!
Film festivals are usually based around cinema screens in cities. In the spirit of the event, the Adventure Travel Film Festival is based around two days of camping and good times in beautiful countryside.

We look forward to seeing you there!

To learn more, visit the Adventure Travel Film Festival Site.

Enjoy,
David

Road System Study set to begin on the Chattahoochee National Forest

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:27:00 +0000

I received a link to this last week. Somehow I missed hearing about this, so I owe Nathan a big 'Thank You' for emailing me and letting me know. Anyone interested in traveling on roads in the Chattahoochee National Forest should give this a look and express your interest that roads remain open. This Road Study needs your input by April 13th.

I strongly encourage you to learn more by visiting the main Public Input page here: Forest Service Seeks Your Input

The Comment Form may be accessed directly here: Chattahoochee National Forest Public Input

The site text is as follows

The Forest Service is committed to balancing your needs for access to the Chattahoochee National Forest with our responsibility to sustain a productive, diverse and healthy forest. As part of this commitment, we must address crucial concerns about the future sustainability of the national forest road system. The three Ranger Districts that make up the Chattahoochee National Forest are beginning a study of the road system, and we need your input.

This transportation study will help us find a way to use our limited resources to balance the needs for access to the forest with the protection of clean water and a healthy forest. The transportation study is not a proposal or decision, but is intended to help guide us in planning future road management.

The number of overdue road maintenance projects continues to grow, while public use of our roads is increasing. Roads that cannot be adequately maintained can be dangerous to visitors and threaten forest health. They can increase sedimentation into rivers and streams, degrading water quality and impacting fish and wildlife.

Possible options that may be considered for each road include:
Maintaining at the current standard

Changing the level of maintenance (ex., from passenger car to high-clearance vehicle)

Adding seasonal restrictions

Implementing year-long closures

Decommissioning
We need to hear from you by April 13

We want to learn from you which roads are important to you and why. We will consider your input along with other factors including management access needs, benefits, risks and costs. Before any actions are taken we will provide more opportunities for you to participate in the decision making process.

Use our online comment form to view maps and provide your input to us. You may also find hardcopy planning maps and comment forms at the local Ranger District and Forest Supervisor's offices. We will consider all comments received before April 13, after which the official comment period for this first phase of the study will close. Your input is very valuable to us, and we thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful comments.

Let's all provide thoughtful, useful comments to the USDA/Forest Service regarding the roads in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Thanks!

Reader Submission: Pisgah East

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:59:00 +0000

I heard from our friend Randall again and this time he shares his notes following his exploration of 'Pisgah East'.

As always, I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk.

Randall writes:

This is FR 477 to FR 1206 starting in Brevard and ending in the North Mills Recreation Area. FR 5000 out of North Mills will take you to Lake Powhatan. I'll try to add this on at some point in time, when I can check it out. FR 477 is about eight miles long, FR 1206 is about 8.5 miles and FR 5000 appears to be about 7-8 miles, so combined that would be about 25 miles of gravel road with a minimum of pavement.

From the Hwy 276/64 split in Brevard, take Hwy 276 north into Pisgah Forest. After 2.5 miles turn right on FR 477. This is just after the Ranger Station. There are campsites and stables for about the first two miles. After this, you start to climb up a mountain. Pretty easy going though. This road is pretty smooth and in good shape. It can be done in any type of vehicle. Nice views on top of the mountain. After about eight miles you arrive back on Hwy 276. Turn right, back onto Hwy 276 north. The Cradle of Forestry will be on the right. It opens on April 14th.(Side note, stay on Hwy 276 for four miles to access the Blue Ridge Parkway). After about 1/2 mile, turn right onto FR 1206. There are some nice campsites on this road. Signs indicate first come, first served but you may want to double-check. At the 3.5 mile mark, there are some new gate posts. I'm guessing this road may become open seasonally in the future. Smooth gravel, any vehicle could travel this road. This road goes in between two sets of mountains, and has a good wilderness feel to it. This road goes for about 8.5 miles. You'll come out at the North Mills Recreation Area. Continue east to Interstate 26 or north on FR 5000 to the Lake Powhatan area. I'll add FR 5000 on when I get a chance. Lots of opportunity for hiking and mountain biking in this area. Not sure how the fishing is, may want to research it.

And Randall included these pics:

FR 477

FR 1206

Thank you, Randall!

Reader Submission: Larry C. and his H3T

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Last week I received an email and pics from Larry following his exploration of the Cohutta WMA in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Thanks for sharing the pictures and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on 'The Loop' when you finish it.

Larry's H3T

Georgia Overland on ArcGIS Online

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:22:00 +0000

The most up-to-date Georgia Overland data is now available on ArcGIS Online. Visit here to link directly to it, or look under The Collected Works of Georgia Overland heading found on the top right of this page.

Enjoy,
David

Reader Submission: Pisgah National Forest from Balsam Grove, NC to Brevard, NC

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:52:00 +0000

On Thursday, 2/2/12, I received a new trail report from our (quickly becoming!) regular contributor, Randall Warren. Randall explored an area in the Pisgah National Forest, in Southwestern North Carolina, from Balsam Grove to the Fish Hatchery in Brevard.

As always, I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk.

And now, I give you Randall:

From Rosman, North Carolina, take NC 215 ten miles north to the community of Balsam Grove. Less than a mile north out of Balsam Grove, turn right on State Road 1321, also known as Indian Creek Road.

This is an easy drive, just gravel and a few pot holes, and could be done in any car. In 2.6 miles you intersect with FR 475 and SR 1327.

Indian Creek Road

Turn left on FR 475. This road can also be driven by most cars. In one mile, FR 475 intersects with FR 229 turning left and going 2.75 miles up the mountain to the Deep Gap parking area at the top of the mountain. The road is somewhat rocky and I would recommend good tires, though ground clearance should not be an issue. Good views of the mountains through the trees on the way up. When you come back down the mountain, you can continue straight from FR 229 onto FR 471 (Georgia Overland note: FR 471 is not shown on Google Maps, but is displayed on the Pisgah National Forest map linked below). FR 471 travels southeast for 7.7 miles back to US 64 outside of Brevard, North Carolina. This road can be done by any vehicle. There are many places to fish on this road, though there may be a fee required.

FR 229

If you turn left from FR 229 back onto FR 475, FR 475 will continue on for about 4.5 miles before it turns into pavement right before you get to the Fish Hatchery. If you continue on, it will lead you to US 276 north of Brevard. There are many places to park throughout this area. Most of the roads that are gated can be used for hiking or mountain biking. I recommend the Trails Illustrated map # 780 from National Geographic. It has all of the roads listed and it lists the roads that are hiking only. The roads in this area are well marked so there is little chance of getting lost. The map for the area is found here:

2001 Pisgah National Forest - Pisgah Ranger District (North Carolina)

Thank you, Randall!

First Overland and a tribute to Antony Barrington-Brown

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:18:00 +0000

One of my favorite travel books is First Overland, written by Tim Slessor and published in 1957. It chronicles the 1955 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore. One member of the expedition, Antony Barrington-Brown (known as BB), was the expedition's photographer and filmmaker. Last month, both BB and his wife, Althea, were killed in a car accident near their home in Wiltshire, England.

Below is a link to Graeme Aldous' tribute to BB and his wife via his First Overland Newsletter (note, current newsletter content will change so you may need to view his archived newsletters if you read this post late). Graeme created an excellent DVD documentary of the First Overland story. His tribute offers some insight into the lives of BB and Althea.

http://www.teeafit.co.uk/firstoverlandnewsletter/

Godspeed BB and Althea.

-David

Reader Submission: Dupont State Forest

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Georgia Overland Contributor, Randall Warren, is at it again. I received the following information regarding a ride he enjoyed in the Dupont State Forest. And as I stated in earlier posts, since I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk. With that out of the way, I give you Dupont State Forest from Randall Warren:

Here's some info on Dupont. It's located in the community of Cedar Mountain off Highway 276. It's about twenty minutes from Brevard, North Carolina and one hour from Greenville, South Carolina.

Take Cascade Lake Road off Highway 276. Go about 500 feet and turn right on Reasonover Road. This goes for about 2.5 miles then splits. Pinnacle Mountain Road goes left and Green River Road continues straight.

Green River Road is an easy gravel road to drive. It goes for four miles and takes you back to US 25 in North Carolina. It was a little rough due to all the rain but it is just a nice drive through the woods and can be driven in any vehicle.

Pinnacle Mountain Road goes into Dupont State Forest. The road is about six miles long. Not too bad going up. When you get to the top there are a couple spots there are a little rough. Good tires and maybe six inches ground clearance should work. The biggest issue is on the top part where there is logging going on. This is about a two mile stretch. They keep it graded pretty good and it's easy going when it's dry. It was a little wet and muddy when I was there today. If it's too wet, you may need 4wd or AWD. I'm going to try to make it back up after a good rain and test it. The views are good, but it's being clear cut and looks barren.

Pinnacle Mountain continues on to Hendersonville. Take a left at Sky Valley Road to go back to Dupont. This is another gravel road and it goes for 4.5 miles. Pretty easy going though. Dupont State Forest has over eighty miles of hiking, biking, and horse trails. Some waterfalls and plenty of good views. Plenty of places to park and gain access to the trails.

There are two pics of Green River Road. The rest are for Pinnacle Mountain Road.

Another option outlined by Randall while visiting this area is:

Here is some info on Cascade Lake Road. Instead of turning right on Reasonover Road, you stay straight on Cascade Lake Road for about 4 miles. The road then turns to gravel. This part is about five miles long and is in good shape and can be driven in any vehicle. You have good views of Cascade Lake which is about two miles long, and then the gorge after the water releases from the dam. This road skirts Dupont State Forest and you can loop back into Dupont by turning at Crab Creek Road, or continue on to Highway 64 outside of Brevard, North Carolina.

Thanks again for the great information and pics, Randall!

-David

Rich Mountain WMA to Coopers Creek WMA

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:35:00 +0000

This section connects portions of the previously captured in the West Wolf Creek Rd to Georgia Highway 60 file. It adds portions of road to the Coopers Creek WMA, as well as a remote section of dirt and gravel trail (FS 640 and Old Dial Rd) that runs nearly unbroken from Skeenah Gap Rd in the east, crosses Georgia Highway 60 / Morganton Highway, and continues to the Shallowford Bridge in the west. Also found in this section is the Toccoa River Canoe Launch at Sandy Bottom, a variety of hiking trails, and a waypoint to a really interesting 'Swinging Bridge' found along the Benton MacKaye Trail.

Download the Rich Mountain WMA to Coopers Creek WMA .kmz file.

View the Rich Mountain WMA to Coopers Creek WMA .kmz file in Google Maps.

Reader Submission: Todd S. and his Toyota 4Runner

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:41:00 +0000

I recently heard from GeorgiaOverland reader, Todd S. He included a great picture of his Toyota 4Runner in the Cohuttas, heading up to Lake Conasauga. This really is a beautiful area in North Georgia.

Thanks for the email, Todd!

Reader Submission: Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:21:00 +0000

I recently had an email exchange with Randall Warren regarding an area I have yet to visit, the Jim Timmerman NRA. He enjoys the backroads of North and South Carolina in his Jeep Rubicon and offered to share some information with Georgia Overland. Below are slightly edited excerpts from our conversation.

Since I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk.

About the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area:

...Some info on the Jim Timmerman NRA in Jocassee Gorges. Mostly in South Carolina, next to North Carolina. Horsepasture Road is 20 miles long, one way. It has two entrances and great views of Lake Jocassee.
It can be done in a Subaru-type vehicle. Uphills are a little rough. There is another road that goes 9 miles down to the lake. Lots of side roads I have not explored. A couple of creek crossings also. I think Musterground Rd is part of this area. It's 13 miles one way. These roads are open Sept 15-Jan 2, and the month of April. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/managed/wild/jocassee/management8.htm

About the Gorges State Park (3/23/12 - New Information from Randall below) :

...Info on the Gorges State Park area in NC. Chestnut Mountain Rd. is 3.5 miles. Sign says 8 inches clearance needed. Not bad till you get to the last 1/2 mile. Rocky and steep. Saw a Toyota Highlander there. Not sure it made it back up. The road becomes Bear Creek Rd. back towards South Carolina. You can hit Crossroads Mountain Rd. which goes for a couple of miles. It dead ends and you can walk down to Lake Jocassee. Not sure how far Bear Creek Rd. goes. I went about 3 miles. Auger Hole Rd is also down here. Chestnut Mountain connects to Auger Hole Road. Then Auger Hole connects to Bear Creek. It eventually dead ends at Crossroads Mountain(the mountain, not the road) where there are the two campsites. Info on these type roads is a little sketchy. Website says it eventually hooks up with Musterground. I did these trails when it was bone dry and had no problem. Fairly rocky and steep. Probably need at least 30's and 6 inch clearance. It was a lot of fun though. Couple of campsites out there also. http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/gorges1.htm

About Dupont State Park:

...Dupont State Park in NC, just over the border from SC on Hwy 276. Pinnacle Mountain Rd. has some great views and the park has a lot of dirt roads. I have a buddy of mine who rides behind my Jeep on a Kawasaki KLR. Ground clearance is not really an issue on most of these roads. Just having some weight in the back to make it up the steep sections. This is where 4wd comes in handy.

About Jocassee Gorges (3/23/12 - New Information from Randall) :

Here is a little information and some pictures from Jocassee Gorges (part of the Jim Timmerman NRA). It can be entered from Highway 178 or from Highway 11 by way of Cleo Chapman Rd. There are state parks from one end of Highway 11 to the other. Highway 11 is also a great drive, straight for the most part with views of the mountains and lakes. This website gives more information about the area, and when the backroads are open.

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/managed/wild/jocassee/indexfull.htm

Randall provided a new map link and this text:

If you look at "The Gap" which is east of "LFHP", you'll notice that the road splits. Horsepasture goes left. I haven't been on this. Don't know if it's still open(more research). The road that I labeled as Horsepasture is really Cane Brake, Jackie's Ridge, & Dawkins Flat. Same road, three different names. They meet back up with Horsepasture just before Jumping Off Rock.http://www.dnr.sc.gov/managed/wild/jocassee/map.pdf

About Horsepasture Road:

Horsepasture Road goes through the Jocassee Gorges area, which is a part of the Jim Timmerman Natural Rescources Area. Horsepasture Road is about 22 miles long. Ground clearance is not really an issue, unless the hills have not been scraped. They had just been scraped when I was there yesterday, but last year they were pretty deep. Good tires are needed to make it up the hills. 4wd or AWD would be helpful for making it up the hills. Not technical, just steep. The rest of the road is pretty easy. There are also a couple of creek crossings. There are a few campsites and a couple of side roads. One I explored was called Schoolhouse Rd., 2.5 miles until it dead-ended. A little more technical than Horsepasture, but nothing serious.

There are miles of roads that are 'red gated' (permanently? closed). I ran into a couple of old timers who told me that you used to be able to go all the way to Cashiers, NC on the roads. All of the red gate roads are open for hikers and mountain bikers. The highlight of the trip is Jumping Off Rock. There are great views of the lake and the mountains. This is near the halfway point of the road, depending on where you start. This road continues on for nine miles down to the lake, where there is a boat dock. This road has some rough spots as you are coming back up. There are also a couple of Heritage Preserves on the road, and the Foothills Trails passes through. The pictures I have provided are in order from the time I entered the road from Highway 178. The photos of the lake and mountains don't really translate how good the view is. Even though it was cloudy, it was still awesome.

Additional Comments:

...If I can make it up to the Musterground area before it closes on January 2, I'll send you that info. The Gorges SP area in NC is open year round, and I can update that the next time I'm there. I will also send you the info on Dupont State Forest area. There are over eighty miles of trails, and a lot are dirt roads. Pinnacle Mountain Rd. is here, and Green River Rd. splits off from this. There is also FR475B north of Brevard. These are all roads I drive on in the summer to escape the heat of SC. I'm sure there are many roads in the SW corner of NC that I haven't found yet.

Additional Pics from the Area:

I owe Randall a big 'Thank You' for taking the time to share so much information. If you, the reader, have any information to add regarding this or any area in the region, shoot me an email.

Boxerworks

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:37:00 +0000

I received an email from a new Georgia Overland visitor, Nathan at Boxerworks. For those riders near the Watkinsville, Georgia part of the world, check them out...

Boxerworks
Any Part - Any Service - Any Bike
Details:
Phone 7AM - 5PM: 706.310.0699
Breakdown Service: 706.614.4698
Email: nathan@boxerworks-service.com
Shop: 1461 Greensboro Hwy, Watkinsville GA 30677
GPS coordinates: N 33º 51.091 W 083º 23.769

Thanks for the email, Nathan!

Coming Soon: Coopers Creek WMA to Rich Mountain WMA

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I had a chance to drive a few sections this weekend. Picking up where I left off in the Coopers Creek WMA and working my way west into the Rich Mountain WMA. Stay tuned!

Hatchet Creek Rd and Helton Creek Rd

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Hatchet Creek Rd and Helton Creek Rd may be used as a convenient dirt road shortcut between Georgia Highway 348 / Richard B Russell Scenic Highway to the east and US Highway 19 / Gainesville Highway, to the west. When passing through, be sure to stop and take a quick walk down to the picturesque Helton Creek Falls.

Download the Hatchet Creek .kmz file.

View the Hatchet Creek .kmz file in Google Maps.

Swallow Creek WMA

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:41:00 +0000

This dirt and gravel road network is found north of Unicoi State Park, near Helen, Georgia. This area is roughly bound by Georgia Highway 17 to the west, US Highway 76 to the north, Georgia Highway 197 to the east and Georgia Highway 356 to the south. Found within are a number of designated areas including the Swallow Creek WMA, High Shoals Scenic Area, Tray Mountain Wilderness, Anna Ruby Falls Scenic Area and the Lake Burton WMA. Additionally, the Appalachian Trail passes through this beautiful wilderness. For the road network in the Lake Burton WMA and portions of the Tray Mountain Wilderness, please see Section 2 of the Tallulah River Rd to West Wildcat Creek Rd file, Dicks Creek to West Wildcat Creek Rd. Nearly all the roads in the network are passable with car in a normal automobile. A high clearance vehicle is not likely required, except for one section. The section of Tray Mountain Road located between Corbin Creek Road and Chimney Mountain Road is quite rough. A couple miles of smaller rocks and boulders will bring you and your vehicle to a crawl. While the rocks are not large, they are plentiful and they may create problems for many AWD vehicles. As a result, I recommend a higher clearance vehicle with some form of underbody protection (skidplates).

Including the 'out and back', deadend distance of Mill Creek Rd, the entire drive was nearly 40 miles of dirt and gravel roads with over 50 waypoints collected.

This is a nice area to drive, with many hiking opportunities available.

Download the Swallow Creek WMA.kmz file.

View the Swallow Creek WMA.kmz file in Google Maps.

Catching up and looking forward

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:25:00 +0000

I'm behind on getting the new route data cleaned up. I'm also making a few changes to the way I displayed older data. Hopefully, the changes I make now will help when I produce the final route map.

As it stands, I believe I will have the majority of the route wrapped up early 2012 and the plan is to have a proper, hard copy Georgia Overland route map printed and available by Fall 2012.

Stay tuned...

GPX or KMZ?

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Would you prefer a .kmz file or a .gpx file? Up to this point, I have used the KML/KMZ file formats almost exclusively. The Keyhole Markup Language format works well when viewing the roads and features in Google Earth or Google Maps. However, I know that many of you may find it handy to have a .gpx file available. Here's your chance...let me know what you need. Should I offer a gpx file along with my usual kml/kmz? Do you prefer to handle the .gpx file conversion yourself?

Coming Soon! Swallow Creek WMA

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:13:00 +0000

I finished up a few areas north of Unicoi State Park, near Helen. I should have it up and ready for folks to take a look in another week or two. I did drive a section of Tray Mountain Road that appears to be rarely traveled. It was not particularly difficult, just exceptionally rocky and slow-going and definitely not for the low(er) clearance AWD rigs unless you are exceedingly patient and careful. The roads covered on this trip were: Tray Mountain Rd, Indian Grave Gap Road, Corbin Creek Road and Mill Creek Road.