Brasstown Bald

Monday, we headed south into Georgia.  Driving west to Hayesville, we drove south to Hiawassee and took GA-17/75 towards Unicoi Gap.  We turned on Indian Grave Gap Road (FR-238) and forded Hiwassee River and drove about another mile to the High Shoals Falls Trailhead in Chattahoochee National Forest.  High Shoals Falls Trail (#23) descended down towards High Shoals Creek.

In about a half-mile, we crossed on a footbridge and continued downstream.  In just under a mile, a side path led down to the top of Blue Hole Falls.  There was an upper drop here.

Just past this, a side path led to a viewing platform at the base of the main drop.

About 20 feet high, it's very pretty and the pool below the falls would be inviting in warmer weather.

The main trail then began to descend via switchbacks and ended at the base of High Shoals Falls.

This one is probably over 100 feet high, but the entire thing is not visible from the base.

After some pictures, we headed back.

From here, our next stop was Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia.  Although skies were blue down below, as we drove up towards the summit, it got progressively cloudier.  After parking, we could see the summit was encased in clouds but it was a short hike and we were already up here.  I ran out to the picnic area, that probably had the best views at this point.

We then hiked the paved Brasstown Bald Trail (#23) up to the top.  It was moderately steep, but not too bad.  At the top, there wasn't much to see except dense clouds.

So we didn't stay long and headed back down.

Driving down the mountain, the views cleared as we got to lower elevation.  Just past Unicoi Gap, we turned on FR-44 and drove into Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area to Upper Chattahoochee River Campground.  It's closed so we parked outside the gate and hiked through the campground to the trailhead and got on Horse Trough Falls Trail (#173).  It was just a short ways to the beautiful Horsetrough Falls.

It's a really nice waterfall that fans out and almost appears crooked.

Returning towards the bridge, we followed an old road upstream along Chattooga River a quarter-mile to Chute Falls was visible from the trail.

To get a better view, I made the very steep climb down to the creek.  It was butt-sliding most of the way.  At the creek, I then had to wade to get across for a decent picture.

I think it would have been easier to come up the other side of the river.

After some pictures, I made the super steep climb back up to the old road.  It ended near the top of the waterfall.

Then we hiked back.  On the drive out, we made a stop to see the Wilks Creek Waterfalls.  The upper falls was visible from the road, but it was a very steep scramble down to the creek.  And once down, there was a massive amount of downfall in front of the falls.  So I climbed up a bit for a side view.

Then I scrambled a short ways downstream to the lower falls.

There was more downfall, but easier to get a view from the front.

Then we scrambled back up to the road.  We made one more stop on the way out at the roadside Spoilcane Tributary Upper Falls.

Then we drove back to the paved roads and headed back to Franklin.

For dinner, we stopped at Lazy Hiker and got tacos from the food truck.  Their outdoor seating was artificial grass that's comfortable for Alex to lay on while we enjoyed our dinner and drinks.  Then we went back to the hostel for the night.