"Travel Day" to Mulberry Gap, GA

September 25, 2022 I was up and out of the Marriott Courtyard Tallahassee by 0945. I said goodbye to Rachel, but she was fast asleep from a late night out on the College Town. The Waze app had me routed on the back country roads North out of Tally through Thomasville, and other small towns each one highly populated with churches, patriotic slogans, Trump signs, and I even saw a sign that read “Jesus 2024”. It reminded me of the drives I used to take back home when I lived in Pensacola, two lanes through the pine forests, but also pocked with cotton fields and pecan groves. Another prominent feature is the Georgia state troopers lurking in the forest shadows waiting with their radar guns providing ample speed traps. One town I passed through was Warwick Georgia, proudly displaying their status as the “home of the national Grits festival”. Grits and God, welcome to Georgia. I finally made it onto I-75 and picked up a real highway, but as I continued towards Atlanta, the traffic expectedly got a little crazier, and added a little extra time to the drive. It totaled about 7 hours when I finally arrived at the Mulberry Gap mountain bike camp. The terrain North of Atlanta definitely got a little steeper, and as I proceeded out of Ellijay, the road got really windy and steep. In fact, I lost cell service, and had to double back to grab a bar of service in order to find my was to Mulberry Gap. Such a well maintained and cool camp. I got my tent set up on the Brook side site, and headed up to the “Barn” for dinner. It was yummy. I met 2 other mountain bike couples and another tent camper who it looks like will be sharing the shuttle tomorrow. I sat in the Barn for a little while after dinner enjoying the solitude of these forests, drinking tea, and taking a true chill. Now as I type, I am in the tent as the brook babbles just a few feet away and the crickets are chirping in the still forest. Looking forward to a great ride tomorrow on the Bearhoti trail, a combination of the Pehoti and Bear trails. Gladly, it looks as if these other riders are going to be doing the same ride.