Georgia Natural Wonder #69 – Dicks Knob. 506

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #69 – Dicks Knob

I am not allowed by my search engine to search for any images of Dicks Knob. It figures this would end up being GNW #69. There is very little on the Wikipedia or New Georgia Encyclopedia. Sherpa Guide no help. Not even a trail or view at summit. But by god it is the 3rd highest peak in Georgia and will get a mention in our exhaustive search for the top Natural Wonders of the State.



Dick's Knob or Dicks Knob, with an elevation of 4,620 feet, is the third-highest peak in the State of Georgia if using a 200 ft. prominence rule. It is located in Rabun County, Georgia within the Southern Nantahala Wilderness and is the second-highest mountain in the county. Dicks Knob can be found on the Hightower Bald USGS topographic quad map. The GPS coordinates are 34.9850923 (latitude), -83.5218248 (longitude)



Dick's Knob is located in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness in the Chattahoochee National Forest on Pot Gap Ridge near the North Carolina border. The summit is located 0.5 miles south of the North Carolina border, 2 miles east of Tate City and 10 miles northwest of Clayton.


View from Black Rock Mountain, taller mountain to right is in North Carolina.

Nearby geographical features include the Tallulah River, Standing Indian Mountain and Grassy Ridge. Dicks Knob is part of the southern Crystalline Appalachians. A dwarfed oak forest covers the mountain's summit.


Appalachian trail on nearby Kelly Knob.

The summit of Dick's Knob was burned during the 2016 Rock Mountain Fire.


Rock Mountain Fire 2016.

Hiking

No trails pass over Dick's Knob's summit. However, the mountain can be reached by hiking off-trail south from the Appalachian Trail at Beech Gap or east from the Tate Branch Campground near Tate City.


Beech Gap Trail tree.

I found this light tale of one man’s misadventure hiking Dicks Knob.

As far as I can determine, Dicks Knob is the 3rd highest named highpoint in Georgia. This climb nearly became an epic experience for me, but before I relate this story let me explain that I am not a rookie climber. I have climbed all 50 state highpoints. I am the only person to have climbed the lower 48 contiguous state high points three times and on one of those circuits I set a World Record for doing them all in the shortest time, 30 days, 10 hours, 52 minutes. I have climbed Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe. I mention this personal climbing history not to brag, but to caution that even experienced individuals can get into trouble if they are not careful.


Mt. Elbrus

Apparently, I was guilty of being over confident and I almost had to spend a rainy night on Dicks Knob. My problems started at the beginning by following my navigation aid to the west side of Dicks Knob (Mistake #1). I had plugged in the last coordinates provided by a previous log entry on this website and followed a route that took me to a gravel road so steep my Focus station wagon could not get enough traction to ascend. My GPS indicated I was still 4.7 miles away from the summit at this point. I used Jared Salzmann's other coordinates that he provided en route to Dicks Knob and found my navigation aid taking me completely around to the opposite (east) side of the mountain. From here it was a slow drive up a narrow mountain grade to the original final coordinates I had followed earlier (34.97315N, 83.51052W).



This road was rough in places and without future maintenance it will be washed out before the end of this decade, but my 2001 Ford Focus station wagon made the ascent without too much difficulty. By the time I reached the trailhead, it was already 5:00PM. The good ATV trail located here made me feel I could make the ascent and return long before dark, so I started my climb anyway (Mistake #2). There were no problems until I reached the end of the ATV trail after 40 minutes of fast hiking. At this point the route becomes a foot path.


North Georgia ATV Trail.

I neglected to take a GPS landmark here (Mistake #3). The route became steep now, quite steep in a few places, but nothing serious. The trail was faint, however, and in some places disappeared completely. My GPS showed I was closing the distance to the summit rapidly, so I didn't worry about the lack of a clear route to follow for my return (Mistake #4). When I was only 1/2 mile from the summit, it started to rain heavily. I did not have any rain protection (Mistake #5) and I got wet quickly. Since I was already wet, the rain was not cold and I was so close to my goal, I decided to continue climbing (Mistake #6).


This is only confirmed photo I can find from peak of Dicks Knob. Our story teller took a selfie.

I reached the summit of Dicks Knob after a total of 1.5 hours of moderately fast hiking. There was no view here due to the trees, but it would not have mattered if it was a cleared summit, because it was still pouring rain. Needless to say, I made a very short stay on the summit and began my descent, but the route was slippery and I fell, which caused my glasses to break. I lost one of the lenses that I could not find in the mud (Problem #1).



Since I had not taken a GPS reading at the end of the ATV trail, I was down climbing without any navigational aid, except watching the distance increase between me and the summit I had just left, but now it was much more difficult with only one lens that continued to fog over and it was very difficult to see with droplets of water covering the single lens that was left (Problem #2).


Search result for busted glasses.

Eventually, my GPS stopped working, probably due to excessive moisture (Problem #3). I was not too concerned because I was descending rapidly and, despite being completely soaking wet, I was not cold. I did wonder, however, why the trail was so much more difficult to follow going down. I was happy with my fast progress, so I continued my descent (Mistake #7). Eventually I reached an old, overgrowth ATV trail and I was overjoyed. I assumed this trail would soon connect to the ATV trail I was trying to reach (Mistake #8).



After following this trail for just 50 yards, I met a Black Labrador wearing a tracking collar with several green and red blinking lights. I thought, "Well, perhaps the owners will come along soon and I can ask them for directions to my car" (Mistake #9). I followed the poor ATV trail for about 1/4 mile with the dog following me, but he was scared to get very close. I finally decided this route was not taking me in the proper direction and I sat down and worked on my nonfunctioning GPS.


Black Lab in Forest.

To my delight, I got it working again, but I was very disappointed to find that I was farther now from my ascent route than I was from the actual summit. Apparently, I had followed a descent path too far to the west and this is why I lost the trail I had ascended on. As a side note, many people have lost their lives on Mount Hood, the highest point in Oregon. This would seem impossible during good weather because the route is above tree line for the entire climb and the parking lot is visible far below, but during bad weather, when landmarks are not in view. The natural tendency is to descend following a route that takes you too far to the west where climbers meet a dangerous cliff.


Mt. Hood - Pictures of everything else since there are no images of Dick's Knob.

It seems this is what happened to me. Without my navigation aid, I followed a descent route that I felt was correct, but it had taken me way too far to the west of the actual path. I began hiking directly east hoping to intersect the original path. It was difficult travel, however, as I passed over one ravine after another. This meant descending then climbing over and over again. It was very tiring. After 20 minutes, I noticed my GPS was not indicting that I was getting me any closer to what I thought was the original ascent route.


Bushwhacking

I decided to check my elevation and I was astonished to find that I was 1000 feet lower than the altitude of the good ATV trail I was trying to reach. To my left was a very steep grade. By following this direction, my GPS indicted I was finally closing the gap between me and my ascent route goal more rapidly. Progress was rough, however, because the route was muddy, slippery, and steep and it was starting to get dark. This was not a huge problem, because I did have sense enough to bring two light sources with me, but I did begin to get leg cramps from my overexertion (Problem #4).


Steep Grade

I sat down on a log and pondered my situation. I noticed the dog had stopped following me. He probably finally realized that this guy was more lost than he was! I was a little upset at losing the dog, because it had passed through my mind that I could use the dog for warmth during the night if I had to bivy and now I was seriously thinking about doing just that. I hadn't given up hope yet, however, so I continued climbing and soon I saw a piece of orange flagging tied to a tree branch that I had noticed during my ascent. It was amazing I had found this same trail marker, because it was the only flagging I had seen during my entire ascent and I just happened to come upon it by luck! At this point, I noticed my GPS had stopped working again, so I took 5 minutes here to search for the slightest hint of a path.


Sleeping with dogs

Finally, I was following the proper descent route, but it would fade out at times. Instead of continuing my descent at these times, I made a serious search of the local area until I found the faint path again. Eventually I reached the good ATV trail I had ascended on and the return to my car was uneventful. From the summit, it had taken me 3 1/2 hours to return to my car. It was 10:00PM. It had stopped raining, but I was soaking wet. I changed my clothes before driving down the mountain, but as I was standing beside my car completely nude in the dark, I began to worry that the owners of the lost dog might drive up and wonder what the heck I was doing by myself in the buff.


Would not have been a good way to end day.

No one showed up, however, and I made a safe descent on a road that was now covered in places with deep puddles. Fortunately, the puddles were not too muddy and my car splashed through them without any trouble. In summary, this is not a highpoint you will want to climb if you are looking for a great view of the mountains of northern Georgia; climb Rabun Bald to the east for that. I encourage an earlier start than 5:00PM during the summer and bring along some surveyor flagging ribbon. These suggestions will likely prevent you from the adventure I experienced. PS. A poncho would not be a bad idea also!!


Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho?

We found this hike organized by some hiking group.

Standing 4620' above sea level with 160 feet of clean prominence, Dicks Knob is the 3rd tallest mountain in GA.


Another actual Dick's Knob photo

We will begin this hike on the Beech Gap Trail off of North Carolina FS #67 and head up to Beech Gap which is probably about 2.5 miles or so.


Beech Gap Trail.

We will leave the AT shortly thereafter later and bushwhack south for 2.1 miles. We will cross over Little Bald (5015') and then cross the state line into GA and down to Dicks Knob...a little unusual to descend to one of the highest peaks, but it will be something different.



Then we will return to Beech Gap the way we came in.


Little Bald Mountain.

Depending on how we are doing on time, we will head north on the AT to the Timber Ridge Trail and make a loop out of it going by Big Laurel Falls. If pressed for time, we'll just head back on the Beech Gap Trail.


Big Laurel Falls

Then, if we are super-duper ahead of schedule and just want more, we'll stop by Picken's Nose on the way out which is a .9 mile one-way trail to a climbing/cliff area with fantastic views to the west and the south.


Picken's Nose cliffs

This is an "Explorer" trip (hence the max group size of 8) because we have not scouted out the route beforehand. However there is info online that it is very doable. We will have maps, compass, plus GPS...should be a fun adventure...

One day I may find my way to Dick’s Knob but I doubt it. Would be nice to better document third highest Georgia mountain in photos. If any of you can find images I welcome them for my catalogue and index. Today's GNW Gal from the highlight of today's post, our search for Busted Glasses.