Georgia Natural Wonder #74 – Double Spring Knob (Kelly Knob) – Towns County. 502

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #74 – Double Spring Knob (Kelly Knob) – Towns County

Double Spring Knob, with an elevation of 4,280 feet, is tied with Coosa Bald as the tenth-highest peak in Georgia, USA. It is located in two Georgia counties - Rabun and Towns. It is located within the boundaries of the Chattahoochee National Forest. The Appalachian Trail passes below the knob to the east. This mountain is also known as Kelly Knob.


Double Spring Knob viewed from Brasstown Bald.

That’s all we got from Wikipedia. From Peakbagger.com, I found these folks reviewing their hikes. Starting from Addis Gap, the trail goes straight uphill and quickly reaches the crest of the ridge near the summit. From there, it took about 10 minutes of bushwhacking to reach the summit. The hike down from Double Spring to Dicks Creek Gap was not kind to my knees.



My first hike with the Atlanta Outdoor Club! The trip itself was from Addis Gap to Dick's Creek Gap on the AT, but that skirts right by Double Spring, so I made sure I was way ahead of the group on the ascent from Addis and booked it through the underbrush to the top of the knob. Not a good summit especially when combined with low visibility. The south side seemed to be a better, more gradual way to get up to the top with less crap to push through.


Appalachian Trail Dick's Creek to Double Spring Knob.

Drive to Addis Gap at the end of Mill Creek Road. From here it is about a one mile climb to the summit. Hike the Appalachian Trail after reaching Addis Gap. It was a pleasant ascent on a crisp clear morning. Even the final .2 mile bushwhacking to the high point was not bad; however, there was barely a view from there due to the vegetation. Be sure to take advantage of the good views along the Appalachian Trail that you will have once in a while. I found it interesting, that in this day of electronic navigational aids, someone had left a trail of brightly colored surveyor's flagging every 10 yards from the trail to the summit of Double Spring Knob. The red plastic tape was lying on the ground and had not been there very long. I was tempted to clean it up, but decided to leave it in case it was placed there for some other important reason. I had an extremely pleasant descent as the air grew warmer on a fine sunny day.



Drove up Mill Creek Road as far as I could (mud/water road stopped me 1/8 mi from the forest service gate). Mill Creek Road isn't a problem for 4x4 vehicles but even my little car was able to do fine on this day. I wouldn't attempt driving the road in heavy rain. I hiked a little over a mile to Addis Gap on the forest service road (~1 mile crossing the gate). The ascent rate is pretty high from the gate all the way to top of Double Spring Knob.



No switchbacks to be seen. 2.5 miles of steady ascent and I hit the camp site at the crest of the AT trail. I bushwhacked to the North West towards the peak. I followed some trail tape but it is not hard to find the top. Not too many briers and winter made this short bushwhack fairly easy. No views at the top though. I met a local bird hunter at the top, "what's a peak bagger?" I guess I need to get some high visibility gear. I was hearing gunfire the entire hike up. I picked up the trail tape as I left so bring your own to lay down (and pick up). Bolted down the mountain and got to the car 20 minutes before dark (and rain).


No views at top? This site list this as a Kelly Knob view.

Now this last glorious (Love the photo's) detailed hike description comes from the other direction. The Appalachian Trail has both grand vistas as well as much smaller ones that are equally breathtaking. The view from Wolfstake Knob falls into the latter category. Located on the Tennessee Valley Divide, Wolfstake Knob provides a memorable view to the east with Lake Burton and the mountains of Rabun County in the picture. On this hike, you will follow the Appalachian Trail to the great view from Wolfstake Knob, and then, you will continue following the footpath which becomes much less used and provides plenty of solitude around Kelly Knob and Addis Gap.



This hike occurred on Saturday, October 8th, 2016. My plan was to hike the Appalachian Trail out and back from Dicks Creek Gap to Addis Gap. I would take the spur trail to Wolfstake Knob and its views, as well as the spur trail to Deep Gap Shelter, along the way.


AT near Addis Gap.

A couple of years ago, I did a hike along the Appalachian Trail along the Tennessee Valley Divide from Addis Gap to Tray Mountain, and I enjoyed the hike a lot, due to the extensive winter views throughout the hike, which constantly followed the ridgeline. On this day, I decided to hike the adjacent section from Dicks Creek Gap to Addis Gap, which I had suspected would be similar. While it is generally not as gorgeous as its neighbor to the south, this section of the AT was still a great hike with rewarding views from Wolfstake Knob.



From the parking area at Dicks Creek Gap, take the Appalachian Trail southbound, which leaves the road from the side opposite the parking area (south side of the road).



Passing a mileage sign, the trail loses no time in beginning the ascent to a small unnamed knob. Passing through a gap near the knob at 0.3 miles. After this, the trail begins ascending the lower portions of Snake Knob. Soon, the trail meets Dicks Creek, which is a very small stream at this point. The trail then follows it, passing a small wet-weather waterfall to the left with a bench in front of it, before crossing the creek.



At 0.6 miles, the trail crosses a lead and then actually begins descending towards Shook Branch.



I was slightly apprehensive about how this ascent would feel on the way back, as I knew that the hike would involve nearly 4000 feet of elevation gain, but luckily, I was in great shape on this day. At 1.1 miles, a spur trail to the left leaves to water at the head of Shook Branch.



After this, the Appalachian Trail resumes the ascent. Reach Moreland Gap at 1.25 miles; a nice campsite lies to the right of the trail. Following Moreland Gap, the trail makes a lengthy moderate ascent to Powell Mountain.



The trail passes through a rhododendron tunnel near the summit and then passes just west of the high point at 2.35 miles, before dropping into McClure Gap at 2.5 miles.


Rhododendron tunnel

Then, the trail ascends to an unnamed knob just east of Wolfstake Knob. At 2.65 miles, near the top of the unnamed knob, a blue-blazed spur trail signed "Vista" leaves to the left.



This spur trail leads to the Wolfstake Knob Overlook. A curious thing is that despite being widely referred to as the Wolfstake Knob Overlook, this view is actually from the unnamed knob just east of Wolfstake Knob. Take the spur trail. Pass over the summit of the knob, where there is a campsite, and then drop down to a rock ledge at 2.75 miles.



This ledge, at the end of the spur trail, provides the Wolfstake Knob Overlook - a great view to the east into Rabun County and towards Lake Burton.



The view is somewhat similar to the east view near the summit of Tray Mountain, and that view might actually be better, although the Wolfstake Knob Overlook is lower and puts some closer details in view.



Beyond the Wolfstake Knob Overlook, there is little to see throughout the rest of the hike, if you're looking for outstanding points of interest. There is also a lot of elevation change beyond Wolfstake Knob, but my plan was to hike the section for the sake of completion, and despite there not being much to see, it is still a nice section of trail. From the Wolfstake Knob Overlook, return to the Appalachian Trail at 2.85 miles and turn left onto it. The trail descends into a gap and then skirts Wolfstake Knob itself to the south. A brief ascent brings the trail to a low point on a lead that extends south from Wolfstake Knob. Then, the AT descends moderately into Deep Gap, reaching the gap at 3.8 miles. There may be some good winter views to the west.



At Deep Gap, I decided to do the quick extension to Deep Gap Shelter. Turn left onto the signed blue-blazed spur trail to the shelter. The spur trail continues a gradual descent. At 4.0 miles, a signed path leads to water. The trail ends at the Deep Gap Shelter at 4.1 miles. This is a fairly small shelter, but it does have two "stories". There is also a picnic table and a large area of campsites around the shelter. Personally though, I prefer the campsites in Moreland Gap and near Wolfstake Knob rather than at the Deep Gap Shelter, as the former two sites are located on the ridge and I would always prefer a ridge/summit campsite over all others.


Deep Gap Shelter

From the Deep Gap Shelter, retrace your steps to the AT and turn left to continue hiking toward Addis Gap. This is where a lengthy ascent to Kelly Knob begins (although the trail never does actually reach the summit). With some winter views, the trail passes to the west of Dismal Knob and passes through Dismal Gap, below Kelly Knob, at 4.9 miles. After this, the moderate ascent continues as the trail skirts Kelly Knob to the east and reaches a high point on a ridge below the summit of Kelly Knob at 5.25 miles. It is worth noting that some maps show Kelly Knob as Double Spring Knob. From the high point on the ridge, there is a small opening in the trees to the left of the trail, with a view to the east.



Woo, a view from Kelly Knob.



Following the high point, most of the rest of the trail to Addis Gap is downhill, and some of it is quite steep.



In the next mile, the trail descends about 800 feet. At 5.6 miles, an opening in the trees provides a decent view to the west into the Swallow Creek Wildlife Management Area. This is the best west view on the hike, and it is the only year-round view to the west.


Decent view from Kelly Knob.

The trail becomes steeper following this view. At 6.25 miles, the AT reaches Addis Gap. There are several well-used campsites to the right of the trail in the gap.



In Addis Gap, a blue-blazed side trail leads to South Fork Moccasin Creek and to a trailhead at the end of Wildcat Creek Road. This trailhead can be used to split into half the long roadless segment of the Appalachian Trail between Tray Gap and Dicks Creek Gap. Also, in Addis Gap, an old roadbed leaves to the right into the Swallow Creek WMA and soon enters the Mill Creek watershed, where a couple of waterfalls may be seen. I have yet to see these waterfalls or verify what is the best access point for them. Additionally, you can continue on the Appalachian Trail to Tray Mountain via Round Top and Young Lick; there are several great viewpoints on Tray Mountain. However, for this day hike, Addis Gap is your turnaround point.


Addis Gap

Simply retrace your steps back to Dicks Creek Gap along the Appalachian Trail. The first part of the route back (the ascent back up Kelly Knob) will have you breathing hard. You will eventually return to your car at Dicks Creek Gap at 11.7 miles, concluding the hike.

Only 7 pages, room for a tangent new county to discuss…….

Towns County, which borders North Carolina in northeast Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains, is the state's 118th county and comprises 167 square miles. It was created in 1856 from Rabun and Union counties.



Originally inhabited by Cherokee Indians, the newly formed county was named for George W. Towns, the governor of Georgia from 1847 to 1851. The first white settlers, attracted by the promise of free land, arrived after the Indian cessions of 1818 and 1819. Many of them came from the state's coastal counties, although those who gravitated to the most remote areas of the county were farmers from the mountains of North Carolina.




George Washington Bonaparte Towns is in Rose Hill in Macon.

An important facet of early life in Towns County was a road built upon a Cherokee trading path running north to south through the county and passing through Unicoi Gap. Prior to the existence of a toll road from the Tellico Block House to the Tugaloo River known as the Unicoi Turnpike a path existed over the entire route of the turnpike. In general, this was known as a Cherokee Trading Path. The Cherokee had a number of names for this path, and some of these names were used to describe other paths in the same area as well.




Tellico Blockhouse


Site of Tellico Blockhouse.

The Cherokee Indians established a network of "trading paths" throughout the present-day South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. The earliest written mention of this network of paths was in the 1682. In 1721 the term "Overhill" was introduced by South Carolina to describe the Cherokee who were not a part of the South Carolinians called the Lower Towns and Upper Towns.


Today, people can stand in the deeply worn recesses of these travel ways and look at the surrounding mountains with the assurance that they are seeing, from exactly the same viewpoint, the shapes, colors, ridge tops, balds and wooded slopes that were seen by the Cherokee a thousand years ago.

What became the Unicoi Turnpike was known by a number of names and a number of spellings including Unicoy, Unaka, or Unega, all of which appear to be variations of spelling of the Cherokee word for white. According to James Mooney the Cherokee also referred to this path a Wachesa Trail. One of the Cherokee towns one the trail in Tennessee was known as Wachissa.



Colonel George Chicken mentioned the Cherokee Trading Path in writing in 1702. In 1716 he wrote that he had to "walk more than I rode" on the path. Alfred Cumming used a portion of the Cherokee Trading Path to reach the Overhill towns in 1730. Christian Priber may have used the path to reach the Cherokee. While surveying the Hawkins Line in 1797 Benjamin Hawkins followed the Hiawassee Trail, which was part of the Unicoi Turnpike in places. Oh look, this Benjamin Hawkins tangent is authored by my cousin Robbie at the University of Mississippi. Worth a repeat from Macon post few weeks back.


Benny

Until the Unicoi Turnpike was complete settlers in north Georgia simply referred to the road as the "old trading path" or the "Unicoi Road." When the road was completed and tolls were charged, settlers continued to call it Unicoi Road or Unicoi Pike.

Location

Generally, the Trading Path that became the Unicoi Turnpike began at Tellico Block House on the Federal Road between Ramhurst and Knoxville, entered the Tennessee mountains at Unicoi Gap and traveled east to the area of present-day Murphy, North Carolina. From here the path turned south, followed the Hiawassee River to its headwaters just below the northern entrance to Georgia's Unicoi Gap.



Once through Unicoi Gap the path generally followed Spoilcane Creek to the Chattahoochee River. As it dropped some 800 feet from Unicoi Gap towards Sautee, the road crossed Spoilcane Creek and Chattahoochee River 11 times, basically creating switchbacks for people who used the trail.



Once it was in the Sautee-Nacoochee Valley the road continued east as the Chattahoochee turned south. The Sautee Store is built on the site where a road from The Crossings (present-day Clayton, Georgia) met the Unicoi Turnpike. This road was also part of the Cherokee Trading Path network and joined roads to present-day Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.


Along the Nacoochee Valley

From Sautee-Nacoochee to Toccoa the road passed through the northeast Georgia Mountains and reached Travelers Rest Historic Site. In the 1700's the Cherokee village of Tugaloo (Tugaloo Old Town) sat on the river (now Lake Tugaloo) and Indians from the Overhill Trading Path could cross and meet another network of paths that joined the Lower Towns and Upper Towns villages.





It served as a line between settlers and the Cherokees until after the Indian cessions, when it fell solely into the hands of the whites. When the Cherokees were expelled from their villages, they were forced into "removal forts," one of which was located in what is now Hiawassee, Fort Chastain. Some Cherokee reported to the forts, not knowing the fate that awaited them, simply because John Ross had told them this is what they should do. Others stayed with their homes and were working in the fields when the soldiers came. The Georgia Guard had identified Cherokee homes. Aided by troops from Alabama, Florida, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee, Georgia militia would typically approach a home and enter the house. The resident(s) would then be forced to leave. The amount of time given residents to collect belongings varied greatly. Some were forced to leave immediately while others had enough time to sell valuables to local settlers at bargain rates. There are numerous instances where settlers attempted to intervene when the Guard was being particularly rough on a family.


DNA proof that Maya DNA markers are present in Creek Indian descendants. USFS Archaeologist Jack T Wynn identified numerous agricultural towns and villages in or near Hiawassee, GA that farmed fertile river and creek bottomlands.

Conditions at the forts were horrible. Food intended for the tribe was sold to locals. What little the Cherokee had brought with them was stolen and sold. Living areas were filled with excrement. Birth rates among the Cherokee dropped to near zero during the months of captivity. Cherokee women and children were repeatedly raped. Soldiers forced their captives to perform acts of deprivation so disgusting they cannot be told here. One member of the Guard would later write, "During the Civil War I watched as hundreds of men died, including my own brother, but none of that compares to what we did to the Cherokee Indians."



Its remote location buffered the county from many of the effects of the Civil War (1861-65) and Reconstruction. Many residents of mountainous northeast Georgia were opposed, or at least held no enthusiasm for, the Confederate cause. One group of young men from Towns County, holding anti-Confederate sentiments, fled to Tennessee to escape fighting for the Southern cause, but were ambushed and killed by Confederates.



Hiawassee was incorporated in 1956, although it was originally incorporated in 1870 as "Hiwassee." The name is from the Cherokee for "meadow," "savanna," or "pretty fawn." The first courthouse, completed in 1857, was replaced in 1905.


1905 Courthouse

The current courthouse was built in 1964.



The county has one other incorporated town, Young Harris, a college town in the mountains. Originally called McTyeire, McTyeire Institute was founded in 1886 by Artemus Lester.In 1886, Circuit-riding Methodist minister Artemas Lester started a school at the small community of McTyeire, Georgia, named after Bishop Holland McTyeire. The goal of the McTyeire Institute was to provide rural Appalachian Mountain children in north Georgia with an opportunity for an education.


McTyeire -  Lester - Harris

Lester wrote to Young Loftin Gerdine Harris, a judge from Athens, asking for a $100 loan, which was promptly granted. Young L. G. Harris was a big Methodist church member, and didn't have time to come and look at this school in the Brasstown valley, so he sent his associate, a Mr. Thomas, who looked it over and liked the idea." After hearing positive things about the school, Harris resolved to increase his support of the institution. Harris funded the construction of the campus for $20,000, ($4.27 million in 2010 dollars) then continued to contribute several thousand dollars each year.The town changed its name to Young Harris to honor the main major benefactor of the local McTyeire Institute,  When the town changed its name, the college followed suit.


Lester buried in College Park. Young Harris is buried just outside Sanford Stadium.

Each summer, Young Harris College is the host of The Reach of Song, the official state historic drama, which is performed at the Clegg Fine Arts Center. Unincorporated communities include Gumlog, Jacksonville, Osborn, and Tree.


The Clegg.

The primary economic focus of the county's residents for more than a century was farming, although some gold and mineral mining occurred in the county's east. The invention and popularization of the automobile after World War I (1917-18) prompted the state to build an east-west road, which linked Towns County to hitherto inaccessible markets. This road contributed to a boost in the commercial development of the county and eventually stimulated a tourist industry as well. Tourism has now supplanted agriculture as the major economic focus in Towns County.



Travelers are particularly attracted by the area's Appalachian music, arts and crafts, mountains and rivers. Many are drawn to the annual Georgia Mountain Fair, which has been held in Hiawassee since 1950.







The southern and eastern borders of the county are framed by the Appalachian Trail, another important attraction. More than 50 percent of Towns County is owned by the federal government; most of this is forest parkland.



Notable residents include former U.S. Office of Management and Budget director Bert Lance, Georgia governor Zell Miller, and poet Byron Herbert Reece.


Bert – Zell - Byron (Reece gets mention in Union County before also)

Among the points of interest in Towns County are Brasstown Bald, the highest mountain in Georgia, which is also partly in Union County;


Brasstown looking North toward Hiawassee.

The Chattahoochee National Forest;



Lake Chatuge, a 7,050-acre reservoir;



The Unicoi Turnpike, the first vehicular road in the county and surrounding area;









And Unicoi Gap, the first pass in the Georgia Blue Ridge through which a public road was constructed.


Looking South to Yonah from Unicoi Gap with Trilby.

The Fred Hamilton Rhododendron Garden is in Hiawassee. These impressive gardens are home to one of the largest collections of hybrid rhododendrons in the state of Georgia.



Fred Hamilton developed the yellow azalea, the only domestic yellow azalea in existence, which he named after his wife, Hazel.



Two important rivers flow through Towns, the Tallulah (Falls) River, which enters Georgia in its northeast corner, and the Hiwassee River, whose headwaters are on the northern side of Unicoi Gap.



According to the 2010 U.S. census, the population of Towns County was 10,471, an increase from the 2000 population of 9,319. A Top Row Dawg addendum to Young Harris and Towns County, is the Cupid waterfall on campus.



One of the key moments during each Young Harris commencement weekend is the annual trek to the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain where all graduates, their families and College personnel gather for the Vespers Service and picnic at sunset. Trail and falls possible future GNW when we get to the 300's.



Today's GNW gals are Mountain Lions from Young Harris.





One last Top ten mountain tomorrow, looks like we will have a view, which will make it 6-5 views vs. no views?