When we first moved to this area when I was 10, my parents would load us up in the car and we would explore this new area. One very memorable drive was down the River Road. Through Copperhill and Ducktown, then down into the gorge beside a rocky river bed, the narrow road followed along the river for several miles. The road signs instead of showing curves showed right turns. The river was not that special, just a lot of rocks. There was certainly no one rafting or kayaking, and there was no place to pull off and see the river, the road was the memorable part.
All that changed with the beginning of the whitewater sport. Whitewater events starting being held on the Ocoee River in 1977.
But the road was still narrow and treacherous and access was limited, until the 1996 Olympics came to town. The road is now wider and the area where the Olympics was held is a great park now, with lots of parking, pathways on both sides of the river, two bridges across, a visitor center, picnic tables, 30 miles of hiking trails, all for a $3 parking fee since it is in the national forest.
The TVA manages the river for hydroelectric power and for public recreation. They schedule water releases at different parts of the river for whitewater events and on weekends. At the Olympic site, usually Saturdays are very busy, with the water running high and fast, with brightly colored rafts and kayaks, lots of spectators on the sides, the whooping and hollering of the rafters, the occasional ambulance adminstering to the injured. Sundays are tamer, the water is flowing low and slow, families with small children can get out and play in the water and rock-hop, have picnics on the river bank.
We went up there this past Sunday to do some hiking and
geocaching, and it was pretty quiet, since the water was low there were no rafters at this section, and since the weather was cool, no kids playing in the water. We drove on down to the next dam, though, and there were all the rafters and kayakers! It is never too cold for those die-hard whitewater folks.
The water release schedule is posted on the
website. There is not much evidence that the Olympic games were ever here, other than the sign. The grandstands are gone. There is the occasional manhole cover that says 'communications'. The only building is the visitor center, now used by the forest service. It is built out of native rock and wood, fitting into the landscape nicely.
The first two pictures were taken this past Sunday, when the river was tame. The one with the raft was found online, but is of the same stretch of river when the water is high.
The River Road area is now a great (inexpensive) way to spend a day, whether you want the excitement of whitewater or a lazy river, participation or spectator, hiking, mountain biking, getting your feet wet, or just sitting in the sun.
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But the road was still narrow and treacherous and access was limited, until the 1996 Olympics came to town. The road is now wider and the area where the Olympics was held is a great park now, with lots of parking, pathways on both sides of the river, two bridges across, a visitor center, picnic tables, 30 miles of hiking trails, all for a $3 parking fee since it is in the national forest.
We went up there this past Sunday to do some hiking and geocaching, and it was pretty quiet, since the water was low there were no rafters at this section, and since the weather was cool, no kids playing in the water. We drove on down to the next dam, though, and there were all the rafters and kayakers! It is never too cold for those die-hard whitewater folks.
We followed these directions, off the main highway, onto the paved secondary roads. The paved road changed to gravel. The road got more and more narrow. We were anticipating fording Fightingtown Creek 4 times according to the directions. With each ford the road on the other side got smaller. The water was clear as only it is way out in the mountains where no people are there to pollute it. The rhododendrons covered the steep creek banks. At the prescribed place according to the GPS, there it was, an old cemetery. We got out and Kyle promptly found the cache, hidden in a wooden 'birdhouse' put there by the cache owner. From here, we walked up the road a little farther to find the next cache. We could see the end of the road up ahead, with a gate across. 
This was NOT the case today. Yes, we were 4-1/2 miles down a one lane narrow dirt DEAD END road out in the middle of nowhere, after fording the creek 4 times, and we ended up face-to-face with a one-toothed local feller who was NOT happy at all with us. Even though we were on the road, according to him, we were trespassing and he was just looking for the right opportunity to make an example of us cussed trespassers. 
Do you like puzzles? I like all kinds of puzzles. Crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, logic problems, sudoku, word puzzles, math puzzles. I am not necessarily good at any or all of these, but I enjoy trying to figure them out.
Did you ever catch fireflies when you were younger? It was a lot of fun, finding and catching the elusive glowing bugs. 
I did not know what to look for, but Buddy had done his homework. For night caching there are small reflectors (fireflies) put out in the forest to guide you along, which can be seen with a bright flashlight. Once we knew what to look for, we spotted some of the fireflies in the daylight, and after combing the area, actually found the cache. We took a very special cache prize - the coveted white jeep travel bug. (Jeep Corp is in with geocaching.com, as it takes a 4-wheel-drive vehicle to get to a lot of caches.) We stuck around til dusk to see how the fireflies actually looked, very spooky indeed.
This is the ruin of a 19th century iron smelter found near Stamp Creek in the Etowah river valley in north Georgia. It is in a protected forest, wildlife management area. We anticipated a 3 mile hike round trip, but when arriving at the parking area found the gate open, so we just drove to within 200 feet of the furnace. 
One of the perks of geocaching is learning about the history of our area. Last summer we discovered Dawson Forest, a local wildlife management area, which usually means beautiful undeveloped forest, hiking trails, jeep riding, clear unspoiled creeks, etc. Unless it is hunting season - hence the 'wildlife management' part. Then you don't want to be in there unless you are hunting. The boundary of this forest begins 5 miles from here, and it stretches for 10,000 acres. There were several geocaches in this forest, one of which was named Reactor Road. 
The area has been continuously monitored for radiation, and no health or safety threat has been found. Three acres out of the 10,000 acres continue to be restricted from public use as a precaution. The hot cell building area and cooling-off-area are restricted with fences and posted due to levels of Cobalt-60 and Europium-152. 
This building is John B. Gordon Hall in Lafayette, Georgia. The structure, completed in 1836 as the Chattooga Academy, is Georgia's oldest brick school building and is named after Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon, who attended the school as a child and also served as governor of Georgia. 
