Longer term, our plans have us traveling into western North Carolina to visit friends.  But to get there we have to go from the Atlantic coast and through the mountains of northern Georgia.  We had heard so many good things about the area around Blairsville and in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, we decided to explore there for a few days.   From Beaufort, SC to Blairsville is about 310 miles, so we split the distance in half and picked Appling, GA as a stopover.

Again, we took the back roads of South Carolina toward Augusta, GA and crossed the Savannah River and the state border there.  Appling is a small town just a little north of Augusta and the park was actually outside of town on the J. Strom Thurmond Lake.  We got a lake front pad and hooked up easily.  Then we walked the park and took a swim.  Water was chilly but not uncomfortable. 

The next morning was a little maintenance and a little business.  We spent a quiet day at the park with some walks and some swimming again.  Gail even got in some more swimming with some short laps between the shorelines.  In the evening we walked back to the western shore to watch the sunset and were rewarded with a beautiful photos. 

Then the next morning we were off to the mountains.  The reservation was in Vogel State Park in between many of the more popular sites and towns to visit.  It was a big park with many different sections from areas for family outings to the large RV park.  We got a nice site but a little unlevel and with no sewer.  The leveling system took care of “most” of the lean and we had pumped out in Appling, so we were good. 

Our first destination was Brasstown Bald which is the highest point in Georgia at 4794 ft.  There is a walking path up to the lookout, but we decided on taking the shuttle up and walking down.  Good idea!  The view from the top was amazing as you might expect!  (This was our third highest point after Florida and Arkansas.)  After a round about trip back through Hiawassee and Blairsville just to see, we headed back to camp.

The other sights around the area are the waterfalls.  Most involve some hiking to reach the viewing point.  We were headed to Helen for the day and stopped to see two of the falls. 

The first was Helton Creek Falls and involved a short drive on an unpaved road and through some shallow streams.  We actually put the Jeep into 4-wheel drive just to make sure and give her a workout.  The falls still required a ½ mile walk and were well worth it. 

The second falls, Duke’s Creek Falls, were recommended by a lady we met at the Brasstown Bald lookout.  It was also on the road to Helen and after parking, there was a 1.1 mile walk in and back.  It as a tougher walk but again worth the effort. 

Then on to Helen which is called Alpine Helen because of the Bavarian motif in the city.  As an old lumber town, it began to fade as the lumber mills shut down.  So, a group decided to remake it as a Bavarian village in the 1960’s and today is a very popular destination especially in October as you might expect.  We had a quick lunch of Weiner schnitzel and a house beer as reward for our recent exercising!   It was not as crowed this time if year and we wandered through some museums, galleries, and of course souvenir shops. 

Tomorrow, we head up into North Carolina to start our next leg – driving up the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.   Should be very different and exciting!