544 



AMERICAN I'ORESTRY 



quired to cover the eighteen miles to Dillard and it was 

 a wet, mud covered and starving band which sought food 

 at the country store there at four o'clock in the afternoon. 

 Before nightfall seven more miles were made and the 

 night was spent at Clayton. Rain had fallen throughout 

 the day. Stories of impassable roads in the direction of 

 Franklin necessitated the elimination of that part of the 

 toiir, so on the following morning, with the mountains 

 still being drenched with rain, the expedition turned 

 westward and cruised slowly, knd cautiously along the 

 rough and watery road which coiled up Tullulah river, 

 over the mountain and down Hightower Creek, whose 

 waters flow into the Mississippi river, to the beautiful' 

 little mountain valley and settlement of Hiawassee. Then 

 onward through the rain, the machines camouflaged 

 with yellow mud and resembling huge beetles emerging 



the demobilization of the party. A small party attempted 

 a side trip into the Blood Mountain country but the 

 remainder of the expedition still harassed by rain and 

 mud and swollen streams, filtered out over the Blue 

 Ridge divide through Tesnatee Gap and thence down 

 through the foothills and back to Atlanta. 



The trip out through Tesnatee Gap, however, re- 

 vealed some of the most attractive mountain country 

 encountered during the tour a country cut by many 

 ravines, heavily wooded with a virgin forest and watered 

 by innumerable mountain streams with frequent water- 

 falls. The road was arched with the branches of great 

 hardwoods and its winding in and out among their 

 trunks seemed to breathe the spirit of an old Cherokee 

 trail. 



Despite the fact that the full beauty and charm of 



DIGGING OUT WAS A COMMON EXPERIENCE ON THESE FOREST ROADS THROUGH THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS OF GEORGIA 



AFTER THE PARTY ENCOUNTERED THE HEAVY RAINS 



from a cataclysm, chugged and strained and bumped thetr 

 way up another mountain road, through Brasstown Gap 

 and into another charming vailed which the waters flow- 

 ing down from Brasstown mountain, lost now in low- 

 hung, drifting clouds, seemed to have fashioned out as a 

 special haven of rest and peace for men sick of the mad- 

 dening crowds. 



Passing through a low gap to 'the west, an hour's ride 

 down Butternut Creek brought the expedition to the 

 town of Blairsville, set in a mountain valley no less en- 

 chanting than those which the party had regretfully left 

 behind. Except for rare moments when the sun sought 

 to break through the low clouds, a fine rain had fallen 

 throughout the day and had made the proposed trip to 

 the top of Blood Mountain out of the question. Conse- 

 (piently the next day, with rain still falling, witnessed 



this section of the Blue Ridge mountains could not be 

 realized because of unfavorable weather, the members 

 of the expedition were without exception, won over to it 

 heart and soul. For the land of the Cherokees is a land 

 of gentle mountains, softened by an almost continuous 

 cover of forest growth. It abounds in mountain streams, 

 inviting camp sites, rest inspiring little valleys. It lacks 

 the harsh and over-powering ruggedness which so often 

 characterizes the Rocky Mountains and inspires in many 

 a feeling of unfriendliness. It is a land sparsely peopled 

 by a kindly and hospitable people who live a simple life 

 out-of-doors, and whose blood, it is said, still flows one 

 hundred per cent Anglo-Saxon. Its possibilities as a 

 summer playground for the south and the east are un- 

 limited and the value of its potential and applied water 

 power will run into many figures. 



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