October 2023 - Fall Camp-n-Ride - True Grits

27 October 2023 Hits: 617

Camping and Riding. Like Peanut Butter and chocolate – does it get any better? On a gorgeous, crisp fall morning, Larry and Dan headed toward Cleveland to meet Mel. The three quickly headed up 75, then westward across Wolf Pen Gap. The leaves had begun to change color and the day’s brisk winds caused them to rain down at times. As they headed down the Richard Russell Scenic Hwy in beautiful sunshine, they stopped to admire the view from the always-scenic Hog Pen Gap.

From there it was south to 19, then back north through Neels Gap to pick up the western half of Wolf Pen Gap. Soon the annual “True Grits 50cc Rally” would begin and the guys wanted to position themselves at Wildcat BBQ (about 6 mi N of Suches) where they could both enjoy great bbq and snag a nice vantage point of the contestants flying by (well, at 50cc, strolling by) in their “blaze of glory and cloud of 2-stroke-smoke! Very entertaining.

After lunch, they planned to head S to TWO in Suches, but since each was riding on adventure-style motorcycle, they decided to take a route through the forest by heading up Gaddistown Rd to the ridge top, they eastward across FS42. It was a gorgeous afternoon and they quickly set up tents and previewed the “tiddlers” as they returned from their 67 mi course. Dinner was in the comfort of TWO’s lodge, then they enjoyed meeting several riders from the FL area over a nice campfire. Overnight lows were about 50 degrees which was perfect to this crew.

At daybreak they broke down their (nicely dry!) tents, then marveled at TWO’s great breakfast offerings. Since they enjoyed their forest tour the previous afternoon, they decided more was in order, so... They headed west across FS42, then north (down) FS58 which runs alongside beautiful Noontootla Creek, then around the backside of the Toccoa River, then southward to home. About 200 miles of smiles. Don’t let this prime fall riding weather pass you by - get out and enjoy it, even if in a cage!