Leaving Murphy, North Carolina, on this sunny but crisp morning, we climbed southward along the Hiwassee River, a major tributary of the Tennessee River. Our initial destination was the summit of Brasstown Bald in the Blue Ridge Mountains; rising to 4783 feet, it is the highest peak in Georgia.
A winding, paved road takes visitors to a large parking lot a few hundred feet below the summit; one can take a van ride to the top or walk up a paved, "half-mile" trail. After a couple of days in the car, we opted for the hike, climbing through a forest of rhododendron shrubs. An observation tower on the summit affords a spectacular panorama of distant peaks and ranges, illustrated with labeled photo maps in all directions. It was one of the better viewpoints we have ever encountered and I highly recommend a visit.
From Brasstown Bald we continued southward, crossing a low divide (2900 feet) between the watershed of the Hiwassee River (to the north) and that of the Chattahoochee River (to the south). We descended along the latter river to Helen, a German town currently in full Holiday mode. Following lunch in that festive community, we drove southward across the rolling Piedmont and will spend the night in Perry, Georgia, at the northern edge of the vast Coastal Plain.
