Finishing The Triple Crown: On A Day At Tray

Tray Mountain.

While I have visited many mountains on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Georgia there has always been three mountains that stood out, I have unofficially come to call them the triple crown of the Georgia AT. Those mountains are Springer Mountain, Blood Mountain and Tray Mountain. I had done the first two last year (March and April to be exact) and I have actually done Blood twice. So, I thought it was about time to tackle what I have heard described as the “dragon.”

Tray Mountain's status comes from the fact it is the second highest peak on the Georgia AT (4,430 ft.). So, it’s not that I haven’t wanted to hike Tray, but how I was going to do it was a big question. There are a couple of ways to the top. Like Springer Mountain it is possible to drive to within a mile of the summit. However, this six-mile journey on two forest service roads, from what I could gather was best done with a 4WD vehicle.  There is a slightly shorter drive with more hiking and that is stopping at Indian Grave Gap, which is four miles from GA 75. This route has at least one creek ford and would leave a 2.5-mile hike up to Tray Mountain.

Forest Service Road near Springer Mountain.

Indian Grave Gap Road.

Even though I drove the forest service road up to Springer I knew that it was passable for a passenger car, which I didn’t get the feeling for about this route (however later I find evidence to change that).  Besides driving, the other way is straight up hiking it. A course the first route is to take the AT from Unicoi Gap, this involves a 1,068-foot steep climb up Rocky Mountain and since it is a round trip of 10.4-mile it also entails a climb back-up of 900 feet. Added in with the 1,317-foot climb up

Unicoi Gap

Tray Mountain is a total elevation gain of 3,289 feet.

The second hiking option was to hike from the Andrews Cove

Andrews Cove.

Campground to Indian Grave Gap and then to Tray Mountain. The trail from Andrews Cove is a two mile trek that is not too difficult until the final half-mile where it gets steep, from what I discovered it was about a 20-degree grade. This hike is about nine miles, but the return trip would be downhill, so I had a decision to make?

Driving to Tray Mountain I really didn’t think was an option, everything I found said it is a 4WD road. I decided to rule out the shorter drive to Indian Grave Gap because my car is getting older and I didn’t know if I wanted to ford a creek. So, it was down to the two hikes.

Anyone who reads this knows that I have traveled a long way with my hiking. Recently I did 13 miles of

Dukes Creek Falls.

hiking on the AT and at Dukes Creek Falls. Still, I had read that this is the section of the AT maybe the toughest in Georgia, and if you listen to through hikers they will tell you Georgia is a rough part of the trail. So, for some reason even with all the miles and places I have been I had for what is a better word a crisis of confidence.

Easter dinner.

So, last week after thinking about it I felt it was the time to hike Tray. I had my first Hike Georgia Meet up hike scheduled for Saturday (April 19). The 10.6 mile hike from Woody Gap to Neel Gap was cancelled because of weather, so I thought of doing the Tray Mountain hike on Easter Sunday/420. Anyway, Deb doesn’t do the long hikes (she has a five-mile limit) and since she wasn’t going, Deb wanted me stay home for the holiday, so I did.

I then decided on going Monday, but I hate going out on that day for some reason and since Wednesday was setting up to be a near perfect day, maybe the last of its kind until Fall, I decided that would be the day. Anyway, my decision was to just hike the AT from Unicoi Gap. So, Tuesday comes and up to this point I was just worried about my allergies knocking me out like last May. Earlier I mentioned a crisis of confidence I seem to be having and it started to work on me Tuesday evening.  I really don’t know why I had this happen. A lot of my hiking books say not to hike alone, and I do like hiking with people better, but I have been out many times on my own. People also seem to worry about me and this adds to it this feeling. Also, my car, the Green Hornet, has had a slight miss. It runs fine but just every once in a while it will miss, so driving an hour to the mountains worries me a little.

Junction of AT & BMT.

Then I did what I shouldn’t look on the internet about what this hike entails. The short of it is that this section is strenuous and would be difficult in length and elevation. Even Deb was a little worried, so I decided Tuesday night that maybe it wasn’t time to go to Tray. But, since all my stuff was ready, I was going to go somewhere and I decided to head back to Springer and do a loop hike that involved the AT and Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT).

As I tried to go to sleep I just couldn’t. I wasn't just anxious about where to go I think it was just going. This happened just before the Hog Pen to Levelland hike, but not to this level. That night I finally went to sleep and got close to five hours sleep. That wasn't happening on this night. About 2:30 am I just got up and woke Deb in the process. After talking to her, she just told me to go to Tray, that is what I decided to do because it is where I needed to go.  I also decided that I would come up from Andrews Cove that is if I could get any sleep.

I did get maybe two hours, but I woke up about 6:30am, so I just got up and got out. If there was any

Helen, GA.

doubt about where I was starting the day, the fact that I was already tried, that pretty much clinched going from Andrews Cove. From Dawsonville it is about an hour’s drive, and I decided to take the route through Alpine Helen. One day I will write something on Helen, but for those who don’t know it looks like a little alpine village I think of it as a mini-Gatlinburg (I will also write a blog very soon about the Black Forest Bear Park). I do know people who don't care for it, one bit.

So, I finally arrive at the Andrews Cove, and as reported by a couple of books I have, it is small. Just like the campground the small parking area at the back can accommodate maybe at best five cars. As expected I was the only person in the campground, which is always a little unnerving. Anyway, I strapped on my new daypack and headed up the trail. Like I said before it two miles to the junction with the AT and what I noticed first was how the trees had bloomed out.

Andrews Cove Trailhead.

The trailhead is at 2,080 feet in elevation so coming in I noticed that spring had arrived in full. Beside the blooming trees there were plenty of wildflowers busting out. I would see plenty of them all day. The other thing that was noticeable was the amount of stream crossings, 16 in fact. It reminded me of the hike at Squibb Creek Falls back in November, which had a similar number, but some there in Tennessee were much tougher.

However, the thing I will remember most from the hike up is the spot on the trail that was described as steep, let me say this is one time that the description was spot on. The first mile-and-a-half while uphill was not too bad. Then at about half-mile to Indian Grave Gap the trail bends up to and area with wood and stone steps and it is clearly a steep incline. I will say that it is not as rocky as described (thank goodness) but the incline was easily 20-percent. For difficulty Yonah Mountain was tougher because the uphil was much longer, but I don’t know if I have been on a trail as steep. Thankfully it was only about third of a mile, but it took me 20 minutes to complete it. When it finally flattened out some I could see Indian Grave Gap in the distance. I will say when I crested that hill to the gap it felt like a victory.

One of the stream crossings.

The steep trail up.

Up ahead Indian Grave Gap.

It felt good when I got here.

Parking at Indian Grave Gap.

Indian Grave Gap as described is a large area where the AT crosses Indian Grave Gap Road (FS 283). The one thing I found strange was there was no one in the gap. Right now is the height of thru-hiker season in Georgia so not to see anyone was strange. I actually would not see another soul until Tray Mountain.

Anyway, another interesting thing about Indian Grave Gap is that the gap sign was about .10 miles

north on the AT. I just found that interesting. Well, the first stretch, of the two-and-a-half miles to Tray Mountain, rolled through tunnels of mountain laurel which was cool. It was around this time that a caught out of the corner of my eye something dark falls out of a tree and make a big crashing sound. I have seen and heard squirrels do this, but this was too large. I don’t know but it could have been a bear, because I did see some bear sign and they are active on this mountain (the Indian Grave Gap sign was replaced one because it was clawed by a bear). Anyway, after about a mile one crosses the rough looking Tray Mountain Road (FS 79). Seeing it, I was kind of glad I was hiking it.

Indian Grave Gap/Tray Gap sign was up the trail.

Bear clawed (by Attila from Whiteblaze.net).

Beauty of the AT.

Mountain laurel tunnel.

Mountain laurel tunnel & white blaze.

More mountain laurel.

Winding trail.

AT crosses Tray Gap Road.

The Cheese Factory.

After heading up some steps and going north on the AT the next feature that my guidebook talked about is a big clearing that is popular with campers called the Cheese Factory. While not actually the site of a cheese factory, the place got its name from the mountain dairy farm that once stood on the site. It said that Major Edward Williams established the farm in 1848, which at the time might have been the only one in Georgia. Cheese and butter were made at the farm and that is where the spot gets its name. It was in this stretch that I found the widest variety of mountain wildflowers. There were blue violets, star chickweed, yellow daises and my favorite the sweet betsy.

Blue violets.

Star chickweed.

Yellow daisies.

Sweet Betsy.

As one heads slightly uphill in another half-mile on the right is a rock outcrop where one gets the first look at the final goal of the hike Tray Mountain. Like I said before Jim Parham described Tray Mountain as a “dragon” in his book Day Hiking the North Georgia Mountains, and I think he was spot on. The mountain stretches out and Tray Mountain Road can be seen cutting up its side. It is not long before one encounters the road at Tray Gap. But like Indian Grave Gap one will pass the sign for the two gaps before the gap itself.

The "Dragon" Tray Mountain.

Sign at Tray Gap.

As I had said earlier that the information I had gathered about the Forest Service Road was high clearance vehicles were recommended. The large parking area showed signs that plenty 4WDs had been there and to no surprise someone had made the trip up in one. It was the other vehicle parked at the gap which surprised me the most, a Toyota Prius Hybrid. I will say looking at the roads and from my research I was just amazed that someone had got that car here in one piece.

Here is that Toyota Prius.

Start of trail up Tray Mountain.

Addis/Tray Gaps sign.

Trail up Tray Mountain.

As I headed up the final mile of the journey I first passed in into the Tray Mountain Wilderness as the AT snaked and switchback up the mountain. I have said before I love switchbacks, while they are mainly there for erosion and run-off they also help with hiking uphill. A little over half-way up I finally ran into the first people I had seen all day a group of college age guys who sat at a nice outcrop that gave a great view, including Georgia’s second highest peak Rabun Bald.

Vista headed up Tray Mtn.

Rabun Bald.

Mountain laurel right under the summit.

The final section of trail climbed through rhododendrons and mountain laurel before opening into the clearing at the summit of Tray Mountain. The first thing that one notices about the summit is how small the area is. I know from descriptions I found that Tray’s summit was smaller than that of Blood Mountain, which is large, but I still was still surprised it was so little. Blood is a very large summit but Tray’s is even smaller than Preaching Rock at Big Cedar Mountain, Cowrock or Wildcat Mountains.  Unlike Blood which has plenty of flat areas the summit of Tray is a razorback like rock, so watching ones footing is important.

Tray Mountain southwest vista

Tray Mountain Northeast vista.

Small razorback summit of Tray Mtn.

Part of the extensive summit at Blood Mtn.

Vista from Preaching Rock on Big Cedar Mtn.

Vista at Cowrock Mtn.

Vista at Wildcat Mtn.

Another interesting thing I found on the summit evolved the U.S. Geological Benchmarks. As anyone knows I find just find these interesting and am always looking for them on mountain summits. On this day I found not one or two, but three for Tray Mountain. They all have different dates and the second one I found seemed to be at the actually peak of the mountain.

The first one I found was date 1993.

The second is date 1975 & 1983.

The second one is at the summit.

The third is really the first, dated 1934.

When I got to the summit I wasn't alone. Remember that Toyota Prius I mentioned earlier, well I met the couple who drove it up there. They were a nice older couple named the Dover’s from Hollywood, GA (near Clarkesville). I am bad with names but I asked them how they got that Prius up here and Mrs. Dover said very slowly, she added that they actually have a 4WD vehicle at home, but decided to drive the hybrid up today.

They were really nice and Mr. Dover was also part Cherokee, so he explained some of the native folklore of some of the mountains visible at the vista. In the southwestern view Yonah Mountain was the most prominent peak, but Horsetrough Mountain was also visible. After some searching I found Sawnee Mountain, and because of the haze, Atlanta could not be seen with the naked eye, but I think it can is just visible in the picture I took, you be the judge.

Yonah Mountain.

Sawnee Mtn. & if you look close you can see Atlanta.

Georgia's Highest peak, Brasstown Bald.

Bell Knob with Nantahala Mountains in the background.

The northeast vista gives view of the Nantahala Mountains, Bell Knob, Chatuga Lake, Hiawassee and iconic Brasstown Bald, Georgia’s highest peak. While there are better views on the Georgia AT (I have mentioned a few above) there is something quint about it.

As I mentioned I had seen no one all day including thru-hikers, but that was about to change. While at the summit I encountered my first thru-hiker of the day. He was from Knoxville, but even crazier his girlfriend went to school at of all places ETSU. On my journey from Tray all of the way back to

The Dovers' & the Knoxville hiker.

Indian Grave Gap it would be like a thru-hiker highway. One guy told me it is probable because everyone camped at Blood Mountain and were just getting there. I always talk with thru-hikers, because I have thought one day of doing the trail myself, I find it amazing how unprepared some are. I mean I gave map help, weather reports and told people places to find water in the area. I am just day hiking, but I have more maps and knowledge than people who plan to hike to Maine, it is surprising.

Return to the Andrews Cove.

As always I played my game of who I thought will make it and who won’t. The guy from Knoxville I would say is a good bet to make it. However, when I pass people who look like Sherpa’s, with huge packs on their back I would like to ask did you not do a shakedown at Mountain Crossing? Near the Cheese Factory I ran into to a number of international hikers the first were a couple from Germany, who were very nice, but I think I would be on the fence about making it to Maine. By contrast I passed a hiker from Australia down the trail who was had already completed AT once, so I think he is a real good bet. Oh, and talking about packs I have never seen a thru-hiker traveling as light as him. I might have been carrying more gear than him in my day pack, impressive.
The journey back to Indian Grave Gap was an uneventful one. It was downhill so I made much better time going back than coming up. Then, it was back down the Andrews Cove Trail and let me just say it wasn’t because I was half a sleep and just imaged how steep the top in of the trail is, it was just like I remembered, but at least I was going down it this time. The other thing I noticed on the way back was how beautiful the spring foliage was. I mean in seven hours since heading up the blue blazed trail the leaves on the trees had exploded. What added to the beauty was that light green that spring leaves have and with the shinning sun they glowed. That alone would have justified going on the Andrews Cove Trail, because at the higher elevation the trees were just budding out. 

Panorama of the spring trees.

The green Andrews Cove Trail.

More signs of spring.

Looking into the trees.

Back to the "Green Hornet."

When I got back to the car I wasn’t alone because another couple was about to head up the trail I had just come down. I will say that Andrews Cove is a nice little campground, but my day was not done I had another stop to make…Unicoi Gap.

Like I said before I almost started my day from here it was just 1.7 miles up GA 75 from Andrews Cove. Even though I decided to not hike over Rocky Mountain I still wanted to visit the gap. The reason, Unicoi Gap is the home to the third and final George Noble plaque in Georgia. For those who don’t know the first and most famous of these plaques, also known as “the Hiker,” resides at Springer Mountain. The second is at Neel Gap and the third on a big rock at Unicoi Gap. I had my picture taken with the first two so this completes the set.

Third George Noble on rock at Unicoi Gap.

Up close look at the plaque.

With the third plaque.

With the second plaque at Neel Gap.

With the iconic plaque at Springer Mountain.

I will say I am glad that I decided to hike to Tray Mountain, someday I may just go from Unicoi Gap. Seeing the plaque their was in some ways the finishing touch to a day where I completed the triple crown of AT mountains, it was a good end to the "Day at Tray."