Trackrock Campground (July 2009)

Friday, July 10 - We drove to Blue Ridge to fish the Toccoa River and started at a location we had not been before called Horseshoe Park. This turned out to be a beautiful park and will be on our list for the future, but because it is so far from the dam and has many tributaries entering into the river before it gets here, the recent rain has made it very muddy and essentially unfishable. We checked out another park in McCaysville for future use, because it is near to this one, and expectedly was also muddy. We decided to go to an area that is about 1/2 mile down from the dam, called Tammon Park. We had fished here before without any luck. We started with John using a white wooly bugger and Joan using a red/green version of the same. John got a fish on quickly, but lost it. We each lost other fish, but John managed to land a nice rainbow, which was caught on a Parachute Adams fly. This area is heavily fished, but folks were quite good at staying out of each other's way and allowing room to fish. Most fishermen were also releasing their catches. One change that we made that seemed to have a difference was changing from a 3x to a 5x tippet, which is much thinner. These are heavily pressured fish and the water is extremely clear.

Sunday, July 12 - The service at Trackrock Campground Chapel drew 60 people this morning. John was asked to lead the singing. The service was very nice and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We then went to Hiawassee to attend the service there. The music was great as was the message from Pastor Jim. We stopped at Young Harris College for their lunch buffet on the way back to camp and enjoyed a great meal.

Friday, July 17 - We drove to Dockery Lake south of Suches, about 20 miles from here and fished at a few spots around the lake. Joan missed a trout and John caught a nice one on a fly he made from a black rubber band. We then went to Dahlonega and had Chinese buffet for lunch. On the way back, we stopped at Vogel State Park and fished again. Joan caught a nice bass and a couple of bream. John was skunked.

Sunday, July 19 - We attended a dedication service for the chapel here at Trackrock and helped set up. John led the singing. There were about 90 people in attendance.

Tuesday, July 20 - We drove over to Vogel State Park in the evening to fish. We both got skunked.

Wednesday, July 21 - Today was haircut day, so we drove into Hiawassee. Afterwards, we drove up to Jackrabbit National Recreation Area on Lake Chatuge and fished. We each caught several bream. Some were quite large and most were very colorful. We then got groceries, then returned to Trackrock.

Friday, July 23 - We drove to Sandy Bottom Canoe Access Area, which is on the headwaters of the Toccoa River south of Blue Ridge. This area is used a lot by tubers going down the river, but we fished anyway. John had tried five different flies before findin one that worked. He ended up catching two. They were near shore in the shaddows and near cover. Don't blame them considering how much activity was on the river. We will try this area again, but probably after school starts. It was a beautiful day on the water anyway and this area is in the Chattahoochee NF, so even the drive there was wonderful.

Saturday, July 24 - We had dinner with friends here. Ron and Debbie brought venison and Jan and John (mostly Jan) made stroganoff out of it. We brought Charlie Bread and made Blackberry Crisp on our cast iron Dutch Oven while we were there. Debbie (Trackrock owner) and Kaylee (a young friend who is staying with them) also joined us. It was a great dinner as well as fellowship.

Monday, July 26 - We joined several friends here at Trackrock and hiked the six mile Wagon Train Trail from the top of Brasstown Bald mountain to Young Harris College. The decent is about 3,000 feet. This is a wonderful hike, which our host here at Trackrock, who is a certified naturalist led for us. He pointed out interesting facts about the flaura and fauna on the way down. We will certainly do this again.

View pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/BrasstownBaldWagonTrainTrailJuly2009#

Thursday, July 30 - Despite intermittant rain, we took our friends from Florida, Fred and Judy, to Helen, Unicoi State Park, Anna Ruby Falls, and to the top of Brasstown Bald today. We let them visit the shops in Helen and we fished the Chattahoochee that runs through town. We battled the mass of tubers who were floating down the river, but were unable to catch any trout. It was fun watching the families enjoying their floating, though. We then went to Unicoi and had lunch at a picnic area, then went to the camp store. The hike to Anna Ruby Falls was spectacular. The falls are breathtaking. Next we enjoyed a buffet dinner at the Lodge at Unicoi, which was excellent. On the way home, we drove to the top of Brasstown Bald and enjoyed the view, although pretty hazy.

View pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/HelenUnicoiAnnaRubyFalls#

Friday, July 31 - It has been rainy all day, so we are enjoying a down day, watching videos and reading.