Blood Mountain is the Highest Summit on the Georgia Section of the Appalachian Trail!

With an elevation of 4,458 feet (1,359 m), Blood Mountain is the sixth tallest mountain in Georgia. My friend Elaine and I attempted to hike this mountain in July, 2008. We had a little trouble close to the top.

In the vicinity, there are other recreational areas, hiking trails and several waterfalls. The mountain is within the Blood Mountain Wilderness and the boundaries of the Chattahoochee National Forest and is located on the border of Union County with Lumpkin County.

Nice View!

I wanted to hike Blood Mountain because it is the highest peak in Georgia on the Appalachian Trail. We parked the car and headed out. Here is a shot of Elaine at the trailhead.

My Friend Elaine at Trailhead

The trail is a bit rocky and I could tell after a while Elaine wasn't enjoying the ascent. She is a bit older than me and retired. I am smart enough not to mention her age here!

Rocky Trail

We come to some level rocks and I decide to take a photo of a nearby mountain. This is a good place to take a short rest.

Nice Mountain

While we are resting I decide to get a good photo of Elaine. We have known each other for several years and she was kind enough to have me come to north Georgia and stay with her at her summer home for one week on vacation.

Elaine

Elaine wants to get a shot of me as well. It came out a little dark on me but at least she got a good picture of the mountain!

Joe

Wow! It is so beautiful up here with all the mountain views. I thought I heard some movement in the bushes above but I decided not to say anything to Elaine. I did not want to spook her. Besides, I could tell she was having a hard enough time climbing the steep trail. I clapped my hands just to let any animals know we were coming. I did remember the sign down below telling us we were in bear territory!

Great Views!

The further up we go, the better the views get. I can tell Elaine is really struggling with the climb. I just hope that she wants to keep going.

Another Great View!

We come to some more rocks and they are dangerous because they are on an angle and hard to walk over. We try to be very careful.

Dangerous Rocks to Walk Over

We make it past the rocks and continue up the trail. Again we see wonderful views of the mountains but Elaine is really having a tough time hiking uphill.

Views are just Incredible!

I feel like we are getting close to the top of Blood Mountain now and we soon come upon some young people around these treacherous rocks.

Young People around Rocks

I'm looking around checking out the views and taking another photo...

Smoky Mountains

Next, I hear Elaine scream behind me! I turn around quickly and she had lost her balance and had fallen and was sliding down the rock! I immediately reached down and grabbed her ankle keeping her from sliding any further. Well, she had scraped herself up from the fall but seemed to be alright. She later cried a little bit but reassured me she was ok. She did not cry in front of the young girls because she did not want to appear weak. Afterwards, she seemed a little dejected.

Elaine Feeling a Little Down

We soon headed back down and Elaine became a new person! She really enjoyed the trip back down and had a great time. She even said she would love to go hiking with me again. I had told her earlier that going up is tough, but coming back down is a lot easier! Well, it was a lot easier for both of us and we both had a wonderful time going down. We didn't quite make it to the top of Blood Mountain but we both felt like we were on top of the world!

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