Finally, a little rain and ride in apple country

Well, we finally are getting some sustained rain down here in Georgia. We are in a severe drought and every bit of moisture helps. We are something like 16" below normal precipitation. There is an outdoor watering ban and if you are caught watering outside, then your water is shut off. We have something like 80 days of water left. So the rain we are getting is very welcome.
The weather was beautiful this past weekend, so Becky and I headed up to Ellijay, Ga for some riding and to maybe take in the apple festival. Ellijay is the apple capital of Georgia. We rode the Bear Creek trail, which is in the Cohutta National Forest. The trail, like most trails in the mountains, climbs up the mountain and then back down. This trail is famous for a 400 year old Gennet Poplar tree
The ride was about 7 miles to the top were there is a gorgeous overlook. It took us a while to find (I got confused on the directions), but it was well worth it.
We ended up climbing the mountain twice, due to my misdirection. We met some nice hikers along the way. Riding in the mountains is so different than hitting our local trails. The natural landscape is so vast, your senses take some time to adapt. I love riding in the mountains, I wished we lived closer to them. We ended up with about 3 hours of riding with an elevation change of about 2500', that's up, then back down.
After the ride we headed to one of the orchards for some apple goodies. Hwy 52 provided us with an assortment of orchards to choose from. We picked the first one we saw, because it was busy, and that is usually a good sign. I bought a fried apple pie, which was ridiculously delicious and sugar free to boot. We also got some apples and some pecan apple butter. We then headed home with another stop along the way for some hamburgers and fries (we needed to refuel after the ride). I think next time we go, we will camp or rent a cabin. Ellijay seemed like a nice little town and the riding is excellent in those parts.
Other than that... nothing else exciting going on. Looking forward to Thanksgiving, even if Becky and I can't make it. I just figured out that my football team will have to lose on the first round to avoid missing t-giving. We are currently undefeated. Things don't look good.
Later all,
matt