December

Stanley Gap
Blue Ridge, GA
The drive from Knoxville took us on winding back roads, through the mountains and past Coker Creek then Ducktown and into Blue Ridge, GA. From there you take Aska road to Deep Gap trailhead.
We started the ride on Flat Creek, which proved to be anything but flat. The trail winded through rhododendron and crossed Flat Creek several times. After a technical descent through baseball-sized rocks we had a steep climb back out of the creek. From there we started up Stanley Gap. This was a long climb with several steep sections that pushed my heart rate to the max. Managing several tricky rock climbs, we made it to the top, which had a great view thanks to the fallen leaves. The long downhill trail started narrowly hugging along the ridge. When it finally opened up a bit, the trail became a slalom course, diving in and out of trees. It was one of those downhill’s where you stop and take a rest, smiling ear to ear, then continue on. It felt like we dropped forever.
After climbing up and over the mountain, the return trip followed the same trail back. All that we descended, we would now climb back up. The trek to the top was a struggle, which assures an awesome downhill ahead. The Stanley Gap Descent into the Deep Gap trailhead proved worthy.