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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 7, 2015 - 10:36am PT
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Just came across some old photos of when I lived in Georgia. Man I loved the Tallulah Gorge. Tallulah means "Terrible" in the native tongue. Two miles long. Nearly 1000 feet deep according to local stats. Super steep multi pitch routes thrust out of the riverbed, leaning and tilting this way and that. Climbs follow splitter, hand friendly cracks up, through and around natural blocks and corners and towers. One route literally finishes up through an old cave that reeks with lore of indian sacrifices.
The Great Wallenda once tightrope walked across the dizzying chasm, and the rigging towers are still there, covered in kudzu and forest bramble. The approach is steep 4th class and the place has a committing feel. No sport climbs can be found. Be prepared to climb out. For a few years this place was our Black Canyon and coming across these photos reminded me of weekend missions escaping the drudgery of professional school. I sometimes miss the smell of boiled peanuts, the taste of real sweet tea and waitresses at local breakfast joints calling me "suga" or "sweetie." But when I think of the South, I think of the Tallulah Gorge and all the adventure and mystique and stoke we found deep within its golden sandstone walls.
Here's a few photos. You ever been there? Chime in if you have. Enjoy.
Ok, So maybe my thread title was a bit of a stretch. But man, this place is steep and wild and splitter and quiet. I'll take that all day long over a yak train of noobs on The Nutcracker. So if you ever find yerself in the derty souf, look this place up. It's pure magic.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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I did a little bouldering there once or twice in 1956. Can't remember any details.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2015 - 10:43am PT
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Pilfered a few photos off the webs. The whitewater down there is legendary too. Big. Skeery. I think they do a Gorge Day every once in a while to let boaters play in the steeps.
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jeff constine
Trad climber
Ao Namao
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Not better than the Needles in Ca, no way..
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Shirley you jest.
edit: the boiled peanuts looked good.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Chiggers, ticks, poison ivy, that place looks stacked!
Seriously though, looks like fun!
Edit; Snakes too!
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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I HATE cottonmouths. Nasty, mean, territorial f#@ks. Wouldn't surprise me if that's what kind of snake that was Will.
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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But the George looks pretty dang fun! If I lived there, that's where I would be.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Climbed some of the steepest, pumpiest 5.8 corners I've every been on there back in the late 70s. Beautiful place. Lots of copperheads and I don't mean swaged ones.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Better than Yosemite? Obviously you ain't been to Yosemite.
I've done a lot of class 5 whitewater kayaking down south, certainly there is some great whitewater in the Tallulah Gorge. But better climbing than Yosemite?....
Not only are the snakes bad, but the damn BUGS are horrendous in the south.
Here's a link to random whitewater video from the Tallulah Gorge.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2015 - 12:14pm PT
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Oh yeah....I don't miss the copperheads. Fesity. And always hanging out in the #2 Camalot range.
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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I know personally why they call it
"Flying Frog"!!!
Great post micronut!
Very cool area!!
I found it very intimidating!!
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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I hear topping out there can be a bit tricky
and the whitewater isn't for the faint of heart
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Prod
Trad climber
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F*#k!!! That snake picture is gonna give me nightmares. Forever.
Prod.
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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I thought was hearing those dueling banjos, as well.
When I lived in the States, for me, climbing in the east meant going to Colorado. But that Georgia sandstone sure looks nice.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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It's better than Yosemite if you live near it and are doing a day/weekend trip.
Otherwise a lie.
The sandstone looks like fun, but I wouldn't move there vs. Yosemite for the climbing.
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Sonic
Trad climber
Boulder, Co
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Awesome climbing, but far from Yosemite....
Climbing permitting system sucks balls...
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Pappy
Ice climber
Warren, VT
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It ain't sandstone, it's very fine grained quartzite. Harder than granite (we figured two or even three self drive bits per hole) and slicker than ice when wet. The only place I would not use tri-cams because I figured they just would not bite, even worried about Friends. Flying Frog, and Stretch, are a couple of the best pitches in the SE. An overlooked gem? Yes. A destination? That's a stretch.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2015 - 04:10pm PT
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Ok......I agree....it ain't "better than Yosemite"
But man the place sure does have a flavor of its own.
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Crazy Bat
Sport climber
Birmingham, AL & Seweanee, TN
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But it isn't that far from the Tenn wall or even Horse Pens 40.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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good odds there's toothpicks and paper napkins at that establishment,
can't get down with those frilly ahwahnee numbers and slippery linen
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jul 11, 2015 - 11:40pm PT
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hey there say, just a bump, as, this one is a short thread...
perhaps some folks might join in, with some more stuff... :)
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Oct 20, 2015 - 05:06pm PT
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Back in the early 90's, when Ga Power owned it, it was great. Free camping, no permits...
Everything changed when it became a park. All the bs followed... Permits, fees, no camping, no fires...
At least the quartzite's the same
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two-shoes
Trad climber
Auberry, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 05:36pm PT
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You boys better watch out! Didn't ya'll ever see that movie "Deliverance"!
Gonna get ya'selves in a butt-puckered mess down there!
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:34pm PT
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Between my two expat gigs in London I moved to Atlanta, working for CNN. I was still climbing and ran into a local, Bob Ordner at a small gym north of town. Bob took me under his wing and introduced me to some long time South East climbers including Chris Watford and others whose names I can't remember. It seemed they were so happy to meet a Yosemite climber who came out east (or down south) and proceeded to be great hosts for the next two years. We climbed most of the top areas, of which Tallulah Gorge I would rank as just "ok". I remember Bob taking me up to Whitesides in NC and sending me out on lead. I kid you not, the run outs were severe. The southern boys prided themselves and how far they could push it. I can still hear Bob chuckling while I was 130' out looking for the first pro on the Whitesides regular route. Anyway we went all over, and I would say my favorite SE climbing at the time was Little River Canyon in Alabama. Very steep sport climbing on hard sandstone with lots of in-cuts. T-Wall was good but very crowded.
After two years I relocated back to the UK where I proceeded to take up golf. I remember giving one of my new ropes to Bob and Chris before I left and I think they used it to climb the Nose for their first El Cap route.
I never climbed again, but have great memories with these guys.
Marty
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Tobia
Social climber
Denial
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:53pm PT
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At one time the Gorge belonged to a private land owner. If you have been there, the family home is the big white house in the town of Tallulah Falls, Ga. It is now a restaurant and/or bed and breakfast establishment.
Turning it into a state park was in the best interest of the public, despite the rules and regulations. Georgia Power, a division of the Southern Company; which owns GA, Al and Fl Power, was going to start selling the land for development of private homes and estates. That would have ended public access to the falls, gorge, etc..
Georgia Power diverts the natural flow of the river to a hydroelectric plant; which drastically reduces the natural flow through the falls. Once what was a wild river, is now a tamed drain, except for a few days a year.
The sad part is very little electricity is produced by the hydro-plant; but the demand for electricity in Atlanta is only matched by the unbridled growth of the metro-Atlanta area.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:22pm PT
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I wouldn't recommend going there to climb in the spring or summer.
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Ghoulwe
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
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Oct 21, 2015 - 09:31pm PT
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I had the pleasure of climbing in Tallulah Gorge last year with Bob Ordner. Beautiful canyon and good old-school routes and ratings! Bob is my main climbing partner, living in Spokane WA nowadays, and he couldn't wait to take me to his old climbing areas in the Southeast. So we made a week-long trip starting at Tallulah and hitting Whitesides, Looking Glass for a couple of days and Laurel Knob. Super fun climbing out there and I couldn't have had a better guide than Bob. Wouldn't trade climbing in the West for it, but it is definitely a fun venture!
Eric Barrett
Spokane, WA
Ghoulwe Mountaineering Club
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Bob Ordner
Trad climber
Spokane
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Oct 30, 2015 - 04:35pm PT
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Sharing some of the fine Southern Stone with my Califormia brothers was and is always a great thing. THe Cashiers Valley and North Carolina granite is as good as it gets anywhere....uncluding Toulomne.....Getting back on the standard traditional run outs with friends always amkes me so apprecaitive of the friends of then and of now. Marty was game, we need to hook up rascal and Eric is always game on.....
We have projects is Spokane Eric.
We haven't eaven touched the sandsotne belt and its routes....many great memories with Chris Watford.
Thanks Yall
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Oct 30, 2015 - 07:42pm PT
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I think it was the fall of 81 when I drove down there with some friends from college in North Carolina. I was a noob, having climbed a few pitches at Moore's Wall, my friends were more experienced. They were friends with the legendary crazy man Shannon Stegg and we met him and his girlfriend for the weekend. This was my first-ever road trip for climbing. I think we did the climb that was in a scene in Deliverance (Blueberry Jam??), and I remember being amazed watching Shannon lead a 5.9 crack. It's a beautiful part of the country, but I'll take the western US any day.
There's some great and interesting climbing history from that neck of the woods, and it's cool seeing Bob Ordner post on this thread.
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